Feelin' Good

Performer: Jessie Mae Hemphill
Engineer: Alan Reitano; Paul Ebersold
Producer: David Evans
Distributor: City Hall

Notes: Personnel: Jessie Mae Hemphill (vocals, guitar, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, bells); Dr. David Evans (guitar); R.L. Boyce (drums). Audio Remasterer: Ian Marks. Liner Note Author: Dr. David Evans . Recording information: Ardent Studios, Memphis, TN (01/11/1984-01/10/1988); University of Memphis Recording Studio (01/11/1984-01/10/1988). Feelin' Good was the first album Jessie Mae Hemphill released in the United States and it differs from its predecessor She-Wolf in that it captures her at her rawest. Half of the record features her supported only by a rhythm guitar and drums, while the other half has Hemphill wailing away at her guitar and percussion simultaneously. The result is hypnotic, mesmerizing record that successfully updates Delta blues, making the covers sound as fresh as the originals. ~ Thom Owens

Boasting a musical family which included grandfather Sid Hemphill and aunt Rosa Lee Hill, the traditionalist Mississippi blueswoman Jesse Mae Hemphill specialized in a folk-derived, non-commercial blues indigenous to her region, including that of the fife-and-drum bands which actually predate the blues early in the 20th century. Hemphill's own music is characterized by the use of droning chords and self-accompanied rhythm provided by beating her foot on a tambourine. Her first solo album, 1981's SHE-WOLF, was actually first released in France but she eventually garnered several W.C. Handy awards for Best Traditional Artist all through the '80s. In 1993, a stroke necessitated her laying down her guitar but she continued to sing and beat on the tambourine till her death in 2006.

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