Fred McDowell - The Alan Lomax Recordings

Mississippi Records

£22.66

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: MR074
Barcode: 850024931268
Release Date: 13 Aug 2021
Genre: Blues / Country

Black Vinyl LP with double-sided insert with historical information. Released in collaboration with the Alan Lomax Archive. First pressing 2011, second pressing 2021

These are the first recordings made of Fred McDowell—before the folk festivals and blues clubs, before “Mississippi” was inserted in front of his name, before the Rolling Stones covered his “You Got To Move.” They’re the sound of the music McDowell played on his porch, at picnics, and juke joints; with his friends and family; occasionally for money but always for pleasure. Remastered from 24-bit digital transfers of Alan Lomax’s original tapes, and annotated by Arhoolie Records’ Adam Machado and the Alan Lomax Archive’s Nathan Salsburg, they are an illustration of the mind-blowing revelation that was Fred McDowell.

On the first day of fall, 1959, in Como, Mississippi, a farmer named Fred McDowell emerged from the woods and ambled over to his neighbor Lonnie Young’s front porch with a guitar in hand. Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins were there recording the Young brothers’ fife and drum ensemble, as well as the raggy old country dance music of their neighbors, the Pratcher brothers, and they had no idea what to expect from this slight man in overalls. They certainly didn’t expect that Fred would soon become internationally known as one of the most original, talented, and affecting country bluesmen ever recorded.

Side A: 01. Shake ‘Em On Down 02. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 03. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning 04. Fred McDowell’s Blues 05. Woke Up This Morning With My Mind On Jesus 06. Drop Down Mama

Side B: 01. Going Down To The River 02. Wished I Was In Heaven Sitting Down 03. When The Train Comes Along 04. When You Get Home Please Write Me A Few Of Your Lines 05. Worried Mind Blues06. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning (instrumental reprise)