“77-minutes of gut-bucket, early gospel from the collections of Gayle Dean Wardlow and John Fahey.  Included... Charley Patton, Rev. I.B. Ware with Wife & Son, Booker T. Washington - “Bukka” White, William & Versey Smith, Blind Willie Davis, Frank Palmes, Bo Weavil Jackson, Elder Otis Jones, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Blind Joe Taggart, Blind Mamie Forehand, Jaybird Coleman, and more.”  Double LP, gatefold sleeve, liner notes by John Fahey.

“The story of gospel music in the 1960s and ’70s is strewn with small record labels. Most produced only a few discs, usually of one or two local artists and selling only a few hundred copies around their home areas. But a few were run on a larger scale. One was Designer, from Memphis, Tennessee, which between 1968 and 1978 produced between 400 and 500 singles and a few albums. Yet less than 30 years after the last issue, Designer has faded into the mist, and little is known of its story. The printed labels tells us it was run from at least two addresses in Park Avenue, Memphis – No 3373, then later No 3109 – by Style Wooten and Charles Bowen. Designer was, in effect, two labels in one. The main one was the “vanity” or “custom” label – available to anyone who could pay the cost of a recording session and having anything between 100 and 1000 45rpm singles pressed. But as well, Wooten and Bowen signed promising artists to contracts, carrying the costs, marketing the discs – and reaping the profits.

“Designer appears to have been purely a gospel label. Most of its artists were African American quartets and small groups from Memphis and the Mid-South, although half a dozen choirs appear in the lists and artists from as far away as New Jersey, New York and Illinois had records issued. Some white artists were also recorded; at least two groups – The Gospel Melodies and The Happy Time Singers – had Designer issues. The dual nature of the label means its artists are of widely varying quality, ranging from semi-professional acts such as the Shaws, the Jubilee Hummingbirds, the Memphis Harmonizers and the Gospel Songbirds to family groups whose budgets and ambitions perhaps exceeded their musical abilities. Designer’s last issue appeared in 1978. The reason for the label’s closure is as obscure as the rest of its life-story, although rumour has it that Wooten and Bowen were pressured out by rival local labels and recording studios which didn’t like the competition. But the Designer legacy survives – a wonderful wide-angle snapshot of grassroots gospel through a fascinating decade of change.” – Alan Young, author of the great Woke Me Up this Morning.

This is a straight reissue of a Designer LP, with three tracks each are the Jubilee Humming Birds, Union Gospel Singers, Madam Andres and the Heavenly Echoes, and the Mosby Family Singers, all of whom deliver rocking uplift. Some notes would’ve been nice, but what can you do. Limited edition, 180-gram vinyl pressing.

Restocked, lower price.  Another lovely and uplifting collection of pre-war gospel from Mississippi Records.  I’m an especially big fan of Kid Prince Moore’s poignant “Sign of the Judgment,” Mother McCollum’s charming “When I Take My Vacation in Heaven,” (also seek out her “Jesus is My Air-o-plane”) and Alfred G. Karnes’ very hot, string-snapping gospel guitar.

Track listing:

Bukka White – Promised True and Grand
Kid Prince Moore – Sign of the Judgment
Bessie Johnson – Great Reaping Day
Blind Joe Taggart – The Storm is Passing Over
Blind Mamie Forehand – Wouldn’t Mind Dying
Willie Williams – Where the Sun Never Goes Down
Bo Weavil Jackson – Fight On, Your Time Ain’t Long
Mother McCollum – Take My Vacation in Heaven
Edward Clayborn – Your Enemy Cannot Harm You
McIntorsh and Edwards – Take a Stand
Alfred G. Karnes – Bound for the Promised Land
Louise & Joseph Spence – Won’t That Be a Happy Time

Restocked. Stellar collection of prewar blues and gospel, some of the greatest hits alongside other fantastic lesser-knowns. Hard for me to argue with any compilation that includes Robert Wilkins, Geechie Wiley, Sister O.M. Terrell, and Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues”.

