Blind Willie McTell - Statesboro Blues: Collected Recordings 1927-1950 (2024)

Acrobat has devoted a number of collections to the blues guitarists and singers who represent what is known as the Piedmont school of blues – artists whose roots were in the region surrounding Atlanta, Georgia, and developed a distinctive style of blues during the late 1920s and through the ‘30s, the best-known names including Blind Blake, Barbecue Bob, Curley Weaver, Josh White, Blind Boy Fuller and Buddy Moss. Blind Willie McTell was one of the most prominent of that coterie of performers, and one of the best-known in later years. He had a highly distinctive style, with a fluid fingerstyle technique, playing music that incorporated ragtime, jug band and hokum influences and chord sequences that differentiated it from pure blues more typical of the Delta. This 48-track 2-CD collection comprises a significant proportion of his releases during this era on the Victor, Okeh, Columbia, Bluebird, Vocalion, Decca, Atlantic and Regal labels. It features recordings with his sister Kate McTell and with singer Ruby Glaze, and releases under the names Blind Sammie, Georgia Bill and Barrelhouse Sammy, and with Curley Weaver as The Pig ‘n’ Whistle Band. He is also accompanied by Curley Weaver on second guitar on a number of the recordings. He was a highly individual and stylish performer, with a very extrovert and entertaining approach, and this collection is an enjoyable showcase for his very particular contribution to the Piedmont blues tradition.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Blind Willie McTell - Stole Rider Blues (3:10)
1.02 - Blind Willie McTell - Mr Mctell Got The Blues (2:20)
1.03 - Blind Willie McTell - Mama Ain't Long Fo' Day (2:57)
1.04 - Blind Willie McTell - Writing Paper Blues (3:11)
1.05 - Blind Willie McTell - Three Women Blues (2:40)
1.06 - Blind Willie McTell - Statesboro Blues (2:29)
1.07 - Blind Willie McTell - Loving Talking Blues (2:38)
1.08 - Blind Willie McTell - Dark Night Blues (2:49)
1.09 - Blind Willie McTell - Love Changing Blues (3:08)
1.10 - Blind Willie McTell - Drive Away Blues (3:11)
1.11 - Blind Sammie - Kind Mama Blues (2:57)
1.12 - Blind Sammie - Atlanta Strut (3:09)
1.13 - Blind Sammie - Come Around To My House Mama (3:01)
1.14 - Blind Sammie - Traveling Blues (3:14)
1.15 - Blind Sammie - Razor Ball (3:19)
1.16 - Blind Sammie - Talking To Myself (3:10)
1.17 - Blind Sammie - Broke Down Engine Blues (3:08)
1.18 - Blind Sammie - Southern Can Is Mine (3:14)
1.19 - Georgia Bill - Georgia Rag (3:04)
1.20 - Georgia Bill - Low Rider Blues (3:18)
1.21 - Georgia Bill - Stomp Down Rider (3:07)
1.22 - Georgia Bill - Scarey Day Blues (3:01)
1.23 - Blind Willie McTell - Rolling Mama Blues (3:05)
1.24 - Ruby Glaze & Blind Willie - Mama Let Me Scoop For You (3:10)
2.01 - Blind Willie McTell - Searching The Desert For The Blues (3:09)
2.02 - Blind Willie - Savanah Mama (3:16)
2.03 - Blind Willie - B And O Blues No. 2 (2:49)
2.04 - Blind Willie - Death Cell Blues (3:08)
2.05 - Blind Willie - Warm It Up To Me (2:56)
2.06 - Blind Willie - Runnin' Me Crazy (3:06)
2.07 - Blind Willie - It's A Good Little Thing (2:51)
2.08 - Blind Willie - Lord Have Mercy, If You Please (2:32)
2.09 - Blind Willie - Don't You See How This World Made A Change (2:54)
2.10 - Blind Willie - My Baby's Gone (2:59)
2.11 - Blind Willie McTell - Ticket Agent Blues (3:20)
2.12 - Blind Willie McTell - Bell Street Blues (2:48)
2.13 - Blind Willie & Katie McTell - Dying Gambler (2:59)
2.14 - Blind Willie & Katie McTell - God Don't Like It (2:44)
2.15 - Blind Willie McTell - Hillbilly Willie's Blues (2:43)
2.16 - Blind Willie McTell - Your Time To Worry (3:03)
2.17 - Blind Willie McTell - We Got To Meet Death One Day (2:59)
2.18 - Blind Willie McTell - Cold Winter Day (3:09)
2.19 - Blind Willie McTell - Lay Some Flowers On My Grave (3:24)
2.20 - Barrelhouse Sammy - Kill It Kid (3:51)
2.21 - Blind Willie - It's My Desire (2:40)
2.22 - Blind Willie - Hide Me In Thy Bosom (2:39)
2.23 - Pig’n Whistle Band - Talking To You Mama (3:07)
2.24 - Blind Willie - How About You (2:35)