Track Listing

1. Midnight Boogie - Robert Pete Williams
2. Levee Camp Blues - Robert Pete Williams
3. My Baby Done Changed the Lock on the Door - Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry
4. Tupelo - John Lee Hooker
5. Bus Station Blues - John Lee Hooker
6. Son's Blues - Son House
7. Pony Blues - Son House
8. Mailman Blues - Sleepy John Estes
9. Clean up at Home - Sleepy John Estes
10. Hey Rattler/Oh My Lord - Doc Reese
11. Sliding Delta - Mississippi John Hurt
12. Trouble I Had All My Days - Mississippi John Hurt
13. Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues - Skip James
14. Illinois Blues - Skip James
15. Death Don't Have No Mercy - Rev. Gary Davis
16. Carfish Blues - Willie Doss
17. I Had a Woman - Willie Doss
18. Lord, I'm Going Down South - Mississippi Fred McDowell
19. If the River Was Whiskey - Mississippi Fred McDowell
20. Cottonfield Blues - Lightnin' Hopkins, Sam Lay, ,
21. Shake That Thing - Lightnin' Hopkins, Sam Lay, ,

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #400586 in Music
• Released on: 1991-09-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
While the likes of Chess and Delmark were wellsprings of '60s electric blues, Vanguard carved out a concurrent niche as a harbor for aging country bluesmen. It was a natural match since the gentler likes of Sleepy John Estes and Mississippi John Hurt went over well with the label's core folk audience. The coalition extended to the Newport Folk Festival, which was much more receptive to acoustic blues than their amplified Chicago offspring. Great Bluesmen/Newport (originally a two-LP set) presents 21 tracks culled from late '50s and mid-'60s performances at the Newport Folk Festival. A consistently rewarding collection, Great Bluesmen nevertheless has its highlights, foremost being John Lee Hooker's brooding "Tupelo." But with Son House, Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Lightnin' Hopkins in evidence, how can a folk-blues fan go wrong? --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

THIS is the blues!
Anyone looking for the real thing, the delta blues done by the real delta bluesmen, this compilation of acoustic performances at the Newport Folk Festival in the late 50's to early 60's is it. The old guys had their mothballs dusted off and were trotted out for the new, pre-rock 'n' roll folkies of the time, and a revival was born. Now, in the new millennium, this stuff sounds as fresh and hot (or cool, as the case may be) as it did in the decades before it was recorded. These guys aren't around anymore, but you can still listen to the REAL blues, as it was, as it is, as it should be.

Tremendous anthology
What an outstanding album. Give this to your great friends.