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Various Artists - Times Ain't Like They Used To Be: Early American Rural Music Vol. 8 (Yazoo 2068)

Track listing:
  1. It's Just Like Heaven - Vaughan Quartet 3:12
  2. The Steeley Rag - Red Headed Fiddler 2:36
  3. Paddlin' Blues - Gitfiddle Jim 3:19
  4. Sand Mountain Drag - Dilly & His Dill Pickles 3:23
  5. Sugar Baby - Dock Boggs 3:00
  6. My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon - King Solomon Hill 3:11
  7. The Lost Child - Stripling Brothers 3:07
  8. The Train That Carried My Girl From Town - Frank Hutchinson 3:04
  9. You Can't Keep No Brown - Bo Weavil Jackson 2:52
  10. Mother Is With The Angels - Wright Brothers Quartet 2:59
  11. Rambling Lover - Dick Reinhart 2:53
  12. 4 O'clock Blues - Skip James 2:52
  13. Yellow Rose Of Texas - Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters 2:53
  14. Gonna Ride Till The Sun Goes Down - Johnny Barfield 2:54
  15. Mamlish Blues - Ed Bell 2:36
  16. Robinson County - Ted Sharp, Hinman And Sharp 3:09
  17. Valse Des Vachers - Dennis Mcgee 2:38
  18. Jailhouse Rag - David Miller 2:43
  19. I Want Someone To Love Me - Tommy Johnson 2:57
  20. Tennessee Tornado - Uncle Dave Macon And Mcgee Bros. 3:15
  21. Roving Cowboy - Frank Jenkins 2:59
  22. Big Bend Gal - Shelor Family 2:49
  23. Yes Tis Me - Rev. W.M. Mosley 3:00

Notes

1. VAUGHAN QUARTET,
It's Just Like Heaven
2. RED HEADED FIDDLER,
The Steeley Rag
3. "GITFIDDLE JIM",
Paddlin' Blues
4. DILLY & HIS DILL PICKLES,
Sand Mountain Drag
5. DOCK BOGGS,
Sugar Baby
6. KING SOLOMON HILL,
My Buddy Blind Papa Lemon
7. STRIPLING BROTHERS,
The Lost Child
8. FRANK HUTCHISON,
The Train That Carried My Girl From Town
9. BO WEAVIIL JACKSON,
You Can't Keep No Brown
10. WRIGHT BROTHERS QUARTET,
Mother Is With The Angels
11. DICK REINHART,
Rambling Lover
12. SKIP JAMES,
4 O'Clock Blues
13. DA COSTA WOLTZ'S SOUTHERN BROADCASTERS,
Yellow Rose Of Texas
14. JOHNNY BARFIELD,
Gonna Ride Till The Sun Goes Down
15. ED BELL,
Mamlish Blues
16. "TED" SHARP, HINMAN, & SHARP,
Robinson County
17. DENNIS MCGEE,
Valse Des Vachers
18. DAVID MILLER,
Jailhouse Rag
19. TOMMY JOHNSON,
I Want Someone To Love Me
20. UNCLE DAVE MACON & MCGEE BROS.,
Tennessee Tornado
21. FRANK JENKINS,
Roving Cowboy
22. SHELOR FAMILY,
Big Bend Gal
23. REV. W.M. MOSLEY,
Yes! Tis Me

Each volume in Yazoo Records' Times Ain't Like They Used to Be series (this one is the eighth installment) collects 1920s and '30s commercial 78s that, taken together, project a vital and energetic rural, early 20th century America of jug and string bands, country blues players, fiddlers, banjoists, sacred singers, and musical roustabouts of every conceivable rustic... More style imaginable. This process makes each volume remarkably similar even as the particular artists and songs included on each may be tremendously different. Volume 8 is a little heavier on the blues side of things and includes such rare gems as Dock Boggs' banjo blues set piece "Sugar Baby," Skip James' haunting rendering of "4 O'Clock Blues" (made especially precious by sounding like it was recorded in a hail storm), Frank Hutchison's sleek and timeless "The Train That Carried My Girl from Town," and Francis Jenkins' ancient sounding fiddle ballad, "Roving Cowboy," which sounds a bit like an inland sea shanty. Since everything is drawn from exceedingly rare 78s, many of which were played to death by their original owners, there is a fair amount of ambient needle noise on most of these tracks, but that only adds to the overall feel of history actually coming alive that is inherent to these kinds of compilations. Well selected, varied, and artfully sequenced, Times Ain't Like They Used to Be, Vol. 8 is a welcome addition to a hopefully never-ending series.