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Various Artists - When The Sun Goes Down (1955)

Track listing:
CD1
  1. Catfish Blues Robert Petway 2:50
  2. Baby, Please Don't Go Big Joe Williams 3:21
  3. Ham An' Eggs Leadbelly 2:57
  4. Mississippi River Blues Big Bill Broonzy 2:39
  5. Just A Good Woman Through With The Blues Trixie Butler 2:40
  6. Garbage Man Blues Milton Brown And His Musical Brownies 2:42
  7. The Panama Limited Bukka "Washington" White 3:11
  8. Cool Drink Of Water Blues Tommy Johnson 3:31
  9. The Midnight Special Leadbelly 3:05
  10. Worried Man Blues Carter Family 2:43
  11. Les Blues De Voyage Amede Ardoin And Denus Mcgee 2:53
  12. K. C. Railroad Blues Andrew And Jim Baxter 3:28
  13. Somebody's Been Stealin' Rev. J. M. Gates 2:46
  14. Beale Street Blues Alberta Hunter 3:14
  15. Devil In The Wood Pile Noah Lewis 2:53
  16. Walk Right In Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers 2:55
  17. Ninety-Nine Year Blues Julius Daniels 3:02
  18. Got Cut All To Pieces Bessie Tucker 3:26
  19. Feather Bed Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers 3:16
  20. Can't Put A Bridle On That Mule This Morning Julius Daniels 3:23
  21. Davidson County Blues Deford Bailey 3:20
  22. Frankie And Johnny Frank Crumit 3:18
  23. Dixie Bo-Bo Taskiana Four 3:00
  24. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child Paul Robeson 3:00
  25. St. Louis Blues Hall Johnson Choir 3:56
CD2
  1. Telephoning The Blues Victoria Spivey 3:08
  2. Viola Lee Blues Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers 3:08
  3. Haven't Got A Dollar To Pay Your House Rent Man Genevieve Davis 3:29
  4. Saturday Blues Ishman Bracey 3:28
  5. When I Woke Up This Morning She Was Gone Jim Jackson 3:13
  6. Canned Heat Blues Tommy Johnson 3:36
  7. Statesboro Blues Blind Willie Mc Tell 2:32
  8. Stealin',stealin' Memphis Jug Band 2:55
  9. Judge Harsh Blues Furry Lewis 3:03
  10. Rent Man Blues Edna Winston 3:03
  11. I Don't Care What You Say Harris & Harris 2:45
  12. I Hate A Man Like You Lizzie Miles 3:26
  13. 'tain't Nobody's Business If I Do - Pt. 1 Frank Stokes 3:17
  14. I'm A Mighty Tight Woman Sippie Wallace 2:50
  15. Blue Yodel #9 Jimmie Rodgers 2:38
  16. The Girl I Love, She Got Long, Curly Hair Sleepy John Estes 2:55
  17. Don't Want No Woman Mc Coy & Johnson 3:12
  18. Cocaine Habit Blues Memphis Jug Band 2:48
  19. Married Woman Blues Blind Willie Reynolds 3:16
  20. Red Nightgown Blues Jimmie Davis 2:57
  21. Hardworking Woman Mississippi Matilda 2:52
  22. Doubled Up In A Knot Bo Carter 2:50
  23. If You Want Me, Baby Daddy Stovepipe & Mississippi Sarah 2:41
  24. The First Time I Met The Blues Little Brother Montgomery 2:47
  25. Sales Tax Mississippi Sheiks 3:05
CD3
  1. That's Chicago's South Side Sam Theard 2:49
  2. Peetie Wheatstraw Blues Peetie Wheatstraw 3:15
  3. Devil's Island Gin Blues Roosevelt Sykes 3:00
  4. Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On Amos Easton 3:16
  5. Black Gal, What Makes Your Head So Hard? Joe Pullum 3:27
  6. I Lost My Baby Lil Johnson 2:50
  7. Keep Your Hands Off Her Big Bill Broonzy 2:50
  8. When The Sun Goes Down Leroy Carr 2:55
  9. Selling My Pork Chops Memphis Minnie Mccoy 2:52
  10. Every Day I Have The Blues Pine Top Sparks 3:06
  11. Sweet Sixteen Walter Davis 2:48
  12. Honky Tonk Train Blues Meade Lux Lewis 2:57
  13. Trouble In Mind Richard M. Jones 2:40
  14. He Roars Like A Lion Merline Johnson 3:22
  15. Prowling Night Hawk Robert Lee Mccoy 3:02
  16. Good Morning School Girl Sonny Boy Williamson 2:58
  17. You Got To Fix It Speckled Red Trio 3:12
  18. Bucket's Got A Hole In It Washboard Sam 2:41
  19. Bottle It Up And Go Tommy Mcclennan 2:46
  20. Key To The Highway Bill 'jazz' Gillum 2:37
  21. Don't You Lie To Me Tampa Red 2:56
  22. What Is That She Got Johnny Temple 2:54
  23. Going Down Slow St. Louis Jimmy Oden 3:10
  24. Hobo Blues James 'yank' Rachel 3:18
  25. He's A Jelly Roll Baker Lonnie Johnson 3:15
CD4
  1. Pearl Harbor Blues Doctor Clayton 3:01
  2. My Buddy Blues Five Breezes 2:47
  3. Worried Life Blues Big Maceo 2:53
  4. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water Cats And A Fiddle 2:46
  5. Grinder Man Blues Memphis Slim 3:05
  6. Walkin' The Boogie Pete Johnson And Albert Ammons 2:48
  7. Why Don't You Do Right Lil Green 2:56
  8. Little Boy Blue Robert Lockwood 3:02
  9. Angels In Harlem Doctor Clayton 3:03
  10. Illinois Blues Sunnyland Slim 3:12
  11. Chicago Is Just That Way Eddie Boyd 2:49
  12. That's All Right Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup 2:53
  13. Get The Mop Henry "Red" Allen 2:42
  14. Look On Yonder Wall Jazz Gillum 3:05
  15. Anytime Is The Right Time Roosevelt Sykes Trio 3:12
  16. When Things Go Wrong With You Tampa Red 2:59
  17. Dust My Broom Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup 2:36
  18. Soap And Water Blues Washboard Sam 3:05
  19. Rockin' With Red Piano Red 2:30
  20. Sweet Little Angel Tampa Red 2:56
  21. My Baby Left Me Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup 2:20
  22. How Blue Can You Get Johnny Moore's Three Blazers 3:01
  23. Right String, But The Wrong Yo-Yo Piano Red 2:39
  24. Ride And Roll Sonny Terry 2:31
  25. Get Rich Quick Little Richard 2:15

