Country Blues: Complete Early Recordings (1927-1929)

Performer: Dock Boggs
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Personnel: Dock Boggs, Hayes Shepherd (vocals, banjo); Bill Shepherd (vocals, fiddle); Hub Mahaffey (guitar). Engineers include: Barry O'Connell. Includes liner notes by Greil Marcus, Jon Pankake, Charles Wolfe, Barry O'Connell. COUNTRY BLUES contains a 64-page book with rare photos and liner notes by Greil Marcus, Jon Pankake, Charles Wolfe. Personnel: Dock Boggs (vocals, banjo); Bill Shephard (vocals, fiddle). Liner Note Authors: Jon Pankake; Barry O'Connell; Greil Marcus; Charles Wolfe. Photographer: Mike Seeger. Released on John Fahey's Revenant label, this Dock Boggs collection includes all 12 of his 1927-29 recordings, plus five alternate takes and four cuts by Bill and Hayes Shepherd, friends and fellow players of Boggs. Included with the set is a 64-page book with essays by Greil Marcus, among others, and this is undoubtedly the best Dock Boggs collection ever assembled. ~ John Bush Dock Boggs was a banjo player and singer in rural Kentucky in the 1920's. He only cut 12 songs and quit music in the '30s at his wife's insistence, but was rediscovered in the '60s by blues collectors who cherished his few recordings. This CD collects all the original sides, plus outtakes and some feverish tracks by Boggs' acolytes the Sheperd Brothers. Those familiar with Harry Smith's landmark ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN FOLK MUSIC already know "Sugar Baby" and "Country Blues," which remain the best tracks here. For pure, personal blues exorcism these outstrip even Robert Johnson's darkest moments. Also here is a chilling take on the standard "Pretty Polly" and "Down South Blues," which reveals a lyrical source for Fred Neil's '60s classic "Everybody's Talkin'." While some of the remaining tracks are more upbeat musically, lyrically they're still mired in hard luck and despair. The CD is housed in a beautiful 64-page hardbound book with essay by noted rock critic Greil Marcus and full notes on the recordings. This is a lovingly prepared reissue that's a must-own for any blues or folk fan.

Spin (4/98, p.130) - "...All of Boggs's music...is mind-blowingly great, and the packaging of COUNTRY BLUES is equally amazing. Lyrics, pics, and essays are bound into a lovely hardcover book, making COUNTRY BLUES a masterpiece of recycling..." The Wire (3/98, p.52) - "...one of the most unique musicians in a tradition that places a premium on the singularity of the individual voice....Boggs conjured up the howling ghosts of Anglo-Celtic balladry and channeled them through the rhythmic temperament of the blues....intensely rhythmic..."

One of the towering figures of old-time music, Dock Boggs was a banjo innovator who played Appalachian songs with a blues feel. Born in 1898 in Virginia, Boggs watched African-American string bands and incorporated what he learned into his own style. He tuned the banjo lower than most Appalachian players, disliked clawhammering, and opted for a three-fingered arpeggio technique. The resulting bluesy style landed him a minor recording deal with Brunswick in 1927. Despite the possibility of a national breakthrough, Boggs turned his back on the industry, which his religious wife Sara considered fraught with sin. After using his banjo as collateral for a loan and working as a coal miner for two decades, the old-time legend was saved from obscurity by Mike Seeger and the '60s folk revival, subsequently recording many sides for Smithsonian Folkways. He died on his birthday in 1971.

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