Meaning Of The Blues: The Legacy Of Paul Oliver Meaning Of The Blues: The Legacy Of Paul Oliver CD

The late Paul Oliver (1927-2017) spent a great deal of his adult life researching and writing about the blues. In a literary career that spanned more than half a century, Oliver wrote ten books about various aspects of the blues, with the emphasis on the artists who recorded, and the music they made, from the mid-1920s to the outbreak of World War Two. In 1960 Oliver's second book "Blues Fell This Morning" set the benchmark for all subsequent blues literature. It's still universally acclaimed to this day and has been in print ever since. Like many of Oliver's subsequent books, "Blues Fell This Morning" was accompanied by a companion vinyl album of the same title. It's original release was greeted with the same degree of enthusiasm as the book. Many of the artists it featured had long been forgotten by all but a few. Some remain virtually or completely unknown to this day. In tribute to Oliver, Jasmine has proudly reissued the original album, in it's original running order, as the first part of "The Meaning Of The Blues". This collection is completed by the majority of the tracks originally featured on the album that accompanied the publication of Oliver's third blues book, "Screening The Blues", in 1968 (time restrictions for a CD prevented all of them being included). None of the recordings in this collection had ever been reissued prior to the release of the two original albums. Some of them have never been reissued since - until now. Either as an accompaniment to Oliver's books or as a stand-alone gathering of early black American music, "The Meaning Of The Blues" is an essential and enlightening collection in every way. As an audio tribute to the man who pioneered blues writing in such an authoritative manner, it could hardly be bettered.

1. Gravel Camp Blues - Lewis Black 2. Starvation Farm Blues - Bob Campbell 3. Chocolate to the Bone - Barbecue Bob 4. Court Street Blues - Stovepipe No. 1 and David Crockett 5. When You Get to Thinking - Texas Alexander 6. Tallahassee Blues - Tallahassee Tight 7. Skin Game Blues - Peg Leg Howell 8. Elm Street Blues - Texas Bill Day and Billken Johnson 9. Bad Boy - Barefoot Bill 10. When the Levee Breaks - Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie 11. When You Are Gone - Blind Boy Fuller 12. Strange Place Blues - Bukka White 13. Lonesome Blues - Henry Williams and Eddie Anthony 14. Waking Blues - Otis Harris 15. Thieving Blues - Jack Ranger 16. Denomination Blues Part 1 - Washington Phillips 17. Denomination Blues Part 2 - Washington Phillips 18. Nobody Knows (What the Good Deacon Does) - Hambone Willie Newbern 19. Policy Dream Blues (You Better Get on It) - Bumble Bee Slim 20. Joe Louis Strut - Memphis Minnie, Black Bob and Bill Settles Sissy Man Blues - George Noble 21. Phonograph Blues - Robert Johnson 22. Roll and Tumble Blues - Hambone Willie Newbern 23. Sweet Petunia - Curley Weaver 24. Shave 'Em Dry - Bessie Jackson He's in the Ring (Doin' the Same Old Thing) - Memphis Minnie