Floyd Jones - Blues & Rhythm Series 5130: The Chronological Floyd Jones 1948-1953 (2005)

Born in Marianna, AR, Floyd Jones grew up in the company of Walter Horton and Chester Burnett, later known as Howlin' Wolf. The three young men traveled together during the 1930s and came into contact with Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Eddie Taylor, and Johnny Shines. While Howlin' Wolf and Walter Horton are well known in the annals of blues and rock & roll, Floyd Jones has never received anything like the attention and respect that his life and music deserve. Listening through these 18 precious recordings, one might sense other blues spirits quietly hovering in the vicinity: Muddy Waters is in here for real, along with John Lee Hooker, Tommy Johnson, Bukka White, and One String Sam, that remarkable individual whose plaintive "I Need a Hundred Dollars" grew directly out of Floyd Jones' "Stockyard Blues" of 1948. This tune was originally issued on the Marvel label backed with the pragmatic "Keep What You Got." Floyd Jones and Howlin' Wolf have in common a riveting intensity that immediately takes over and suspends all superficialities. This is most evident on the slow and deeply distilled "Dark Road," where Jones even howls like the Wolf. The movingly potent J.O.B. and Chess recordings of 1951 are presented here in a sort of primal Rorschach pattern, with two different treatments of "Dark Road" sandwiched between two versions of "Big World." Floyd Jones sang about life as he knew it and felt it, reflecting with gut level honesty on the grueling challenges he encountered while scuffling to make it through each night and day. This compilation closes with eight sides cut in early 1953 for the J.O.B. and Vee-Jay labels. Floyd Jones' bands were invariably made up of tough and seasoned players. In addition to guitarist Eddie Taylor, listeners hear Floyd's cousin Moody Jones on both guitar and string bass, harmonica men Snooky Pryor and Little Walter, and master pianist Sunnyland Slim. This bracing music is essential listening for both experienced devotees and those who have only begun to explore the blues. Everyone ought to make time to experience the awe-inspiring recorded legacy of Chicago bluesman Floyd Jones. ~arwulf arwulf