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Various Artists - Big Joe Williams and the Stars of Mississippi Blues (1951)

Track listing:
CD1
  1. Little Leg Woman 3:08
  2. Somebody's Been Borrowing That Stuff 3:05
  3. Providence Help The Poor People 3:06
  4. 49 Highway Blues 3:08
  5. My Grey Pony 3:11
  6. Stepfather Blues 3:08
  7. Baby Please Don't Go 3:25
  8. Stack O' Dollars 3:12
  9. Wild Cow Blues 3:15
  10. Worried Man Blues 2:39
  11. I Know You Gonna Miss Me 3:03
  12. Rootin' Ground Hog 2:57
  13. Brother James 2:53
  14. I Won't Be In Hard Luck No More 2:39
  15. Crawlin' King Snake 2:50
  16. I'm Getting Wild About Her 2:48
  17. Peach Orchard Mama 2:42
  18. Meet Me Around The Corner 2:58
  19. Throw A Boogie Woogie 2:42
  20. North Wind Blues 2:54
  21. Please Don't Go 2:47
  22. Highway 49 3:13
  23. Someday Baby 3:10
  24. Break 'Em On Down 3:13
CD2
  1. Drop Down Blues 2:57
  2. Somebody's Been Worryin' 3:12
  3. Wanita 3:23
  4. Vitamin A 2:48
  5. His Spirit Lives On 2:46
  6. Baby Please Don't Go 2:47
  7. Baby Please Don't Go - (alternate take) 2:49
  8. Stack Of Dollars 2:49
  9. Mellow Apples 2:48
  10. Wild Cow Moan 2:54
  11. P Vine Blues 3:11
  12. Bad And Weakhearted Blues 2:43
  13. King Biscuit Stomp 2:34
  14. I'm A Highway Man 2:53
  15. Banta Rooster Blues 2:59
  16. Mean Step Father Blues 2:47
  17. House Lady Blues 2:57
  18. Don't You Leave Me Here 2:53
  19. Jivin' Woman 2:48
  20. She's A Married Woman 2:41
  21. Mama Don't Allow Me 2:44
  22. Delta Blues 2:40
  23. Overhauling Blues 2:46
  24. Whistling Pines 2:34
  25. She Left Me A Mule 2:32
  26. Bad Heart Blues 2:45
CD3
  1. You Can Mistreat Me Here 2:45
  2. New Shake 'Em On Down 3:10
  3. Bottle It Up And Go 2:49
  4. Whiskey Head Woman 3:00
  5. Brown Skin Girl 2:45
  6. Cotton Patch Blues 2:47
  7. Baby Don't You Want To Go 2:58
  8. Baby Please Don't Tell On Me 2:44
  9. I'm Going Don't You Know 2:44
  10. New Highway 51 2:51
  11. She's Just Good Huggin' Size 2:59
  12. My Little Girl 2:51
  13. My Baby's Gone 2:45
  14. It's Hard To Be Lonesome 2:38
  15. My Baby's Doggin' Me 2:40
  16. She's A Good Looking Mama 2:52
  17. Whiskey Head Man 2:50
  18. New Sugar Mama 2:58
  19. Down To Skin and Bones Blues 2:42
  20. Katy Mae Blues 2:46
  21. Love With A Feeling 3:00
  22. Drop Down Mama 2:52
  23. Black Minnie 2:56
  24. Elsie Blues 2:59
  25. Des'e My Blues 3:16
CD4
  1. Cross Cut Saw Blues - (take 1) Tommy McClennan 2:44
  2. Cross Cut Saw Blues - (take 2) Tommy McClennan 2:47
  3. Classy Mae Blues Tommy McClennan 2:48
  4. You Can't Read My Mind Tommy McClennan 3:01
  5. Travelin' Highway Man Tommy McClennan 3:01
  6. Deep Blue Sea Blues Tommy McClennan 3:01
  7. I'm A Guitar King Tommy McClennan 2:50
  8. It's A Crying Pity Tommy McClennan 2:52
  9. Mozelle Blues Tommy McClennan 2:57
  10. Blues Trip Me This Morning Tommy McClennan 3:03
  11. Mr. So And So Blues Tommy McClennan 2:46
  12. Roll Me, Baby Tommy McClennan 3:03
  13. I Love My Baby Tommy McClennan 3:07
  14. Shake It Up And Go Tommy McClennan 2:56
  15. Blue As I Can Be Tommy McClennan 2:45
  16. Bluebird Blues Tommy McClennan 2:59
  17. Bluebird Blues - (take 2) Tommy McClennan 2:55
  18. Boogie Woogie Woman Tommy McClennan 3:00
  19. Catfish Blues Robert Petway 2:55
  20. Ride 'Em On Down Robert Petway 2:58
  21. Rockin' Chair Blues Robert Petway 3:03
  22. My Little Girl Robert Petway 3:11
  23. Let Me Be Your Boss Robert Petway 3:13
  24. Left My Baby Crying Robert Petway 3:09
  25. Sleepy Woman Blues Robert Petway 2:46
CD5
  1. Don't Go Down Baby Robert Petway 3:03
  2. Bertha Lee Blues Robert Petway 2:53
  3. Hollow Log Blues Robert Petway 3:05
  4. In The Evening Robert Petway 2:53
  5. My Baby Left Me Robert Petway 3:16
  6. Cotton Pickin' Blues Robert Petway 3:14
  7. Roamin' And Ramblin' Blues David "Honeyboy" Edwards 3:01
  8. You Got To Roll (Levee Camp Song) David "Honeyboy" Edwards 0:58
  9. You Got To Roll David "Honeyboy" Edwards 2:32
  10. Water Coast Blues David "Honeyboy" Edwards 5:54
  11. Stagolee David "Honeyboy" Edwards 1:06
  12. Just A Spoonful David "Honeyboy" Edwards 1:46
  13. Spread My Raincoat Down David "Honeyboy" Edwards 2:40
  14. Hellatakin' Blues David "Honeyboy" Edwards 0:50
  15. Wind Howlin' Blues David "Honeyboy" Edwards 3:15
  16. Worried Life Blues David "Honeyboy" Edwards 2:55
  17. Tear It Down Rag David "Honeyboy" Edwards 1:09
  18. Army Blues, The David "Honeyboy" Edwards 3:51
  19. It's Killing Me Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 2:54
  20. Poor Boy Blues Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 2:43
  21. Jake Leg Blues Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 3:05
  22. My Mean Baby Blues Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 2:56
  23. Dirty Mistreater Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 2:50
  24. Rainy Day Blues Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 3:00
  25. Beer Garden Blues Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 3:00
  26. Dark Road Blues Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton 3:04