Track listing:
Geechie Wiley – Last Kind Words
Kid Prince Moore – Church Bells
Robert Petway – Catfish Blues
Sister O.M. Terrell – I'm Going To That City (To Die No More)
Lottie Kimbrough (The Kansas City Butterball) – Rolling Log
Louis McDaniels & Cid Smith – It's Hard To Leave You Sweet Love
Lulu Jackson – Careless Love
Robert Wilkins – That's No Way To Get Along
The Anglin Brothers – Money Cannot Buy Your Soul
Blind Willie & Kate McTell – Don't Let Nobody Turn You 'Round
Cannons' Jug Stompers – I'm Going To Germany
Isiah Nettles (The Mississippi Moaner) – It's Cold In China
Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy – I Called You This Morning
Rev. Edward Clayborn – Death Is Only A Dream

“M for Mississippi” is a wonderful new DVD that provides brief, evocative portraits of some of the current blues singers in Mississippi. The overall impression is of musicians who do this for love (especially since, as a number of the artists point out, if you’re doing it in the hopes of making money, you won’t bother doing it for too long). Cadillac John, his hands quivering, implores his baby to give it all to him. RL Boyce in his element, holds court at a house party. Pat Thomas goes from his extremely energetic descriptions of his visual art to a mellow delivery of his blues. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes at the juke that’s been in his family for decades. The biggest news to me is 80-ish year-old LC Ulmer, who has a lovely, light delivery and comes across as quite the sweetheart.

“This timely road movie will explore the thriving underbelly of a dying American art form in the land where it began – Mississippi. Planned as a weeklong journey through the birthplace of the blues, M for Mississippi seeks to capture the proverbial ‘real deal’ in its home where it is most comfortable and authentic – the jukes, the front yards, the cotton fields. More than just a collection of concert performances, the film will collect the sounds, the images and the feel of both the performers and their native landscape – an environment essential to their livelihoods and inseparable from their art.”

Soundtrack to the DVD, this features 50 Miles friend RL Boyce getting about as free as free can be, the sweet touch of LC Ulmer, Robert “Bilbo” Walker’s heartfelt take on “Bring It On Home,” T-Model Ford and his grandson Stud kicking it out, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes advising us to slow down (I’m trying, Duck!), and plenty more. Some come very obviously out of a particular tradition (Wesley Jefferson reworking “Smokestack Lightning,” Terry “Harmonica” Bean’s slightly more frantic take on a John Lee Hooker / Doctor Ross boogie, etc.) while others are more idiosyncratic.

Track listing:
Big George Brock and the Houserockers – M for Mississippi
The Wesley Jefferson Blues Band – The Wolves are Howling
RL Boyce and Lightnin’ Malcolm – Ain’t It Alright
Terry “Harmonica” Bean – I’m a Bluesman
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes – Slow Down, Slow Down
The Mississippi Marvel and Lightnin’ Malcolm – Black Mattie’s Face
T-Model Ford and Stud – Hip Shakin’ Woman
Cadillac John Nolden and Bill Abel – Give It All to Me, Baby
Pat Thomas – The Woman I Love
The Robert “Bilbo” Walker Band – Bring It On Home
LC Ulmer – Rosalee

“A selection of international songs including Calypso, Flamenco, Thai ballads, Indonesian instrumental and more. Designed as a sort of sequel to our ‘I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore’ compilation. Cover art by Chris Johanson.” – Mississippi.  Vocals often get the spotlight here, lots of nice floaters, which makes the yodel gymnastics of the Dezurik Sisters all the more surreal.  Paste-on front + back covers (check out their construction here: http://powwow.typepad.com/taktak/2009/09/mississippi-records-mata-la-pena-vintage-record-sleeve-project-summer-2009.html)
 
Track listing:
Unknown – Pamahei
Canajas – Danza Mora
The Tiger – Down the Road
Roberto y su Orquestra Tipica – El Amanecer
George Ku Trio – Kuu Lei
The Dezurik Sisters – The Arizona Yodeller
Nelly Luis – Carrito Pasajerito
Unknown – Jagaang Tigang
Ernest Rodgers – Willie the Chimney Sweeper
Hawaiian Orchestre – White Birds
Manuel Vallejo – A Mi Mata la Pena
Blind Mamie Forehand – Honey in the Rock
Hiran Ny Tanoran Ny Ntao Lo – Oay Lahy E

Several years ago Fat Possum bought the rights to the recorded archive of folklorist George Mitchell, which resulted in the release of several CDs and a slew of 7”s, a fair number of which are also stocked here.  Right before this update was about to go out, word came in of this budget-priced 7CD box which compiles all of the material released on those 45 7”s, plus a full CD of additional material.  Mitchell’s recordings and books such as Blow My Blues Away and Ponce de Leon have had a substantial impact on 50 Miles of Elbow Room, so this will get a special mention in these parts. 

