Just A Good Woman Through With The Blues - Trixie Butler
Garbage Man Blues - Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies
The Panama Limited - Bukka "Washington" White
Cool Drink of Water Blues - Tommy Johnson
The Midnight Special - Leadbelly
Worried Man Blues - Carter Family
Les Blues de Voyage - Amede Ardoin & Denus McGee
K. C. Railroad Blues - Andrew & Jim Baxter
Somebody's Been Stealin' - Rev. J. M. Gates
Beale Street Blues - Alberta Hunter
Devil In The Wood Pile - Noah Lewis
Walk Right In - Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers
Ninety-Nine Year Blues - Julius Daniels
Got Cut All to Pieces - Bessie Tucker
Feather Bed - Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers
Can't Put a Bridle on That Mule This Morning - Julius Daniels
Davidson County Blues - DeFord Bailey
Frankie and Johnny - Frank Crumit
Dixie Bo-Bo - Taskiana Four
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child - Paul Robeson
St. Louis Blues - The Hall Johnson Choir
Track Listings (25) - Disc #2
Telephoning the Blues - Victoria Spivey
Viola Lee Blues - Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers
Haven't Got a Dollar to Pay Your House Rent Man - Genevieve Davis
Saturday Blues - Ishman Bracey
When I Woke Up This Morning She Was Gone - Jim Jackson
Canned Heat Blues - Tommy Johnson
Statesboro Blues - Blind Willie McTell
Stealin' Stealin' - Memphis Jug Band
Judge Harsh Blues - Furry Lewis
Rent Man Blues - Edna Winston
I Don't Care What You Say - Harris & Harris
I Hate A Man Like You - Lizzie Miles
'Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do - Pt. 1 - Frank Stokes
I'm a Mighty Tight Woman - Sippie Wallace
Blue Yodel #9 - Jimmie Rodgers
The Girl I Love She Got Long Curly Hair - Sleepy John Estes
Don't Want No Woman - McCoy & Johnson
Cocaine Habit Blues - Memphis Jug Band
Married Woman Blue - Blind Willie Reynolds
Red Nightgown Blues - Jimmie Davis
Hardworking Woman - Mississippi Matilda
Doubled Up in a Knot - Bo Carter
If You Want Me Baby - Daddy Stovepipe & Mississippi Sarah
The First Time I Met the Blues - Little Brother Montgomery
Sales Tax - The Mississippi Sheiks
Track Listings (25) - Disc #3
That's Chicago's South Side - Sam Theard
Peetie Wheatstraw - Pete Wheatstraw
Devil's Island Gin Blues - Roosevelt Sykes
Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard? - Joe Pullum
I Lost My Baby - Lil Johnson
I Lost My Baby - Lil Johnson
Keep Your Hands Off Her - Big Bill Broonzy
When the Sun Goes Down - Leroy Carr
Selling My Pork Chops - Minnie McCoy
Every Day I Have the Blues - Pine Top
Sweet Sixteen - Walter Davis
Honky Tonk Train Blues - Meade Lux Lewis
Trouble in Mind - Richard M. Jones
He Roars Like a Lion - Merline Johnson
Prowling Night Hawk - Robert Lee McCoy
Good Morning School Girl - Sonny Boy Williamson
You Got to Fix It - Speckled Red
Bucket's Got a Hole in It - Washboard Sam
Bottle It Up and Go - Tommy McClennan
Key To the Highway - Jazz Gillum
Don't You Lie to Me - Tampa Red
What Is That She Got - Johnny Temple
Going Down Slow - St. Louis Jimmy
Hobo Blues - Yank Rachel
He's a Jelly Roll Baker - Lonnie Johnson
Track Listings (25) - Disc #4
Pearl Harbor Blues - Doctor Clayton
My Buddy Blues - The Five Breezes
Worried Life Blues - Big Maceo
I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water - The Cats & A Fiddle
Grinder Man Blues - Memphis Slim
Walkin' the Boogie - Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons
Why Don't You Do Right - Lil Green
Little Boy Blue - Robert Lockwood
Angels in Harlem - Doctor Clayton
Illinois Blues - Sunnyland Slim
Chicago Is Just That Way - Eddie Boyd
That's All Right - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
Get the Mop - Henry "Red" Allen
Look On Yonder Wall - Jazz Gillum
Anytime is the Right Time - Roosevelt Sykes Trio
When Things Go Wrong With You - Tampa Red
Dust My Broom - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
Soap and Water Blues - Washboard Sam
Rockin' with Red - Piano Red
Little Angel - Tampa Red Sweet
My Baby Left Me - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
How Blue Can You Get {Downhearted} - Johnny Moore's Three Blazers
Right String But the Wrong Yo-Yo - Piano Red
Ride and Rol - Sonny Terry
Get Rich Quick - Little Richard
Superb sound quality and sheer entertainment value make this a series by which other musical retrospectives should be measured. Over four discs (available individually as well as in this limited-edition set), the expansive... more » selection of blues-based music from the RCA-Bluebird vaults celebrates artistry that still sounds vital 50 years after it was recorded. Among the highlights are such seminal recordings as "Catfish Blues" by Robert Petway (which Muddy Waters would transform into "Rolling Stone"), "Canned Heat Blues" by Tommy Johnson, "Sweet Little Angel" by Tampa Red (later a signature tune for B.B. King), and "That's All Right" by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (which ignited a rock & roll revolution in Elvis Presley's hands). Every cut seems to have been chosen with care, and some of the more obscure rank with the greatest delights: "Memphis" Minnie McCoy's "Selling My Pork Chops" and Washboard Sam's "Soap and Water Blues." As a blues anthology that surveys the roots of rock & roll, the set omits many of the biggest names (who recorded for other labels) and goes lightly on the 12-bar, guitar-driven style that flourished in Chicago after World War II. Yet the variety and vigor of the offerings should strike a responsive chord with casual fan and blues aficionado alike. --Don McLeese« less
