Brownie McGhee

Brownie McGhee
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Folk-blues, country blues, Piedmont blues, East Coast blues, blues revival

Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an African-American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (1958) with Sonny Terry
Just a Closer Walk with Thee (1960) rec.'57, with Sonny Terry
Midnight Special (1960) with Sonny Terry
At Sugar Hill (1962) with Sonny Terry
Brownie's Blues (1962)
At the 2nd Fret: Recorded Live (1962) with Sonny Terry
Shouts & Blues (1962) with Sonny Terry
Blues Hoot: Live Recording at the Ash Grove (1963) with Lightnin' Hopkins and Sonny Terry
Hometown Blues (1965) with Sonny Terry
A Long Way... from Home (1969) with Sonny Terry
Back to New Orleans (1972) 1959-1960, with Sonny Terry
I Couldn't Believe My Eyes (1973) Sep 24 1969, 1990 Rem, with Sonny Terry and Earl Hooker
Sonny & Brownie (1973) with Sonny Terry
Rainy Day (1989) May 29 1976
The 1958 London Sessions (1990) with Sonny Terry
Drinking in the Blues (1993) with Sonny Terry
Climbin' Up (1994) 1952/1955, with Sonny Terry
The Complete Brownie McGhee (1994) 1940/1941
Going it Alone (1997) with Sonny Terry
Backwater Blues (1999) Dec 29 1961, with Sonny Terry
Lightning Hopkins and the Blues Summit (2001) rec.'60, with Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terry and Big Joe Williams‎
Key to the Highway (2004) rec.'52, with Sonny Terry
Live at the New Penelope Café (2016) Feb 7 1967, with Sonny Terry

appears on:
American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1965 (1995)
American Folk Blues Festival '70 (1970)

Sonny Terry

Sonny Terry
North Carolina, United States
Harmonica blues, Piedmont blues, country blues, blues revival, folk-blues, East Coast blues

Saunders Teddell, or Saunders Terrell (or other variants, sources differ) (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occasionally imitations of trains and fox hunts.

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (1958) with Brownie McGhee
Sonny Terry and His Mouth-Harp (1958) rec.'53
Just a Closer Walk with Thee (1960) rec.'57, with Brownie McGhee
Midnight Special (1960) with Brownie McGhee
Sonny's Story (1960)
Last Night Blues (1961) with Lightnin' Hopkins
At Sugar Hill (1962) with Brownie McGhee
At the 2nd Fret: Recorded Live (1962) with Brownie McGhee
Shouts & Blues (1962) with Brownie McGhee
Sonny Is King (1963)
Blues Hoot: Live Recording at the Ash Grove (1963) with Lightnin' Hopkins and Brownie McGhee
Hometown Blues (1965) with Brownie McGhee
A Long Way... from Home (1969) with Brownie McGhee
Back to New Orleans (1972) 1959-1960, with Brownie McGhee
Wizard of the Harmonica (1972)
I Couldn't Believe My Eyes (1973) Sep 24 1969, 1990 Rem, with Brownie McGhee and Earl Hooker
Sonny & Brownie (1973) with Brownie McGhee
The 1958 London Sessions (1990) with Brownie McGhee
The Folkways Years 1944-1963 (1991)
Drinking in the Blues (1993) with Brownie McGhee
Climbin' Up (1994) 1952/1955, with Brownie McGhee
Whoopin' the Blues: The Capitol Recordings 1947-1950 (1995)
Complete Recorded Works (1996) 1938-1945
Harmonica & Guitar Blues 1937-1945 (1996) with Blind Boy Fuller
Going it Alone (1997) with Brownie McGhee
Backwater Blues (1999) Dec 29 1961, with Brownie McGhee
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1999) 1944-1949
Lightning Hopkins and the Blues Summit (2001) rec.'60, with Lightnin' Hopkins, Brownie McGhee and Big Joe Williams‎
Doggin' My Heart Around (2003) 1940-1953
Key to the Highway (2004) rec.'52, with Brownie McGhee
Live at the New Penelope Café (2016) Feb 7 1967, with Brownie McGhee

appears on:
American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1965 (1995)
American Folk Blues Festival '67 (1967)

Reverend Gary Davis

Reverend Gary Davis
aka: Blind Gary Davis *, Rev. Gary Davis **, Reverend Blind Gary Davis ***
Laurens, South Carolina, United States
Gospel blues, Piedmont blues, country blues, folk blues

Reverend Gary Davis, aka Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. His fingerpicking guitar style influenced many other artists. His students include Stefan Grossman, David Bromberg, Steve Katz, Roy Book Binder, Larry Johnson, Nick Katzman, Dave Van Ronk, Rory Block, Ernie Hawkins, Larry Campbell, Bob Weir, Woody Mann, and Tom Winslow. He influenced Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Wizz Jones, Jorma Kaukonen, Keb' Mo', Ollabelle, Resurrection Band, and John Sebastian (of the Lovin' Spoonful).

