On July 21, Fat Possum Records will release Worried Blues – a series of 10 albums featuring rare and previously out-of-print recordings developed in collaboration with Amazon Originals. The historic series of albums will be available on Amazon Music—with one song from each album available now to stream, in advance of the full release date, on Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music.
Fans can also purchase each album in CD and vinyl, or download in MP3 format on Amazon Music. Worried Blues features rare, lost, and out-of-print recordings from 10 towering figures of 20th Century delta blues, including R.L. Burnside, Reverend Gary Davis, Honeyboy Edwards, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Furry Lewis, Little Brother Montgomery, Houston Stackhouse, Bukka White, and Reverend Robert Wilkins. There is one full album devoted to each artist.
The bulk of Worried Blues was recorded from 1963-1972 by Gene Rosenthal, blues scholar and founder of Adelphi Records, along with contributions from acclaimed musicologist and one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, John Fahey. The 10 albums provide a rich and varied catalog of artists who were scattered across the Mississippi Delta, largely inactive until a new generation sought them out.
Rosenthal and Fahey came upon these artists through word-of-mouth tips, hopeful searches, and cosmic kismet. For Skip James, these recordings would be the first since his initial rise during the Great Depression some 30 years prior. In the case of Bukka White, a nondescript letter from Fahey sent to “Booker T. Washington White (Old Blues Singer)” with no address, miraculously made its way into the right hands. These recordings sat untouched for over two decades before seeing a limited CD release in the early 1990s on Adelphi. Worried Blues represents the music’s first widespread release, and first time on LP.
These recordings have long been highly treasured, primarily for their striking variety. Despite nine out of the ten artists hailing from central and northern Mississippi, no two styles are alike. From the ragtime folk-tinged blues of Mississippi John Hurt, to the ebullient signature slide guitar of Furry Lewis, which would later earn him an opening slot on tour with the Rolling Stones, Worried Blues preserves an exceptionally rich moment in our cultural history. In his notes on the series, Grammy-winning music historian Elijah Wald explains, “the richness of Mississippi blues derived from the combination of isolated, majority-black regions populated largely by young newcomers from other areas as the Delta swamps were drained at the turn of the 20th Century, and these players created quirky, individual styles by mixing older sounds with what they were hearing from neighbors, records, minstrel and vaudeville troupes, and whatever other influences came their way.”
Full track lists are below.
Worried Blues – Bukka White (Recorded 1963)
1. Streamline Special
2. Drunken Leroy Blues
3. Fixin’ To Die
4. Midnight Twister
5. Aberdeen Blues
6. Vaseline Head Woman*
7. Jump
8. Jack O’Diamonds
9. Chi Chi Boogie
10. 1963 Isn’t 1962 Blues
11. Boogie ‘Til Dubuque
12. Driftin’ and Driftin’
13. Corinna, Corinna
Worried Blues – Mississippi John Hurt (Recorded 1964)
1. Slidin’ Delta
2. Louis Collins
3. Staggerlee
4. Monday Mornin’ Blues
5. Comin’ Home
6. A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
7. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor*
8. You Can’t Come In
9. Joe Turner
10. Lonesome Am I
11. Trouble Blues
12. Lovin’ Spoonful
13. Richland Woman Blues
14. Nobody’s Dirty Business
15. Worried Blues
16. Avalon Blues
Worried Blues – Honeyboy Edwards (Recorded 1969 – 1971)
1. Myrtle Mae
2. Bull Cow Blues #2
3. Hot Springs (Arkansas) Blues
4. Must I Break ‘Em On Down*
5. Little Boy Blue
6. B And O Blues
7. Love Honeyboy Slow
8. Don’t Mistreat A Fool
9. Howlin’ Wind
10. (Meet) The Mornin’ Train
Worried Blues – Houston Stackhouse (Recorded 1972)
1. Kind Hearted Woman Blues
2. Bricks In My Pillow
3. Bye Bye Blues
4. Sweet Black Angel Blues*
5. Pony Blues
6. Cry On! Cry On!
7. Cryin’ Won’t Help You
8. I Got Something
9. Maggie Campbell Blues
10. Big Road Blues
11. I’m Gettin’
Worried Blues – Little Brother Montgomery (Recorded 1969)
1. No Special Rider*
2. Prisoner Bound Blues
3. You Gotta See Your Mama Every Night
4. Cow Cow Blues
5. Gin House Blues
6. New Vicksburg Blues
7. London Shout
8. Oh, Daddy
9. Little Brother’s Early Pieces And History
10. No Special Boogie
11. Farrish Street Jive
12. Muleface Blues
Worried Blues – Reverend Robert Wilkins (Recorded 1971)
1. Jesus Said If You Go
2. (Jesus Will Fix It) Alright
3. You Gotta Move*
4. Streamline Frisco Limited
5. Pray For Me
6. Don’t Let Nobody Turn You ‘Round
7. Why Don’t You Do It
8. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
9. Rock Of Ages
10. …Remember Me
11. You’ve Got To Stand Your Test In Judgement
12. When The Saints Go Marching In
13. In The Army Of The Lord
Worried Blues – Reverend Gary Davis (Recorded 1969)
1. Let’s Get Together
2. Sun Goin’ Down
3. Lo, I’ll Be With You Always
4. Mornin’ Train*
5. Out On The Ocean Sailing
6. Right Now
7. Birmingham Special
8. There’s A Destruction In That Land
9. O, Glory
10. Soon My Work Will All Be Done
Worried Blues – R.L. Burnside (Recorded 1969)
1. Goin’ Down South
2. Two Trains Runnin’
3. Sat Down On My Bed And Cried
4. Nine Days In jail
5. Long Haired Doney
6. Hobo Blues
7. My Black Name Ringin’
8. Catfish Blues
9. See My Jumper
10. Peach Tree Blues*
11. Goin’ Away Blues
12. Poor Boy
13. Tom Wilson’s Place
Worried Blues – Skip James (Recorded 1964)
1. All Night Long
2. Broke & Hungry
3. I’m So Glad
4. Bad Whiskey
5. Cypress Grove Blues
6. Catfish Blues
7. Goin’ Away To Stay
8. Crow Jane
9. Devil Got My Woman
10. She Lyin’
11. Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues
12. Drunken Spree
13. Black Gal
14. Illinois Blues
15. Worried Blues*
16. Look Down The Road
Worried Blues – Furry Lewis (Recorded 1969)
1. On The Road Again
2. Why Don’t You Come Home Blues
3. Oh! Babe!
4. I’ve Got A Bird To Whistle
5. Furry’s Worried Blues
6. Judge Boushe*
7. East St. Louis Blues
8. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
9. St. Louis Blues
10. If You Follow Me Babe
11. Natural Born Eastman
*Song is now available to stream exclusively on Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music.
