1	All For Business (3:17)
2   I Don't Like To Travel (5:32)
3   The Man Wants Me Dead (4:59)
4   Ought To Be Ashamed (4:46)
5   I Can't Understand You Baby (4:36)
6   Love Me Like I Love You (4:37)
7   Put Your Arms Around Me (4:24)
8   Your Daughter Don't Want Me No More (4:32)
9   I Didn't Get None (3:21)
10  Mean Old Daddy (3:58)
11  Wait And See (4:36)
12  Don't Hurt Me No More (5:13)

Byther Smith is a true Living Legend of the Chicago blues scene and during his long lasting career he worked with the greatest of the Chicago blues artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed and Otis Rush. Born in Monticello, Mississippi on April 17, 1933 young Byther Smith got his first musical experiences with gospel music, a music that he returned to at various stages of his career. As a teenager Byther moved to Arizona, working on a cattle ranch and playing with a country & western band at weekends. In 1957 he moved to Chicago at the advice of his cousin, the legendary J.B. Lenoir. He began gigging and taking guitar lessons from Robert Lockwood and Hubert Sumlin presumably on the basis that if you’re going to get a guitar teacher you might as well get the best.

In the early 1960’s Byther Smith was working the clubs on guitar and bass both as a leader and in various bands as sideman. A group of highly prized recordings were made resulting in 45’s on labels such as Bea & Baby, Cruise and Apex. In 1965 it was back to gospel with the Gospel Travellers for a time. In the 1970’s he spent five years in the house band at Theresa’s Tavern, which often meant playing with Junior Wells.

1979 found Byther Smith determined to make it under his own name and a steady stream of coast to coast gigging and touring commenced. He made several recordings and his releases, “Addressing the nation with the blues” (JSP) and “Housefire” and “I’m a mad man” (both on Bullseye), were very successful. Byther released three CDs (“Mississippi Kid”, All Night Long and Hold that train) on Delmark Records. During the years Byther Smith has toured all over the world. In Europe several times, among others as a member of the Chicago Blues Festival. Byther Smith did several very successful European tours between Nov ’94 and Sept ’99. During these tours he performed in Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden and the UK. ---blackandtanrecords.nl

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01. I Got So Much Love 03:53
02. Comin' Home 05:10
03. I'm In A Hole 04:10
04. Mad Man 03:30
05. Get Outta My Way 04:56
06. Play The Blues In Paris 06:17
07. You Don't Know Me, Mary 04:21
08. Your Mama's Crazy 03:52
09. Funky Man 02:58
10. 35 Long Years 05:59

Drums – Lloyd Anderson
Electric Bass – Mike Boyle
Organ, Piano – Ron Levy
Rhythm Guitar – James P. Anderson
Tenor Saxophone – Andrew Love
Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Jim Spake
Trumpet, Trombone – Wayne Jackson
Vocals, Lead Guitar – Byther Smitty Smith

Smitty is unequivocally not mellowing with age. This set finds him physically threatening some poor slob in "Get Outta My Way" and generally living up to the boast of the title track. As his profile finally rises, Smith is receiving a little high-profile assistance -- Ron Levy produced the set and handles keyboards, while the Memphis Horns add their punchy interjections wherever appropriate. ---Bill Dahl, AllMusic Review

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01. This Little Voice (3:20)
02. 300 Pounds Of Joy (4:05)
03. So Unhappy (4:29)
04. Tell Me How You Like It (4:16)
05. What My Mamma Told Me (4:16)
06. Hold That Train Conductor (5:28)
07. Mississippi Kid (3:41)
08. Come On In This House (5:05)
09. You Ought To Be Ashamed (3:42)
10. Walked All Night Long (4:09)
11. So Mean To Me (4:46)
12. Thrill Is Gone (4:19)
13. Close To You (4:03)
14. I Don't Like To Travel (4:53)
15. Killing Floor (3:39)

Bass – Bruce Felgen
Drums – Joe Pusateri
Guitar – Mike Baietto
Guitar, Vocals – Byther Smith

Recorded in 1981 and issued that same year on LP, the CD release of Hold That Train has been a long time comin'. Byther Smith is the great unsung Mississippi-cum-Chicago bluesman. Coming to the Windy City from the Delta, he has toured the world countless times, played with everyone from Dr. John to Malachi Thompson and Son Seals, and performs not only classic material from the blues canon, but writes amazing tunes as well. But outside the blues world he is an unknown, despite having some of the heaviest credentials on the planet and being one of the last Delta bluesmen still playing and recording. Smith is one of those bluesmen whose recordings are a potent, snaky brew of pure sweat, grit, and spirit. Hold That Train is a case in point. Here are 15 tracks covering 60 minutes that feature not only his signature slashing guitar style that embodies the entire history of electric blues with its wrist-wrangling attack, but his unbelievable singing voice, which is clear, cool, and full of the moaning power of raw sexuality and fierce independence. His versions here of "Tell Me How You Like It," Willie Dixon's "300 Pounds of Joy," Howlin' Wolf's "Killin' Floor," Amos Blakemore's "Come on in This House," and the old trad nugget "What My Mamma Told Me," become his in the execution. His own tunes, "I Don't Like to Travel," "Mississippi Kid," and "Walked All Night Long," are classics in their own right -- even if nobody's ever heard them outside of one of his gigs. The songs carry within them a reverence for the time-honored, rough-hewn migration of Delta music to northern climes, and an immediacy that takes them outside history and puts them on the stage at the corner bar, or the after hours blind pig. Bottom line is, this set is one of the most welcome issues on compact disc in recent memory, and if there is one Byther Smith disc to own, this is it, whether you are a diehard or recent convert. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

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