Harlem Street Singer * (1960)
Gospel, Blues and Street Songs (1961) rec.'56, with Pink Anderson
The Guitar & Banjo of... (1964)
From Blues to Gospel (1971)
Pure Religion & Bad Company (1972) rec.'60
Blues & Ragtime ** (1993) 1962-1966
Live & Kickin' (1997) rec.'67
Meet You at the Station: The Vintage Recordings *** (2003) 1935-1949
Live at Gerde's Folk City, February 1962 ** (2009)
At Home and Church ** (2010) 1962-1967
An Afternoon with... (2012) rec.'64

Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt
Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi, United States
Piedmont blues, Country blues, Delta blues, Folk

John Smith Hurt (possibly March 3, 1892 or March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. He worked as a sharecropper and began playing at dances and parties, singing to a melodious fingerpicked accompaniment. His first recordings, made for Okeh Records in 1928, were commercial failures, and he continued to work as a farmer.
Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, located Hurt in 1963 and persuaded him to move to Washington, D.C. He was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt performed on the university and coffeehouse concert circuit with other Delta blues musicians who were brought out of retirement. He also recorded several albums for Vanguard Records.

Worried Blues (1964)
Today! (1966)
The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (1967)
Last Sessions (1972)
Satisfying Blues (1995) Live
Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (1996)
Satisfied...... Live (1996)
Blues Legend (2003) Comp.
Essential Recordings: Candy Man Blues (2009) Rec.'64

tribute albums:
Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt (2001)

Ralph Willis

Ralph Willis
Near Birmingham, Alabama, United States (possible)
Piedmont blues, country blues

Ralph Willis (c. 1910 – June 11, 1957) was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. Some of his Savoy records were released under the pseudonyms Alabama Slim, Washboard Pete and Sleepy Joe.

appeared on:
Shake That Thing! East Coast Blues (2006) 1935-1953, split with Gabriel Brown and Dan Pickett

Dan Pickett

Dan Pickett
Pike County, Alabama, United States
Country blues, Piedmont blues

James Founty (August 31, 1907 – August 16, 1967), better known as Dan Pickett, was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He only recorded fourteen tracks for Gotham Records in 1949, several of which were issued in more recent times. AllMusic noted that "Pickett had a distinctive rhythmic style and unique phrasing that makes his records compelling decades after his release".
For many years, blues researchers had failed to firmly establish Dan Pickett's true identity. More recently, due to continuing diligence and discovery of a contact made regarding royalty payments, the elusive information duly emerged.

appeared on:
Shake That Thing! East Coast Blues (2006) 1935-1953, split with Gabriel Brown and Ralph Willis

Gabriel Brown

Gabriel Brown
Florida, United States
Piedmont blues

Gabriel Brown (1910–1972) was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist.

appeared on:
Shake That Thing! East Coast Blues (2006) 1935-1953, split with Dan Pickett and Ralph Willis

Blind Willie McTell

Blind Willie McTell
Thomson, Georgia, US
Country blues, Piedmont blues, ragtime, Delta blues, gospel

Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues. Unlike his contemporaries, he came to use twelve-string guitars exclusively. McTell was also an adept slide guitarist, unusual among ragtime bluesmen. His vocal style, a smooth and often laid-back tenor, differed greatly from many of the harsher voices of Delta bluesmen such as Charley Patton. McTell performed in various musical styles, including blues, ragtime, religious music and hokum.

Last Session (1961) 1992 Rem.
Atlanta Twelve String (1972)
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1991) 1927-1931
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1991) 1931-1933
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1991) 1933-1935
"Don't Forget It" The Post~War Years (1991) 1949, with Curley Weaver
Pig 'n Whistle Red (1993) rec.1950
Tryin' to Get Home: The Complete 1940 Library of Congress Recordings (2000)

Josh White

Josh White
Greenville, South Carolina, US
Piedmont blues, country blues

Joshua Daniel "Josh" White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s.

Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1993) 1929-1933
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1993) 1933-1935
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1993) 1935-1940
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1995) 1940-1941
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 5 (1997) 1944
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 6 (1998) 1944-1945
The Remaining Titles (1998) 1941-1947

Bumble Bee Slim

Bumble Bee Slim
Brunswick, Georgia, U.S.
Piedmont blues

Admiral Amos Easton (May 7, 1905 – June 8, 1968), better known by the stage name Bumble Bee Slim, was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist.

Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1994) 1931-1934
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1994) 1934
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1994) 1934-1935
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1994) 1935
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 5 (1994) 1935-1936
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 6 (1994) 1936
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 7 (1994) 1936-1937
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 8 (1994) 1937-1951
Vol. 9: Unissued Tests & Alternate Takes (1998) 1934-1951

Irene Scruggs

Irene Scruggs
Lamont, Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States
Piedmont blues, country blues

Irene Scruggs (born Irene Smith, December 7, 1901 – July 20, 1981) was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer, who was also billed as Chocolate Brown and Dixie Nolan. She recorded songs such as "My Back to the Wall" and "Good Grindin'" and worked with Clarence Williams, Joe "King" Oliver, Lonnie Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery, Albert Nicholas, and Kid Ory. Scruggs achieved some success but today is largely forgotten.

