Skip James - Worried Blues

First time on vinyl LP!

Worried Blues series of rare recordings from iconic Delta Blues artists!

Worried Blues is a series of 10 albums featuring rare and previously out-of-print recordings developed in collaboration with Amazon Originals. 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. They sought out these Mississippi Delta blues titans, some of whom had not recorded in more than 30 years.

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 more than 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 10 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.

The recordings have been remastered for the February 2021 street date, many from the original master tapes, some of which had to be baked to restore them.

Side A

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

Side B

1. Devil Got My Woman

2. She Lyin’

3. Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues

4. Drunken Spree

5. Black Gal

6. Illinois Blues

7. Worried Blues

8. Look Down The Road

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