Cow Country

The second of three Josh White CDs that document the folk singer's early period features him both as a gospel performer (known as "The Singing Christian") and as a blues singer (billed as "Pinewood Tom"). White's guitar playing was quite fluent during this period and he sounds quite authentic in these different idioms. The first two sessions feature him solo and then other selections have Walter Roland, Leroy Carr or Clarence Williams on piano, with two songs adding Scrapper Blackwell on second guitar. Among the better selections are "Welfare Blues," "I Believe I'll Make a Change," "Evil Man Blues," "Black Gal," "Milk Cow Blues" and "Homeless and Hungry Blues."

During the last quarter of the 20th century, and thanks largely to Eric Clapton's remarkable devotion to his memory, Robert Leroy Johnson posthumously became the most celebrated Delta blues musician of the pre-WWII era. Among numerous editions of his complete works and various anthologies that combine his recordings with those of his contemporaries and followers, J.S.P.'s The Road to Robert Johnson and Beyond combines many of his essential performances with those by dozens of other blues artists from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Henry Thomas to Muddy Waters and Elmore James. 105 tracks fill four CDs with several decades' worth of strongly steeped blues that trace the African American migration from the deep south on up into Chicago. This is a fine way to savor the recorded evidence, as primary examples from Blind Blake, Charley Patton, Son House, Charlie McCoy, Walter Vincson, Skip James, Ma Rainey, Tampa Red, Kokomo Arnold, Scrapper Blackwell, Leroy Carr, Lonnie Johnson, and Peetie Wheatstraw lead directly to early modern masters like Big Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Bill Broonzy, Johnny Temple, Leroy Foster, Johnny Shines, Homesick James Williamson, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Snooky Pryor, Little Walter, and David Honeyboy Edwards, among many others.