The Remaining Titles (1995) 1926-1930, split with Martha Copeland

Pink Anderson

Pink Anderson
Laurens, South Carolina, U.S.
Piedmont blues, Country blues

Pinkney "Pink" Anderson (February 12, 1900 – October 12, 1974) was an American blues singer and guitarist.

Gospel, Blues and Street Songs (1961) rec.'56, with Reverend Gary Davis
Carolina Blues Man, Volume I. (1961) 1992 Rem.
Vol. 2: Medicine Show Man (1962) 1999 Rem.
The Blues of Pink Anderson: Ballad & Folksinger, Vol. 3 (1963) 1995 Rem.

Carl Martin

Carl Martin
Big Stone Gap, Virginia, United States
Country blues, Piedmont blues, East Coast blues

Carl Martin (April 1 or 15, 1906 – May 10, 1979) was an American Piedmont blues musician and vocalist who was proficient at playing several instruments and performed in various musical styles.
Martin was born in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. He made his earliest recordings as a member of several groups, including The Four Keys, The Tennessee Chocolate Drops, and The Wandering Troubadours. He also performed in the trio Martin, Bogan, and Armstrong (with Ted Bogan and Howard Armstrong).

appeared on:
Complete Recordings (1994) rec. 1930-1936, split with Willie '61' Blackwell

Carolina Slim

Carolina Slim
Leasburg, North Carolina, United States
Piedmont blues

Edward P. Harris (August 22, 1923 – October 22, 1953), known as Carolina Slim, was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. His best-known records are "Black Cat Trail" and "I'll Never Walk in Your Door". He used various pseudonyms during his brief recording career, including Country Paul, Jammin' Jim, Lazy Slim Jim and Paul Howard. He recorded 27 songs. Details of his life outside of his music career are scant, and the reasons for the use of different names are unclear.

Complete Recorded Works (1993) 1950-1952

Welly Trice

Welly Trice
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States 
Piedmont blues, East Coast blues, country blues
 
William Augusta "Willie" Trice (February 10, 1908 – December 11, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He released two singles and an album. He remained loyal to his native North Carolina and its regional blues style, often referred to as Piedmont blues, East Coast blues, or more generally country blues.

appeared on:
Carolina Blues (1993) 1937-1947, split with Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council, Eddie Kelly's Washboard Band and with Richard Trice

Eddie Kelly's Washboard Band

Eddie Kelly's Washboard Band
USA
Piedmont blues

appeared on:
Carolina Blues (1993) 1937, split with Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council and Richard & Welly Trice

Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council

Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Piedmont blues, Country blues

Floyd Council (September 2, 1911 – May 9, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, mandolin player, and singer. He was a practitioner of the Piedmont blues, which was popular in the southeastern United States in the 1920s and 1930s. He was sometimes credited as Dipper Boy Council and promoted as "The Devil's Daddy-In-Law".

appeared on:
Carolina Blues (1993) 1937, split with Eddie Kelly's Washboard Band and Richard & Welly Trice

Lonnie Johnson

Lonnie Johnson
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
St. Louis blues, country blues, Piedmont blues, jazz blues

Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson (February 8, 1899 – June 16, 1970) was an American blues and jazz singer, guitarist, violinist and songwriter. He was a pioneer of jazz guitar and jazz violin and is recognized as the first to play an electrically amplified violin.

Blues & Ballads (1960) with Elmer Snowden
Blues by Lonnie Johnson (1960)
Idle Hours (1962) with Victoria Spivey
Woman Blues! (1962) with Victoria Spivey
See See Rider (1964) with Otis Spann
Stompin' at the Penny (1965) with Jim McHarg's Metro Stompers
Blues, Ballads and Jumpin' Jazz, Vol. 2 (1990) with Elmer Snowden
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1991) 1925-1926
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1991) 1926-1927
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1991) 1927-1928
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1991) 1928-1929
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 5 (1991) 1929-1930
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 6 (1991) 1930-1931
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 7 (1991) 1931-1932
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1: Mr Johnson Swing (1992) 1937-1940
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2: More Rhythm (1992) 1940-1942
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1992) 1944-1947

Blind Boy Fuller

Blind Boy Fuller
Wadesboro, North Carolina, United States
Country blues, Piedmont blues, East Coast blues

Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen, July 10, 1904 or 1907 – February 13, 1941) was an American blues guitarist and singer. Of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, a group that includes Blind Blake, Josh White, and Buddy Moss, Fuller was one of the most popular with rural African Americans.

Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1992) 1935-1936
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1992) 1936-1937
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1992) 1937
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1992) 1937-1938
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 5 (1992) 1938-1940
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 6 (1992) 1940Harmonica & Guitar Blues 1937-1945 (1996) with Sonny Terry

Ed Bell

Ed Bell
Davis Plantation, Fort Deposit, Alabama, United States
Country blues, Piedmont blues

Ed Bell (born May 1905, died 1960, 1965 or 1966) was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. Some of his records were released under the pseudonyms Sluefoot Joe and Barefoot Bill from Alabama, whose identity has only recently been verified by historians. His best-remembered recording is "Mamlish Blues".

Mamlish Blues: Complete Recorded Works (1992) 1927-1930