Top Downloads For July, 2005

1. Blind Lemon Jefferson - Black Horse Blues
2. Alberta Hunter - You Can’t Tell A Difference After Dark
3. Woody Guthrie - Baltimore To Washington
4. Skip James - Center Blues
5. Lead Belly - Blind Lemon
6. Marshall Owens - Try Me One More Time
7. Freddy King - Sen-Sa-Shun
8. Lucille Bogan - New Way Blues
9. Jesse Bradey - Waco Ida
10. Pete Harris - Blind Lemon’s Song

On the back end of the new Yazoo release “Hard Time Killing Floor” there are four (out of seven) sides from Son House’s first recording session with Paramount in 1930. Unfortunately they didn’t not release either take of Preachin’ the Blues, my personal favorite track from the session , but the tracks they did choose to release sound as carefully remastered as the Skip James tracks. Son House’s guitar has never sounded better on these recordings - and maybe for the first time I can actually hear and understand each word he is singing.

Again I’m comparing the new Yazoo release to the Document album Son House and The Great Delta Blues Singings (DOCD-5002) which compiles all Son House’s 1930 recordings with Paramount.

Son House - Walkin’ Blues (Yazoo)
Son House - Walkin’ Blues (Document)

Son House - My Black Mama Pt. 1 (Yazoo)
Son House - My Black Mama Pt. 1 (Document)

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