Various Artists - Rural Blues: Sacred Tradition 1927-1930

Ben emailed me the conversions of this rare gem a while back and I've been waiting for him to do a little write up on it, but this record is too good to not post. Haven't been able to find much info on this record except that it was released on Herwin and looks to be ultra-rare/expensive. There are a total of 16 tracks here from three different artists: Mother McCollum, Eddie Head and Family, and Edward W. Clayborn, The Guitar Evangelist. These songs definitely have some powerful gospel driving them. Mother McCollum's "Jesus Is My Air-O-Plane" is an awesome declaration of her faith. There's also great versions of "Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!" and "I Shall Not Be Moved" on here. The recording is a bit grainy at times but I imagine that's due partly (or mostly) to the way the original songs sounded when they were put together for this comp. Thanks again to Ben for converting this to the digital realm. If you liked This Old World Is In A Hell of a Fix then you're gonna love this.

Guy Blakeslee-13 Unreleased Songs 2002-2006

Guy Blakeslee is the front man for the LA based psych-rock outfit, The Entrance Band. Guy's early material is much more folk/blues based and was released under the name "Entrance." i found out he self-released this CD-R of songs a year or two ago and i asked him about it when i saw the band play Denver last year. He said i could order it through his website but since i didn't have a credit card i just gave him cash on the spot. After a few months of emails and returned mail, i finally received this homemade cd from him. There's a couple alternate versions of Entrance songs on here, mostly in the folk/blues vein as well as a a few covers of some traditional tunes like "Cocaine Blues" and "Mary, Don't You Weep." There's also a really great Joan Armatrading cover on here. Really good stuff. Guy's voice can be quite chilling at times but completely spot on. His range is just incredible. Check it out, Darling.

Little Howlin' Wolf-7" Songs

This man needs no introduction to those that are familiar with the badssness he exudes. i will, however, attempt to summarize a bit about this individual here. Little Howlin' Wolf is an outsider experimental blues musician hailing from Chicago's south side. His history is far too vast to do justice here, but he was a regular fixture as a street musician during the 70's through much of the 90's appearing at places like Maxwell Street and Michigan Avenue playing everything from sax to guitar to double nose flutes and whatever else he could lay his hands on. His approach to music is so true and pure in its seemingly haphazard style that one comes to realize only much later that this in and of itself is a skill that few people possess. i've had the great pleasure to befriend this man over the past 5 years and even record some of his music. It is truly an experience to interact with this man and i am even now having trouble putting it in to words. Here is what his official myspace says for his bio:

"Chicago street musician, bluesman, and actor, Little Howlin’ Wolf, was born James R. Pobiega, Aug. 23, 1950. Of Polish decent, the grandson of a gravedigger and “moonshiner”, and son of a milkman, Pobiega grew up in the working class neighborhood of Justice, IL, a town located on the southwest outskirts of Chicago. Due to his large 6’6” stature, and tenacity on the football field at Argo High, he quickly earned the nickname, ‘Beowulf’, which was later shortened to ‘Wolf’. After high school, he briefly attended The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, IL., and although quite successful, he would soon realize that music was his calling. A self-taught musician, Wolf would gather up his guitar, harp, and saxophone, and hit the streets of Chicago, performing his original blues and jazz compositions, wherever and anywhere he could. Given his voice was filled with a natural booming, yet gravelly, soulful, and bluesy sound, he was given the moniker, Little Howlin’ Wolf, in respect to fellow bluesman and predecessor, Howlin’ Wolf. A name he was honored to receive, and still embraces to this day.
During the 1970s, Wolf started his own record label SOLIDARITY SOLIDARNOSC RECORDS, with subsidiaries ALCATRAZ, BEACON, and JUSTICE. Since then, he has recorded and released over two volumes of singles and three full length albums; THE GUARDIAN (1982), THE COOL TRUTH (1985), and his latest, BRAVE NU WORLD (2005). A cultural student and teacher, and advocate for the people, Wolf has brought his music and messages for peace and understanding all over North America and Europe, and has been featured in many blues and jazz magazines, as well as People Magazine. He has also performed a wide variety of other types of original music under the names; Deacon Blue, Papa Doc (spiritual and tribal), Bo Tom Ed (his comedic country character), The Shadow Drifter (folk), and Buccaneer Bob (a pirate character he uses to entertain children shows).
In recent years, Pobiega has returned to acting. He has been a part of Chicago’s theatre scene, and been in a handful of independent short and feature films, working alongside Willy Laszlo, Tim Kazurinsky, John Borowski, Ed Asner, and Judge Reinhold. He has also earned his Captain’s license for boating, became a SCUBA instructor, and found the time to return to the football field in an independent-hobbyist football league outside Joliet, IL. With the help and permission of Solidarity Solidarnosc Records, Little Howlin’ Wolf’s albums have now been released onto CD by the Baltimore-based, Nautical Almanac’s EHSE Records. "

The post here is dubbed from a slew of Wolf's 7" singles i've collected from from him over the years, released on his own Solidarity label or subsidiaries (mentioned above). From what i understand, Wolf plays ALL the instruments you hear on these recordings.

This Old World's In A Hell Of A Fix

This old-timey, religious folk/blues comp was ripped from vinyl and given to me by my good buddy, Ben. The story of how he came across this is pretty neat. Ben worked at a now defunct record store in Colorado where, some years ago, a relative of Dawn Greening came in to sell the recently deceased's record collection. Dawn Greening was essentially the founder of Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, conducting the first classes from her living room in 1957. More info on Dawn Greening can be found here. Ben picked up the majority of the store's purchase at a reasonable rate and scored a buttload of cool stuff. This comp is downright stunning at times. It includes "Let Jesus Lead You," a very early Skip James recording (later adapted by Beck on "One Foot In The Grave"), as well as a track by Washington Phillips. Both of these artists had recordings reissued years later by our beloved Mississippi Records. One of my favorite tracks is the Reverend Robert Wilkins singing "Old Time Religion" which may or may not be the origin that Captain Beefheart pays homage to when he sings similar lines. i don't know much about the label or the year this comp was issued as Ben owns the original vinyl. Maybe he'll post in the comments? Be forewarned that the rip is a bit crackly, due mostly to the age and quality of the record. i think it adds to the overall listening experience, though. Thanks to Ben for this. We certainly are in a hell of a fix.