Styles: Delta Blues
Released: 1961/1992
Label: Fantasy


mp3   320kbps


1. Levee Camp Blues - 5:04
2. Low Down Dirty Shame - 2:59
3. Gambling Man - 4:47
4. Ain't Gonna Rain No More - 2:15
5. Feel So Good - 4:04
6. Prowling Ground Hog - 3:37
7. Back Home Again - 3:25
8. Sugar Babe - 4:12
9. Tell Me Mama - 3:03
10. Studio Blues - 3:12
11. I'm a Fool About My Baby - 3:02
12. 38 Pistol Blues - 2:40
13. Pearly Mae - 2:44
14. Walking Blues - 2:42
15. Highway 45 - 4:14
16. Meet Me At The Bottom - 3:30
17. Skinny Mama - 2:52
18. Jockey Ride Blues - 2:48
19. Coal and Iceman Blues - 3:24
20. Army Man Blues - 3:09
21. Black Gal - 4:07
22. Pallet On The Floor - 2:59

Rec. October 7, 1961 in New York City
tracks 1-10 originally released as Studio Blues, 1965. (Bluesville BV 1083)
tracks 11-22 originally released as Blues For Nine Strings, 1962. (Bluesville BV 1056)


Personnel:
Big Joe Williams - vocals, 9-string guitar, 6-string guitar (6), 12-string guitar (2,8)
Willie Dixon - bass
Larry Johnson - harmonica

Notes: By the time these sessions were recorded in the early '60s (as Studio Blues and Blues for Nine Strings), the sounds of Big Joe Williams's thundering voice and his extraordinary nine-string guitar had been heard from the levee camps of the Delta to the freight yards of old Chicago. Once rediscovered by the folks at Prestige/Bluesville (like so many blues artists), he was placed in the studio with an understandably nervous young harp player named Larry Johnson and legendary bassist Willie Dixon. What resulted was a down-home jam session in which Big Joe dragged the others to wherever his personal muse led. Highly personalized versions of ancient ballads are the norm here, with Big Joe's fluid fingerpicking weaving its way around Dixon's deep, syncopated groove. It's incredible how tight the trio is and how original each song sounds considering the improvised nature of the sessions. But then, the great ones always make it sound easy.