This double-CD set is a little misleading. It is definitive, but only in terms of McTell's Columbia and Okeh sides -- you won't find "Statesboro Blues" or his other earliest sides here, because they were done for Victor. But the material that is here is all worthwhile, and this is the best single source for McTell's work for those labels (done under a variety of names) from the mid-'30s, very nicely remastered and thoroughly annotated, although producer Lawrence Cohn concedes that even...   [ read more ]

CD $15.19

VINYL FORMAT. William Samuel McTier was born in Georgia in 1898 (according to some sources) and, despite his blindness, was a talented musician since early childhood. He began his recording career in 1927 for Victor Records in Atlanta and is credited with having created an entire blues sub-genre by mixing the hard roots of the Delta style with the more refined East Coast style (Piedmont Blues). His unique "country blues" can be heard on the grooves of this double LP collection.

2xLP $30.99

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In 1949, a brief flurry of interest in old-timey country blues resulted in this 15-song session by Blind Willie McTell for the newly formed Atlantic Records. Only two songs, "Kill It Kid" and "Broke Down Engine Blues," were ever issued on a failed single, and the session was forgotten until almost 20 years later. McTell is mostly solo here, vividly captured on acoustic 12-string (his sometime partner Curley Weaver may have been present on some tracks), and in excellent form. The pla...   [ read more ]

CD $13.26