Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues: The Worlds Of Charley Patton CD

Perhaps the most sumptuous, nay incredible, box set package ever devised for a blues artist, this lavish production contains seven CDs that not only contain everything Patton recorded as a soloist, but a ton of peripheral tracks to which he contributed or was associated. Yes, this has all 54 known extant Patton performances (including four unissued alternate takes), but that is, quite literally, not the half of it. There are also cuts recorded by other acts at Patton's sessions, including Walter Hawkins, Edith North Johnson, Henry Sims, Willie Brown, Son House, Louise Johnson, the gospel quartet the Delta Big Four, and Bertha Lee. Some of these he played on; some of them he might have played on; and some of them he didn't play on, though he knew (or might have known, anyway) the musicians. There are even a couple of test recordings of Paramount talent scout H.C. Speir reading headlines, which takes even this sort of fanaticism to the extreme, but why not the whole nine yards, right? Then there's an entire disc of tracks by other blues artists, spanning 1924 to 1957 (though mostly weighted toward the early years of that period), spotlighting songs that were related to Patton's repertoire, or inspired in some way by songs in his discography. That CD includes some pretty big names, like Ma Rainey, Furry Lewis, Tommy Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Joe Williams, and even the Staple Singers, though room's also made for unknowns, including one "Blues" by Unidentified Convict. And then there's an entire disc of interviews about Patton with Howlin' Wolf, Rev. Booker Miller, H.C. Speir, and Pops Staples; the Rev. Booker Miller portion is more entertaining than most such spoken recordings, as he occasionally plays some guitar himself to illustrate points. Patton's own tracks are consistently inspired Delta blues, though the sound quality inevitably varies widely, sometimes coming through quite clearly, at other times fighting a wall of static. One's interest in the non-Patton selections, other than those on the solid CD of Patton-related tunes and Patton-inspired performers, might vary. Certainly the Son House 1930 recordings (including "Preachin' the Blues") are classic Delta blues songs in any setting, as are the far more obscure ones by Willie Brown. However, others, such as the ones by Edith North Johnson and the Delta Big Four, bear vaudevillian jazz and gospel influences that Delta blues fans might not take a shine to. The non-Patton tracks, too, sometimes suffer from unavoidably poor sound quality due to the extremely rough shape of the only surviving original copies.

On top of all this, the packaging is extraordinary by any me

Recording information: Chicago, IL (1924-1969); Clack's Store, Near Lake Cormorant, MS (1924-1969); Grafton, WI (1924-1969); Greenwood, MS (1924-1969); Jackson, Mississsippi (1924-1969); Little Rock, Arkansas (1924-1969); Memphis (1924-1969); New York, NY (1924-1969); Parchman, MS (1924-1969); Richmond, IN (1924-1969); Robinsonville, MS (1924-1969); Shreveport, LA (1924-1969).

Illustrator: Potsy Duncan.

Photographer: Ernest C. Withers.

Unknown Contributor Role: Jeff Hunt.

Personnel: Charley Patton (vocals, guitar, slide guitar); Reverend Rubin Lacy, Furry Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, Lonnie Chatmon, Kid Bailey, Roebuck "Pops" Staples, Walter Vinson, William Harris, Big Joe Williams, Blind Joe Reynolds, Charley Jordan (vocals, guitar); Booker T. Washington White, Son House (vocals, slide guitar); Henry "Son" Sims (vocals, fiddle); Walter Rhodes (vocals, accordion); Edith North Johnson, Louise Johnson (vocals, piano); Mavis Staples, Bertha Lee (vocals); Hubert Sumlin, Richard "Hacksaw" Harney, Jody Williams, Willie Johnson (guitar); Charlie Dixon (banjo); Don Redman (clarinet); Charlie Green (trombone); Fletcher Henderson, Otis Spann, William Johnson (piano); Earl Phillips, Willie Steel (drums); Cleotha Staples, Pervis Staples (background vocals).

Liner Note Authors: Dr. David Evans ; Richard K. Spottswood.Q (10/03, p.128) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...[Patton was] a hard-living Delta bluesman whose intense vocal delivery and percussive guitar-playing influenced people like Son House and john Lee Hooker..."
The Wire (1/02, p.41) - Ranked #4 in Wire's "50 Records of the Year 2001".
No Depression (11-12/01, pp.104-8) - "...Patton's blues were so singular...that no one save maybe kindred spirit Big Joe Williams has approximated their like since....an imperious body of work..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/02, p.70) - Ranked #2 in Mojo's "Best [10] Box Sets & Compilations of 2001".
Mojo (Publisher) (12/01, p.94) - "...As close as you'll ever get to his music and soul..."
NME (Magazine) (11/3/01, p.32) - 10 out of 10 - "...The people who put this set together should be given a Nobel prize for music..."