My Rough And Rowdy Ways Vol. 2 CD

Digitally remastered from the original recordings by Richard Nevins.

My Rough and Rowdy Ways, Vol. 2 features 23 songs from the '30s about badmen and hellraisers, by artists ranging from legends like Uncle Dave Macon, Mississippi John Hurt, and Big Bill Broonzy to obscure music pioneers like George Reneau and groups like the Haywood County Ramblers. The mix of white, country, and black, blues artists is one of the better in this series, the music meshing together to form a kind of audio panorama of story-songs dealing with life on the far side of law and order -- "Otto Wood the Bandit" by the Carolina Buddies, (aka Odell Smith [fiddle] and Norman Woodlief [guitar]), segues into Mississippi John Hurt's "Frankie," followed by Uncle Dave Macon's rip-roaring banjo workout "Railroadin' and Gamblin'" (anyone seeking a track that defines Macon's claw-hammer style of banjo playing need look no further than this cut). Among the too little heard bluesmen featured here are Sloppy Henry ("Canned Heat Blues") and Peg Leg Howell ("Skin Game Blues"), who also plays on Henry's cut, and Robert Wilkins, whose "Old Jim Canan's" features a superb guitar duet between the singer and Little Son Joe, later the husband of Memphis Minnie. Country highlights include Georgia based fiddle wildman Earl Johnson ("Nobody's Business") and George Reneau's "Jesse James," which features singing by future star crooner Gene Austin. Yazoo has done a generally good job of remastering these cuts, so the sound on most of it (David Miller's "That Bad Man Stackolee" and Uncle Dave Macon's "Late Last Night When Willie Come Home" are the big exceptions) holds together at a decent volume without any excessive artificial processing or distracting noise. The only drawback is the booklet, which is extremely confusing, since it refers extensively to artists and material on Vol. 1 of this collection, a separate CD. ~ Bruce Eder

Includes liner notes by Charles Wolfe.

Audio Remasterer: Richard Nevins.

Liner Note Authors: Charles K. Wolfe; Don Kent.

Recording information: ??/1920-??/1930.CMJ (12/21/98, pp.26-27) - "...rock 'n' roll fans who have yet to unearth the joys of American folk music may begin to see the light..."
Dirty Linen (4-5/99, p.75) - "...some great, hard-to-find country blues and old-timey classics....this set brings together some wonderful performances that explore the pre-war blues and 'hillbilly' ethos of bad men, bad living and all the bad things that'll drag a good man down."