Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Country Blues Troubadors 1938-1948 (JSP, 2004)

Please don't let me be misunderstood in this mildly critical review. There is some fantastic music on this box set. Indeed, if you're particular to blues recorded post-Robert Johnson and before the era of electric amplification, many of these selections are indisputable period classics. However, this collection is not exactly what it seems to be. While it does contain a staggering number of performances by harmonicist Sonny Terry and guitarist Brownie McGhee, only approximately 20 of the 125 sides included here actually feature the two performing together. Interestingly enough, McGhee is heard playing in the company of the considerably lesser-known harp blower Jordan Webb just as often, if not more so, throughout the tracks on this anthology. Much of this is explained by the fact that Sonny and Brownie didn't really start to become viewed as an inseparable duo until the advent of the postwar folk and blues revivals. (In reality, let's not forget there was quite a bit of animosity between the two that frequently manifested itself in the form of arguments and onstage insult exchanges.) Nevertheless, the material that appears on this set displays an impressive diversity of styles ranging from folk songs to Piedmont blues to gospel to early East Coast R&B. The performances also boast an impressive cast of supporting musicians, including Champion Jack Dupree, Blind Boy Fuller, Stick McGhee, Buddy Moss, and Ralph Willis.

So what is there to gripe about? A couple of minor things, actually. These JSP boxes - this one included - sometimes suffer from the same problem that affects the various multi-volume Complete Recorded Works series on Document. That is, it can be a tedious experience to listen to them in their entirety in one sitting, unlike the more engaging and thoughtfully-sequenced albums on Yazoo. To put it another way, I'd rather hear these songs individually incorporated into a 1930s-1940s blues mix instead of in their present arrangement. While the sound quality on JSP releases is generally superior to their Document counterparts, the same cannot be said about the personnel notes since it's not always clear as to who's playing what on this collection. Those two items aside, there is much to enjoy on Country Blues Troubadors so long as you're not expecting every track to be a Sonny and Brownie duet recording.

Disc A
SONNY TERRY
1. Mountain Blues
2. The New John Henry
3. Fox Chase
4. Lost John
5. Train Whistle Blues
6. New Love Blues
7. Harmonica Blues
8. Harmonica and Washboard Breakdown
9. Harmonica Stomp
10. Harmonica and Washboard Blues
11. Forty-Four Whistle Blues
12. Blowing the Blues
13. Touch It Up and Go
BROWNIE McGHEE
14. Picking My Tomatoes
15. Me and My Dog Blues
16. Born for Bad Luck
17. I'm Callin' Daisy
18. Step It Up and Go
19. My Barkin' Bulldog Blues
20. Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Baby
21. Poison Woman Blues
22. Back Door Stranger
23. Be Good to Me
24. Not Guilty Blues
25. Coal Miner Blues

Disc B
BROWNIE McGHEE
1. Step It Up and Go No. 2
2. Money Spending Woman
3. Death of Blind Boy Fuller (alternate take)
4. Death of Blind Boy Fuller
5. Go to Find My Little Woman
6. I'm a Black Woman's Man (alternate take)
7. I'm a Black Woman's Man
8. Dealing with the Devil
9. Double Trouble (take 1)
10. Double Trouble (take 2)
11. Woman I'm Done
12. Key to My Door
13. Million Lonesome Women
14. Ain't No Tellin'
15. Try Me One More Time
BROTHER GEORGE AND HIS SANCTIFIED SINGERS
16. I Want to See Jesus
17. Done What My Lord Said
18. I Want King Jesus
19. What Will I Do (Without the Lord)
BROWNIE McGHEE
20. Key to the Highway 70 (take 1)
21. Key to the Highway 70 (take 2)
22. I Don't Believe in Love
23. So Much Trouble
24. Goodbye Now
25. Jealous of My Woman

Disc C
BROWNIE McGHEE
1. Unfair Blues
2. Barbecue Any Old Blues
3. Workingman's Blues
4. Sinful Disposition Blues
5. Back Home Blues
6. Deep Sea Diver
7. It Must Be Love
8. Swing, Soldier, Swing (take 1)
9. Swing, Soldier, Swing (take 2)
SONNY TERRY
10. John Henry
11. Fox Chase
12. Fox Chase
13. The Red Cross Store
14. Sweet Woman
15. Fox Chase
BROWNIE McGHEE AND SONNY TERRY
16. That the Stuff (Watch Out)
17. Knockabout Blues (Carolina Blues)
18. Easy Ridin' Buggy
19. Women Lover Blues
SONNY TERRY
20. Run Away Woman
21. Shake Down
BROWNIE AND STICKS McGHEE
22. Movin' to Kansas City
23. Railroad Blues
24. Rocks in My Bed
25. Tennessee Shuffle

Disc D
BROWNIE AND STICKS McGHEE
1. Precious Lord Hold My Hand
2. If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again
BROWNIE McGHEE
3. Rum Cola Papa
4. Mean Old Frisco
5. Sportin' Life Blues
6. Worried Life Blues
7. Brownie's Guitar Boogie
8. Lovin' with a Feeling
9. Night Time Is the Right Time
10. Bad Blood
11. I Don't Care
12. Big Legged Woman
13. B.M. Blues
14. Evil but Kindhearted
15. Seaboard and Southern
16. Dissatisfied Woman
17. How Can I Love You
18. Hello Blues
SONNY TERRY
19. Whoopin' the Blues
20. Leavin' Blues
21. Riff and Harmonica Jump
22. All Alone Blues
BROWNIE McGHEE
23. Me and My Dog
24. Pawnshop Blues
25. The Way I Feel

Disc E
BROWNIE McGHEE
1. Go on Blues
2. Auto Mechanic Blues
3. I'm Talking About It
4. Dollar Bill
5. Country Boy Boogie
SONNY TERRY
6. Harmonica Rag
7. Screamin' and Cryin' Blue
8. Beer Garden Blues
9. Worried Man Blues
BROWNIE McGHEE
10. Aunt Jane's Blues
11. Mabelle
12. So Long Baby
13. Poor Boy Blues
SONNY TERRY
14. Custard Pie Blues
15. Early Morning Blues
16. Crow Jane Blues
17. Hot-Headed Woman
BROWNIE McGHEE
18. Wrong Man Blues
19. Married Woman Blues
20. Robbie-Doby Boogie
21. My Fault
22. Brown Mule Blues
23. Hard Bed Blues
24. My Bulldog Blues
25. Gin Headed Woman