Drove from Home Blues (Flywright, 1988; 1992)

Not every great blues collection needs to be compiled on a regional or thematic basis. Sometimes it's possible to throw together a bunch of songs that end up perfectly complementing each other without any advanced planning. I speak from experience on this one, having made innumerable improvised Blues Archives cassette samplers for friends back in my high school and college days in an attempt to convert them into becoming fans of this particular musical genre.

WRIGHT HOLMES, 1967

The common thread running through the 23 tracks on Drove from Home Blues are the 1946-1952 time frame during which they were recorded as well as their having been originally released on 20th Century and Gotham labels. Additionally, the selections presented here all serve as fine examples of material by performers who were old enough to have been raised on prewar blues styles but were also adapting their approach to the increasingly-electrified immediate postwar era before the Chicago formula (a la Chess Records) became established. As such, these songs bear some similarity to those on the equally worthwhile Rural Blues Vol. 1 (1934-1956) on Document.



Varied collection that it is, this CD includes performances by bluesmen from all over the United States. The stark and at-times Lightnin' Hopkins-esque "Good Road Blues," "Alley Special," and "Drove from Home Blues" by Wright Holmes demonstrate that Houston, Texas produced nearly as many fine musicians as did the Mississippi Delta, while the mysterious Sonny Boy Johnson's "Quinsella," "Netta Mae," "She's Alright with Me," and "I Done Got Tired" display the twin influences of Hammie Nixon and Sonny Boy Williamson No. 1, suggesting a possible Tennessee origin for this harmonica player. Although Nathaniel "Stick Horse" Hammond was born in Dallas, Texas, he is generally thought of as a Shreveport, Louisiana blues artist. The archaic-sounding "Little Girl" and "Truck 'Em on Down" are in keeping with his reputed 1896 birth date, putting him somewhere in his early 50s when these tracks were recorded. According to Larry Hoffman's booklet notes, the little-known David Pete McKinley also hailed from Shreveport and, judging by my ears, was likely to have been around the same age as Hammond since "Ardelle" and "Shreveport Blues" both seem to have been cut from a musical cloth similar to that of the aforementioned two tracks. Nearly half of this album is devoted to musicians associated with the East Coast Piedmont region, with the greatest number of selections belonging to the Blind Boy Fuller-influenced guitarist Ralph Willis, including "So Many Days," "That Gal's No Good," "Goin' to Chattanooga," "New Goin' Down Slow," "Steel Mill Blues," and "I Will Never Love Again." Doug Quattlebaum's "Don't Be Funny, Baby" deserves recognition as one of the most menacing blues ever recorded, whereas "News for You Baby," "No Love Blues," "Lonesome Room," and "Baby Let's Have Some Fun" qualify as some of harmonicist Sonny Terry's finest pre-folk revival sides. Thrown in for good measure, Drove from Home Blues closes with Muddy Waters' debut as a commercial artist from 1946, the embryonic "Mean Red Spider" (a song that he would re-record for Chess a couple of years later), which was erroneously attributed to "James 'Sweet Lucy' Carter and his Orchestra."

**Many thanks to ND, MD for providing this generous share.

THE YOUNG MUDDY WATERS DURING HIS
EARLY DAYS IN CHICAGO, CIRCA LATE 1940s

1. Good Road Blues - Wright Holmes
2. Alley Special - Wright Holmes
3. Quinsella - Sonny Boy Johnson
4. Drove from Home Blues - Wright Holmes
5. Ardelle - David Pete McKinley
6. Little Girl - Stick Horse Hammond
7. Truck 'Em on Down - Stick Horse Hammond
8. Netta Mae - Sonny Boyd Johnson
9. She's Alright with Me - Sonny Boy Johnson
10. I Done Got Tired - Sonny Boy Johnson
11. Shreveport Blues - David Pete McKinley
12. So Many Days - Ralph Willis
13. That Gal's No Good - Ralph Willis
14. Don't Be Funny, Baby! - Doug Quattlebaum
15. Goin' to Chattanooga - Ralph Willis
16. New Goin' Down Slow - Ralph Willis
17. News for You Baby - Sonny Terry
18. No Love Blues - Sonny Terry
19. Steel Mill Blues - Ralph Willis
20. I Will Never Love Again - Ralph Willis
21. Lonesome Room - Sonny Terry
22. Baby Let's Have Some Fun - Sonny Terry
23. Mean Red Spider - Muddy Waters