Notes

cd1: Feb 19, 1927-Mar 28, 1941

Walk Right In was the first compilation that Bluebird/RCA assembled for its blues-oriented When the Sun Goes Down series, which examines the role that RCA Victor played in documenting American roots music. To a large degree, this 79-minute CD focuses on acoustic blues of the '20s, '30s, and early '40s. Walk Right In spans 1926-1941, and the most recent recording is Robert Petway's moody "Catfish Blues" (which had a major impact on John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins). The disc offers a variety of blues styles, and they range from pre-World War II, pre-Muddy Waters Chicago blues (Big Bill Broonzy's "Mississippi River Blues") to Southern country blues (Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go," Bukka White's "The Panama United") to jazz-influenced classic blues (including Albert Hunter's 1927 recording of W.C. Handy's "Beale Street Blues," which boasts Fats Waller on pipe organ). But Walk Right In isn't strictly a blues disc; this compilation also gets into everything from old-time country (the Carter Family's "Worried Man Blues") to a Cajun/Creole blend (Amédé Ardoin and Dennis McGee's "Les Blues de Voyage"). Anyone who expects every song on the CD to have 12 bars will be disappointed; the thing that ties all of the material together isn't a 12-bar format, but rather the feeling of the blues. In the 21st century, blues feeling enriches everything from hip-hop and dance music to alternative rock, and Walk Right In demonstrates there was a similar situation before World War II. Not everything on Walk Right In is a 12-bar blues, but everything on this compilation has the feeling of the blues. This compilation is enthusiastically recommended to anyone who is seriously interested in American roots music.


