Classic Blues from Smithsonian Folkways, Vol. 2

Performer: Various Artists
Engineer: Alan Lomax; Sam Charters; Verna Gillis
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Performers include: Leadbelly, Son House, Lightnin' Hopkins, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Roscoe Holcomb, Lucinda Williams. Personnel: Warner Williams, Brownie McGhee (vocals, guitar); Lucinda Williams (vocals, 12-string guitar); Sonny Terry (vocals, harmonica); Edith North Johnson, Nora Lee King (vocals); Joe Chambers, John Grimaudo, Willie Chambers (guitar); Jay Summerour, Lester Chambers (harmonica); Henry Brown, Mary Lou Williams (piano); Gene Moore , Brian Keenan (drums). Liner Note Author: Barry Lee Pearson. Recording information: New York, NY (??/??/1930-03/19/1994); Robinsonville, MS (??/??/1930-03/19/1994); Vienna, VA (??/??/1930-03/19/1994). Author: Leadbelly. Photographers: Marion Post Wolcott; F.A. Usher Sr.; John Vachon. Like the first volume, this brings together a lengthy single-disc program of blues of various shades from the vaults of Folkways. Most, though not all, of these 22 tracks are acoustic, with acoustic guitar blues being well represented with selections from Leadbelly, Pink Anderson, Son House, Honeyboy Edwards, Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Josh White, as well as lesser-known figures like Cat Iron, who plays an eerie slide guitar on "Poor Boy a Long, Long Way from Home." Give the compilation credit for supplying a good deal of variety, however, also dipping into piano blues by Roosevelt Sykes, Memphis Slim, and Mary Lou Williams; though Williams is known as a jazz pianist rather than a blues one, she's the accompanist for Nora Lee King's blues-jazz outing "Blues -- Until My Baby Comes Home." There's also room for a little full-band blues too, with Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry's "Dark Road" (on which they're backed by a drummer), and the much fuller "Down in the Alley," an early electric band recording by the Chambers Brothers. And a couple of white performers make it into the program too, those being Barbara Dane, Roscoe Holcomb (with "Graveyard Blues"), and a young Lucinda Williams (who covers "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor"). A solid and wide-ranging collection this is, but like its predecessor, it suffers from an absence of original recording or release dates for much of the material, though the annotation in the 24-page booklet is otherwise extensive. ~ Richie Unterberger

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