Superb sound quality and sheer entertainment value make this a series by which other musical retrospectives should be measured. Over four discs (available individually as well as in this limited-edition set), the expansive selection of blues-based music from the RCA-Bluebird vaults celebrates artistry that still sounds vital 50 years after it was recorded. Among the highlights are such seminal recordings as "Catfish Blues" by Robert Petway (which Muddy Waters would transform into "Rolling Stone"), "Canned Heat Blues" by Tommy Johnson, "Sweet Little Angel" by Tampa Red (later a signature tune for B.B. King), and "That's All Right" by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (which ignited a rock & roll revolution in Elvis Presley's hands). Every cut seems to have been chosen with care, and some of the more obscure rank with the greatest delights: "Memphis" Minnie McCoy's "Selling My Pork Chops" and Washboard Sam's "Soap and Water Blues." As a blues anthology that surveys the roots of rock & roll, the set omits many of the biggest names (who recorded for other labels) and goes lightly on the 12-bar, guitar-driven style that flourished in Chicago after World War II. Yet the variety and vigor of the offerings should strike a responsive chord with casual fan and blues aficionado alike. --Don McLeese
CD Reviews
Some People Are Stupid - REALLY STUPID
D. KNIGHT | Radlett - Herts UK | 06/14/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This review is a direct response to the person who has given it a solitary star. Well I fit into the category of people who "dont know better" This is the best sounding remastering I have EVER heard. The only things that I can think of that compare are Old Hat CDs (how they got some of the sounds on the Basement CD I dont know), JSPs Carter Family & Jimmmie Rodgers box sets, or many many items that Bear Family have been responsible for. I would like to hear Ace have a go remastering stuff from the dawn of recordings - but mostly their releases pick up (date-wise) just about where this stuff stops. As for Document - well, I rate them VERY highly and buy their stuff and enjoy it - BUT THEY DONT SOUND BETTER THAN THESE. It just isnt the case. I was astonished when I first heard the quality of the remastering on this set. Add to that the incredible sound they have got on the Sonny Boy Williamson's and Leadbelly's "Secret Histort" discs. I havent yet heard the Blind Willie McTell one. How anyone can say that this isnt the way this stuff is supposed to sound is beyond me. And its all been done without taking away ANYTHING from the integrity of the recordings. Have a listen and make your own mind up. The bloke who reviewed this and gave it only 1 star should go back to his medium wave radio."
Excellent Overview of the Blues!
deepbluereview | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA | 12/30/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Secret History of Rock and Roll is 100 pioneering blue classics on four compact discs available either separately or as a set. Disc 1 contains some early roots music and is made up of country jug bands, some gospel, a little bluegrass and some vaudeville. Disc 1 features some rare recordings from Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, the Hall Johnson Choir and Julius Daniels to name but three of the 25 represented here. Disc 2 features the earliest known recordings of the best known blues songs such as Noah Lewis' jug standard "Viola Lee Blues" later performed by the Grateful Dead and Sleepy John Estes' "The Girl I Love" which is familiar to all Led Zeppelin fans. Disc 3 brings into focus some material performed by the first generation of blue's stars including, Sonny Boy Williamson, Yank Rachell, Pinetop Perkins and Roosevelt Sykes. Disc 4 represents the sound of the blues post World War II with more of an electric, uptempo, beat. Overall, the recordings are excellently remastered and the set represents a really good overview of the historical development of the blues. Mainly for those interested in the history of the blues."
Can you believe the music is over 70 years old?!?!
nycmusicgirl | The Big Apple, NY | 12/06/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I can't believe the recordings were remastered from over 70 years ago. The sound quality on this 4 disc set is great. There are so many songs on this that I had no idea weren't originals to the stars that made them famous, like "That's All Right" and "My Baby Left Me" (both familiar as Elvis tunes). Really clever liner notes too; they're written after each track so you can literally follow along as you're listening to learn about the music. Cool gift idea for my Dad who's impossible to shop for!"
Fine retrospective for the devoted blues fan
Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 11/16/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
""The Secret History Of Rock And Roll" brings together a hundred original blues classics on four discs.
This series is designed to shine a light on the roots of rock & roll music, and the remastering of these many 70-year-old tracks sounds surprisingly good.
Among the instantly recognizable tunes, many of which were covered in one form or another by rock bands of the '60s and '70s are Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Walk Right In" by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, Huddie Ledbetter's "The Midnight Special", "Statesboro Blues" by Blind Willie McTell, "Good Morning School Girl" by Sonny Boy Williamson, "Canned Heat Blues" by Tommy Johnson, and Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "That's All Right" and "My Baby Left Me".
All the discs in this series are available individually, and the last two volumes are the most immediately accessible for casual or "mid-level" fans, who might want to stick with just those two.
This well annotated collecion isn't supposed to be listened to in one long sitting...even this fine and influential music is not quite varied enough for that. But if you are seriously interested in early acoustic blues, and its influence on 50s and 60s rock n' roll, "When The Sun Goes Down" ranks among the best compilations of its kind.
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1