Josh White  Bluesman Guitar Evangelist Folksinger 
Saga Blues Collection 34[
Label: Saga
Released: 2007
Format: [email protected]

Most blues enthusiasts think of Josh White as a folk revival artist. It's true that the second half of his music career found him based in New York playing to the coffeehouse and cabaret set and hanging out with Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, and fellow transplanted blues artists Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.  In Chicago in the 1960s his shirt was unbuttoned to his waist à la Harry Belafonte and his repertoire consisted of folk revival standards such as "Scarlet Ribbons." He was a show business personality — a star renowned for his sexual magnetism and his dramatic vocal presentations. What many people don't know is that Josh White was a major figure in the Piedmont blues tradition. The first part of his career saw him as apprentice and lead boy to some of the greatest blues and religious artists ever, including Willie Walker, Blind Blake, Blind Joe Taggart (with whom he recorded), and allegedly even Blind Lemon Jefferson. On his own, he recorded both blues and religious songs, including a classic version of "Blood Red River." A fine guitar technician with an appealing voice, he became progressively more sophisticated in his presentation. Like many other Carolinians and Virginians who moved north to urban areas, he took up city ways, remaining a fine musician if no longer a down-home artist. Like several other canny blues players, he used his roots music to broaden and enhance his life experience, and his talent was such that he could choose the musical idiom that was most lucrative at the time.

Tracklist
1. Black And Evil Blues
2. Howling Wolf Blues
3. Greenville Sheik
4. Low Cotton
5. Blood Red River
6. Defense Factory Blues
7. Jelly, Jelly !
8. Careless Love
9. I Know How To Do It
10. Prison Bound Blues
11. Motherless Children
12. Paul And Silas Bound To Jail
13. Strange Fruit
14. The House Of The Rising Sun
15. John Henry
16. Saint James Infirmary
17. Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed
18. Jerry The Mule (Timber)
19. Midnight Special
20. Jim Crow Train