Most of these artists are dead or soon to be, and they're, to my great unhappiness, not minting very many more of them. If you're a country blues enthusiast, you're already familiar with Cephas & Wiggins, Sam Chatmon, Hammie Nixon, and many of the other names recording on this 3 c.d. set and don't require any further endorsements. What distinguishes this set in my view is the eclecticism of the selection, its organization into Delta, Piedmont, and other schools, and the very fine audio quality for field recordings. I also have the Giants of Country Blues Guitar series on Wolf, of which volume one is a desert island disk in my view. Nonetheless, the audio quality of Sam Chatmon recording "Stop and Listen" on this set is far superior (although I miss the barking dog in the background on the Wolf recording). We owe a debt of gratitude to the Germans who made these field recordings as well as to Chris Strachwitz and others who recorded this vanishing American resource.
John Courtade (Austin, Texas United States)