Track Listing

1. Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues
2. Sickbed Blues
3. Washington D.C. Hospital Center Blues
4. Devil Got My Woman
5. Illinois Blues
6. I Don't Want a Woman to Stay Out All Night Long
7. Cherry Ball Blues
8. Skip's Worried Blues
9. Cypress Grove Blues
10. Catfish Blues
11. Motherless & Fatherless
12. All Night Long

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49848 in Music
• Released on: 2003-07-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

Excellent Remastering of a Classic Album
This remastered edition of Skip James' 1964 Biograph LP GREATEST OF THE DELTA BLUES SINGERS is a testament to how well his material as aged over the past four decades. James first recorded for Paramount in 1931 and then virtually disappeared until 1964 when (among others) John Fahey rescued him from obscurity. It had been nearly 20 years since James was convinced to perform at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. His reception prompted him to enter the recording studio for the first time in 30 years. The result is this amazing album. Twelve stellar songs featuring James' haunting falsetto and stunning picking. There's an eerie quality to James' music that will give you chills. One listen will convince you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A Blues Classic Remastered!
It might not be readily apparent, but this is not a compilation but a straight reissue of Skip James's finest album, originally recorded in the mid-'60s. Actually, it's not quite a straight reissue--in addition to the remastered sound, it has a new (and superior) cover and a shuffled track order. It also has very good liner notes that I think were included in the original release. According to the notes, half the albums are new version of classic tracks he recorded for Paramount in the '30s. The others are completely new songs. This is a seminal blues album that belongs in ANY blues collection.

The other side of the Delta
Skip James was a contemporary of Robert Johnson who possessed an eerie falsetto voice and pristine fingerpicking. James quit music entirely after making some legendary sides in the 30's and this recording was his first in over 20 years. The title track, his anthem for the Great Depression, was featured on "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?" when Chris Thomas King played it by the campfire. This album intimately captures James' haunting playing and offers a chance to hear an original master in a high quality recording.