These recordings, dating between 1927 and 1929, are a unique body of work: work songs, minstrel numbers, rags, and what we now define as the blues, all offered in an unpretentious form that would have been every bit as compelling had
Henry Thomas
cut them this way 40 years later. Songs such as
"Arkansas,"
"Fox and the Hounds"
(featuring the reed pipes that
Thomas
also excelled at playing), and
"Little Red Caboose"
represent a brand of upbeat dance music associated with late-19th century entertainment, a tradition already largely lost or becoming lost when
cut these numbers. Yet
, who was already in his 50s when he recorded these tracks, sings and plays them with a beguiling ease and honesty, not to mention a dexterity on the guitar that makes him sound every bit as vital and urgent as
Big Bill Broonzy
or any of the other up-and-coming blues legends just starting out at the time these sides were laid down. The blues numbers, including
"Shanty Blues,"
"Woodhouse Blues,"
"Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance?,"
and
"Bull Doze Blues"
are compelling in their own right -- they display musical and lyrical virtuosity and, in the latter two cases, offer a chance to hear the sources for classic works by
Bob Dylan
Canned Heat
, respectively. Luckily for historians,
recorded for
Vocalion
and not for one of the truly lost labels like
Paramount
, and all 23 surviving sides of his work sound very good on this CD. ~ Bruce Eder