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Peg Leg Howell - Complete Recordings in Chronological Order Volume 2 (1930)

Track listing:
  1. Long, Tall, Disconnected Mama 3:11
  2. Royal Palm Special Blues 3:08
  3. Banjo Blues 3:02
  4. Turkey Buzzard Blues 3:15
  5. Turtle Dove Blues 3:12
  6. Walkin' Blues 3:06
  7. Wringing That Thing Tampa Joe 3:13
  8. Worrying Blues Tampa Joe 3:12
  9. Broke and Hungry Blues 3:22
  10. Rolling Mill Blues 3:10
  11. Ball and Chain Blues 3:04
  12. Monkey Man Blues 2:59
  13. Chittlin' Supper 2:56
  14. Away From Home 2:56
  15. Everything's Coming My Way Tampa Joe 3:04
  16. Mean Florida Blues Tampa Joe 3:13
  17. Try That Thing Tampa Joe 3:21
  18. Tickle Britches Tampa Joe 3:13
  19. Tantalizing Bootblack Tampa Joe 3:09
  20. Warm Wipe Stomp Tampa Joe 3:17
  21. I'll Play My Harp in Beulah Land Brothers Wright and Williams 3:13

Notes


Atlanta street singer Joshua "Joe" Howell got the moniker Peg Leg following a shotgun mishap in 1919 (he lost his other leg to diabetes in 1952), and, unable to perform manual labor, he turned to music, recording several tracks in the late '20s under his own name and several tracks in various configurations with fellow street performers Henry Williams and Eddie Anthony. Anthony's fiddle (and occasional accordion) playing gave these pieces a kind of string band feel, and with Howell's loose, greasy blues lyrics, they created, at times, a fascinating hybrid, as evidenced by "Rolling Mill Blues," included here. When his recording career faded, Howell returned to street singing, working Atlanta's rough Decatur Street district until his re-discovery in 1963. He recorded some late tracks for Testament Records before dying in 1966.