Notes


A five-disc box set from England's JSP Records, Big Joe Williams and the Stars of Mississippi Blues collects 126 tracks by Big Joe Williams and loosely related artists like Willie Lofton, Honeyboy Edwards, Robert Petway, and Tommy McClennan. Disc one opens with a half dozen tracks from Williams (including "49 Highway Blues") with Henry Townsend on second guitar that were recorded in Chicago in February 1935, followed by four sides (including Williams' signature song, "Baby Please Don't Go") recorded the following Halloween. The disc closes out with four songs from a session in Aurora, IL, in 1937, and nine tracks recorded in March and December of 1941. The second disc collects 17 songs Williams recorded in Chicago in 1945 and 1947, followed by two sides (including "Jivin' Woman") tracked in St. Louis in 1949, and six songs from a 1951 session in Jackson, MS. Disc three and the start of disc four feature the complete recorded output of Tommy McClennan, a gruff-voiced blues shouter best known for "Cross Cut Saw Blues" and "Whiskey Head Woman" and a penchant for interjections and spoken asides during his recordings. Disc four concludes with seven tracks from Robert Petway, including his influential version of "Catfish Blues." The final disc opens with six more Petway recordings, followed by a dozen Honeyboy Edwards field recordings made for Alan Lomax in 1942, and then concludes with the eight sides Willie "Poor Boy" Lofton recorded for Decca Records in 1934 and 1935 (including his "Dark Road Blues," a version of Tommy Johnson's "Big Road Blues"). What holds all of this together? Countless songs that are essentially variations of "Baby Please Don't Go" and "49 Highway Blues," showing the real and pervasive influence of Williams' rough and ragged approach to Mississippi blues.