There are clear distinctions between different kinds of blues, blues singing, and playing. The chief distinction is between country and urban blues. The former is often described as raw, primitive, and (mistakenly) unsophisticated. The latter usually has quite complex accompaniment designed with the concert stage and recording contract in mind. These early recordings are of a man who later became something of a showbiz celebrity in the USA and Europe. But Fred McDowell’s transition from country singer to celebrity did not change the nature of his performance.
The tracks on this CD were recorded by Alan Lomax, again assisted by the British singer Shirley Collins, in 1959. The disc is another addition to the Rounder Records Lomax Collection. McDowell features prominently on Lomax’s Southern Journey CDs (see RR 12/6). This disc is a personal portrait of McDowell ‐ but not only as a solo artist. He is also helped out by his wife Annie Mae, Fanny Davis, Sidney Carter and her sister Rose Hemphill, James Shorty, and by Miles Pratcher on a second guitar. Ten of the 14 tracks are previously unissued. Fred McDowell’s accompaniments to the songs normally follow a foursquare beat that can sound a little monotonous until you find the underlying subtleties in the background of his playing. And most of the songs have solo instrumental introductions that are surpassingly lyrical and show a remarkable degree of musicianship and competence. Like most traditional performers, McDowell gathered his material where he could, and that includes taking and reworking the blues of other singers ‐ for instance, 61 Highway from Will Batts who recorded it in 1933; and Sonny Boy Williamson’s Good Morning Little Schoolgirl. For dramatic effect McDowell sometimes speeds up or slows down his tempi, but he manages never to lose his ornamental style in the process.
McDowell, who died in 1972, was without doubt one of the most important and seminal of the early blues performers. It is good to have a compilation of his earliest tracks, recorded with family and friends in his own home.