cd2: Feb 7, 1927-Oct 16, 1936

When Bluebird/RCA launched its blues-oriented When the Sun Goes Down series in 2002, it described the compilations as "the secret history of rock & roll." That didn't mean that the series focuses on obscure, lesser-known rock & roll recordings; rather, it spotlights pre-'50s recordings that helped pave the way for the rock & roll explosion. Spanning 1927-1936, When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 2: The First Time I Met the Blues illustrates the diversity of the prewar blues world. The terms "country blues" and "prewar blues" are often used interchangeably, and in fact, a lot of prewar blues did fall into the country blues category (which could be anything from Mississippi Delta blues to Piedmont blues to Memphis blues). But there was also an urban, jazz-influenced school of prewar blues: classic female blues, which was quite popular in the '20s and '30s -- and when this CD is playing, one is reminded of the differences between classic female blues and country blues. Recordings by Victoria Spivey ("Telephoning the Blues") and Lizzie Miles ("I Hate a Man Like You") are the essence of jazz-minded classic blues -- the latter even boasts Jelly Roll Morton on piano -- whereas Bo Carter's "Doubled Up in a Knot" and Sleepy John Estes' "The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair" are state-of-the-art country blues. Meanwhile, old-time country singer Jimmie Rodgers (not to be confused with the Jimmy Rogers who recorded for Chess) favors a rural/urban blend on "Blue Yodel No. 9," which boasts Louis Armstrong on cornet. Rodgers' outlook was primarily rural, but "Blue Yodel No. 9" underscores his willingness to incorporate jazz on occasion. Historians will find a lot to admire about this diverse, far-reaching CD.


cd3: Sep 28, 1931-Feb 13, 1942

Ask a rock & roller to discuss Chicago's contributions to the blues, and he/she is likely to talk about Chess Records and electric post-World War II greats like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells. But the Windy City had a healthy blues scene long before the rise of Chess -- one that went back to the days of Al Capone and Prohibition. Spanning 1931-1942, When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 3: That's Chicago's South Side spotlights the acoustic pre-Chess, pre-Muddy Waters era of Chicago blues -- an era that helped pave the way for Chess Records as well as rock & roll. The recordings on this excellent CD point to fact that, long before Chicago became synonymous with electric blues, the city had its own unique blues sound. Gems like Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning, Schoolgirl" (1937), Roosevelt Sykes' "Devil's Island Gin Blues" (1933), and Tommy McClennan's "Bottle It Up and Go" (1939) are quite different from the blues that were coming from the Deep South in the '30s and early '40s -- these artists offer an acoustic sound, but a harder, tougher acoustic sound than the Southern country blues that were coming from Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee back then. Of course, some of the artists who blues fans associate with Chicago blues were originally from the South; Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, for example, were born in Mississippi. But when Southern bluesmen moved north and interacted with Chicago-based musicians, their music could easily take on a more urban outlook. And an urban outlook definitely prevails on this CD, which underscores the richness of Chicago's pre-Chess blues scene.


cd4: Jun 27, 1939-Nov 7, 1955

When Muddy Waters declared that the blues had a child and they named him rock & roll, he knew exactly what he was talking about -- rock & roll was very much an outgrowth of the blues. Country, jazz, and gospel all influenced early rock & roll, but the blues were the most important influence of all. And no discussion of rock & roll's blues heritage would be complete without some mention of Chicago, which is where many of the songs on When the Sun Goes Down, Vol. 4: That's All Right were recorded. Not everything on this 72-minute compilation (which spans 1939-1955) was recorded in Chi-Town, and not all of the artists had a Windy City address -- in the '30s, '40s, and '50s, Southern bluesman sometimes traveled to Chicago to record. But it is safe to say that Chicago-style blues is a high priority and that all of the artists helped pave the way for the rock & roll revolution of the '50s -- artists like Memphis Slim, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Tampa Red, Roosevelt Sykes, and Big Maceo Merriweather. This disc has its share of songs that became standards, including Merriweather's "Worried Life Blues," Austin Powell's "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water," and Crudup's "That's All Right" (which became a hit for Elvis Presley in the '50s). Other highlights of the disc range from Lil Green's 1941 version of Joe McCoy's "Why Don't You Do Right" (which Peggy Lee didn't embrace until 1943) to Little Richard's 1951 recording of "Get Rich Quick." The latter is downright fascinating. Although "Get Rich Quick" was recorded four years before Richard's commercial breakthrough and isn't as guitar-oriented as his subsequent work, he already had a recognizably flamboyant vocal style. Blues and rock & roll enthusiasts are both advised to give this fine CD a close listen.