For many years, the recordings made by George Mitchell as he traveled the south needed to be procured in a similar manner to which Mitchell learned about the musicians he recorded: following up on a lead here or a reference there, analyzing some scrap of information that might prove to be key, and generally a lot of asking around.  A music enthusiast from an early age, Mitchell’s first trip to hang out with blues musicians took place in 1961, when he was only 17 years old.  Over the next 20 years, he proceeded to periodically record, interview, and photograph many great blues artists.  Along the way he made the first recordings of some artists who later went on to great renown, such as RL Burnside and Otha Turner, as well as some of the earliest “revival” sessions with pre-war stars such as Sleepy John Estes and Furry Lewis.  Mostly he recorded people who remain largely unfamiliar to modern listeners, but whose music offers great rewards: the massive “Georgia Drumbeat” stomp of James Davis, the deep and inscrutable blues of Cecil Barfield, the stately slide guitar gospel of Leon Pinson, the ancient-sounding blues of Lonzie Thomas, the stunning high and lonesome tunes of John Lee Ziegler, beautiful a cappella spirituals, and on and on.  Particularly noteworthy is the amount of material from the Chattahoochee Valley region, which was largely ignored by other folklorists of the time. 

Though these recordings are consistently outstanding, what makes this material truly special to me is the manner in which it transports the listener to a different place and time, giving a sense of how the blues existed during a period when the status of the musicians who played it was often starting to fade in their communities.  That said, the performances often have an intimate and relaxed feel to them, as befits a music played for the joy of a few.  In his liner notes to this box set, Sam Sweet sums it up quite well, “A detailed picture of 20th century black musical culture in the rural South emerges from the recurring themes in Mitchell’s archive: kids learning instruments from their relatives or family friends; musicians spending their entire life within the distance of one or two towns; musicians forming irreplaceable and lifelong musical partnerships; people staging non-church-related concerts and parties for themselves in the woods and fields near their homes.  What Mitchell amassed over his 20 years in the field is as good a picture of that world as any of us are ever going to get.”

For this project, Qbico Records brought together a bunch of open-minded musicians from a multitude of backgrounds and generations, with the objective of everyone coming together for a collective throw-down.  Side B is a notable hoot.  Recorded live at Tonic on March 18, 2004.  Found a couple more of these, very last copies. 

“Thunderously heavy two LP set from Qbico documenting a night in New York where some of the hardest working lungs still in the service of liberated fire - Arthur Doyle, Perry Robinson, Daniel Carter, Charles Waters, Shanir Ezra Blummenkranz and Andrew Barker - plotted various tactical formations with brains of a whole other order, including Ed Wilcox of Temple Of Bon Matin, Nuuj of Pengo/Asthmatic, Dave Cross Of Coffee, Leslie Q and Vinnie Paternostro. Freely-improvised avant-guerilla spurt in the spirit of the LAFMS/MEV and avant/rock coalitions like BAG. First time Doyle has played together with Robinson and Carter since the loft-scene days of the 1970s... Comes in absurd full-colour gatefold sleeve with poem from Steve Dalachinsky.” – David Keenan, The Wire / Volcanic Tongue

side A:
Steve Dalachinsky- Phenomena of interference (excerpt)
Andrew Barker/Charles Waters duo & trio with Daniel Carter
side B:
Andrew Barker/Charles Waters/Daniel Carter/Shanir-Ezra Blumenkranz/Perry Robinson 5et
side C
Arthur Doyle/Nuuj duo
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with special guests Daniel Carter and Perry Robinson
side D
Arthur Doyle Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with special guest Daniel Carter
Arthur Doyle solo

“Double LP set documenting two Qbico hosted nights in Denmark that featured a big band free jazz wig-out led by saxophonist Daniel Carter (Test/Other Dimensions In Music et al) and featuring Vin Paternostro on soprano sax, Marc Gade on tuba, Pernaus Salon on recorder, soprano sax and clay flute 'Qbico' on balalaika, vocals, percussion and violin and Ed Wilcox (Temple Of Bon Matin et al) on drums and harmonica.  There's also some premier trio blats led by Carter alongside Paternostro and Wilcox that succeeds in raising the roof and a particularly massive side-long work from Denmark's own Family Underground.” – Volcanic Tongue

Side A:
Global Experience Orchestra
Side B:
Family Underground
Sides C and D:
Daniel Carter/Vin Paternostro/Ed Wilcox

“A compilation of international 78's compiled by Ian Nagoski (compiler of the Black Mirror CD on Dust To Digital). 14 amazing songs ranging from Calypso, Indian vocal music, Jewish Cantorals, Native American chants etc.  Co-released by Canary Records.” – Mississippi.  Very nicely done with excellent notes by Nagoski, whose work I’ve greatly admired since his stint writing for Halana back in yonder days.