Casey Bill Weldon & Kokomo Arnold - Bottleneck Guitar Trendsetters of the 1930s [1992]

CASEY BILL WELDON
1. You Just As Well Let Her go (1936)
2. Go Ahead, Buddy (1937)
3. Lady Doctor Blues (1937)
4. The Big Boat
5. Hitch Me To Your Buggy and Drive Me Like a Mule (1927)
6. You Shouldn't Do That (1937)
7. Back Door Blues (1936)

KOKOMO ARNOLD
8. The Twelves (The Dirty Dozens) (1935)
9. I'll Be Up Someday (1936)
10. Busy Bootin' (1935)
11. Sagefield Woman Blues (1934)
12. Back To The Woods (1934)
13. Salty Dog (1937)
14. Feels So Good

Casey Bill Weldon – bottleneck guitar, vocals
Kokomo Arnold – bottleneck guitar, vocals

This CD contains seven tracks each by two currently obscure blues performers (Casey Bill Weldon and Kokomo Arnold) of the 1930s. Meaning no disrespect to Robert Johnson, but it's a bit of a mystery why Arnold is obscure and Johnson is famous, given that Arnold sold more records than did Johnson at the time. Maybe it's because Arnold didn't have the good fortune to die at his prime in mysterious circumstances that has made his memory fade in relation to Johnson's. No matter. Arnold picks it up on this collection of his tunes with some of the fastest blues playing you'll ever hear. The second half of the CD (the first half is dedicated to Weldon) starts off with "The Twelves (The Dirty Dozen)" roaring at you with a blazing pace, and while he never quite matches that tempo in the other tracks, neither does he slow down much. His "Sagefield Woman Blues" is as important an early blues track as you'll find, introducing the "I believe I'll dust my broom" line. Weldon's material seems subdued in comparison to that of Arnold, but his playing is also worthy of note. The themes in his tunes (and Arnold's as well) are surprisingly raunchy and semi-explicit, and there's both a celebration and a mocking bitterness to be found in the lyrics, from the self-confidence of "You Just as Well Let Her Go" to the demi-tragedy of "You Shouldn't Do That." Also, it's not the best song on the CD, but Weldon's "Hitch Me to Your Buggy and Drive Me Like a Mule" has got to be one of the best country blues song titles ever coined. --Acnoth, amazon.com

download:  uploaded yandex 4shared gett ziddu sugarsync mediafire anonfiles mixturecloud

back