(Blues) Sonny Terry And His Mouth-Harp

Style: Contemporary Acoustic Blues, Harmonica Blues, Piedmont Blues, Folk-Blues
Recorded: 1953
Released: 1999
Label: Riverside
File: mp3@ 320kbps
Size: 94.68 MB
Time: 40:21
Art: Full Cover

1. In The Evening - 2:30
2. Move To Kansas City - 2:28
3. John Henry - 3:08
4. The Fox Chase (aka Hound Dog Holler) - 2:17
5. Louise - 2:49
6. Red River - 2:24
7. Goodbye - 3:02
8. Custard Pie - 2:30
9. I Woke Up This Morning And I Could Hardly See - 3:05
10. Old Woman Blues - 2:44
11. Talkin' About The Blues - 3:05
12. Change The Lock On My Door - 2:52
13. Moanin' And Mournin' - 3:18
14. Baby Baby - 2:45

Personnel:
Sonny Terry - Harmonica, Vocals
Alec Sewart - Guitar


Notes: '...This rare December 1953 session was unusual for Terry in that his guitar accompanist was not Brownie McGhee, but Alec Seward, who had previously recorded as Guitar Slim in a duo with 'Fat Boy' Hayes (aka Jelly Belly). It's unusual only in the personnel, however. It sounds like typical Sonny Terry, as he works his way through original material, including standards like 'John Henry' and other blues tunes like 'In the Evening' (the song that would provide much of the basis for Robert Johnson's 'Love in Vain'). You'd have to say that it's usually more interesting to hear Terry with his longtime partner McGhee than it is to hear him with Seward, but it's not terribly different. The trademark vocal and harmonica whoops, and hollers are in gear and running throughout the album, sometimes to exhilarating effect, as on the rapid 'The Fox Chase (aka 'Hound Dog Holler').' His lyrics get uncommonly specific on 'Goodbye Leadbelly,' a tribute to the then-recently deceased folk-blues legend, composed by 'writer unknown.' The recording engineer on the session, incidentally, was a young Jac Holzman, who had just started Elektra Records...'