OR   Search for Artist/Title    Advanced Search
 
you are not logged in...  [login] 
All Reviews    Edit This Review     
Review: 'Skip James'
'The Complete 1931 Sessions'   

-  Label: 'Org Music'
-  Genre: 'Blues' -  Release Date: '25.11.22.'

Our Rating:
This is a welcome re-issue for the complete 1931 recordings of legendary Bluesman Skip James, that was originally released on Matchbox Records in 1982 when these recordings were first re-mastered. The last re-issue of this fabulous material was in 1994 so this is a long overdue re-issue and the first Vinyl re-press since 1986. This version follows the same running order as the version issued by Yazoo Records.

The Lp opens with the legendary Devil Got My Woman with some spectral acoustic blues guitar and Skip's hard life vocals, about how his woman is really the devil in his life, this song and music from the dawn of recorded time, still sounds powerful, as he pleads and the surface noise crackles away.

If You Haven't Got Any Hay Get On Down The Road features some sparse juke joint piano as Skip explains if you ain't got the dough you better get on down that road and find some, don't expect anything for free, which in the hard scrabble world of the American south at the start of the 1930's could have meant tramping for weeks in search of work or food.

Hard Luck Child tells Skips or any number of other southern folks of the times story, of being down on their luck and in need, in a time when help was not about to be offered to them, you would be hitting that long old road in the hope of something better. The carefully picked guitar is full of emotion and signposts for how the blues would develop in subsequent decades.

Drunken Spree tells a familiar tale of someone trying to tell their drunken partner to stop drinking and sober up a bit, the pledge to not drink anymore that he may keep to, or he may just be saying to keep his partner happy.

Little Calf And A Cow Is Gonna Die Blues is a rural blues song of desperation, when the animals that you hope will help feed you die before they are due to, the piano just adds layers of emotion to this desperate tale.

Be Ready When He Comes is a classic reading of this gospel blues song, that tells you to be ready to hear the lord's message when he speaks to you.

How Long "Buck" is a song that has been re-worked many times since, this version still has plenty of power, as the minimal piano accompaniment does just enough to emphasize why he's asking Buck How Long.

I'm So Glad is built around a spectral guitar figure as Skip tells us just how happy he is, as I'm sure plenty of guitar players will sit down and still find it hard to replicate exactly what he's doing on his guitar.

Cherry Ball Blues has Skip walking and chatting with the Cherry in question, wondering how he can make her love him, with his voice sounding even higher than normal, as he explains why he wants this to happen.

Hard Time Killing Floor Blues is a much re-worked song, here in its' earliest form, the dread that you might end up on that Killing Floor is made clear and the desperation at the songs heart is felt in every note played.

22-20 Blues is of course a murder ballad with that 22-20 shotgun playing its deadly central role as the piano rolls lead up towards the scatter gun playing as things come to a head.

4 O'Clock Blues is about being up at the crack of dawn or far earlier when that knock comes on your door and the argument that follows.

Jesus Is A Mighty Good Leader is a plaintive run through this gospel classic, that although played on a acoustic guitar I can hear a church full of people clapping and chanting along with this song.

Yola My Blues Away has Skip worrying his life away, realizing he needs to stop worrying so much, as the finger picking guitar adds layer of emotion to this song as we hope his blues go away.

What Am I To Do Blues is the most hiss laden of the recordings, but still the simple piano blues figures shine though as Skip asks that question once more as we wonder exactly what he might do.

Special Rider Blues is one of Skips "hits" as I know this song from several covers, it's great to hear the original of a song about how you have one Special Rider, or girlfriend, the emotional yearning makes clear just how special that Rider really was. It also shows just how much other versions have worked around how hard it is to play guitar like Skip does.

Illinois Blues has Skip headed towards the promised land of Illinois where things may well be better, as he asks a few questions and keeps picking away at his guitar, as the hard scrabble life of having holes in your pockets and shoes as you hope that one day you really won't feel so hungry.

The album closes with Cypress Grove Blues has a classic blues opening later borrowed by among others Creedence Clearwater Revival, as we find out what happens in that Cypress Grove. This is a great collection of the early works of a very influential musician who thankfully survived to see the blues revivals of the 1950's and 60's.

Find out more at https://www.roughtrade.com/us/product/skip-james/the-complete-1931-session-rsd-black-friday-2022


  author: simonovitch

[Show all reviews for this Artist]

READERS COMMENTS    10 comments still available (max 10)    [Click here to add your own comments]

There are currently no comments...
----------