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Released July 12, 2005

Blind Willie McTell is unique among country bluesmen in having a 30-year recording career while remaining essentially an itinerant musician, and during his lifetime he was a familiar sight on the streets of Atlanta and other Southern cities as he performed his varied repertoire of blues, rags, and vaudeville pieces on his 12-string guitar. This three-disc collection assembles all of his commercial 78s (as well as alternate takes) from Victor, Columbia, OKeh, and Vocalion, including his signature tune, the magnificent "Statesboro Blues." Whether McTell actually wrote a lot of these songs (or merely adapted them) is unclear, but there is a sharp writer's eye at work here, as evidenced by lines like "Mother died and left me reckless/Daddy died and left me wild" (from "Statesboro Blues") or "I got the blues so bad/I can feel them in the dark" (from "Dark Night Blues"). These recordings feature the early McTell, when his voice was a high and expressive tenor -- that voice deepened and grew rougher as a lifetime of street singing began to take its toll, and by the time Alan Lomax recorded him in the 1940s, McTell had slowed the pace of his songs down considerably as well. All three of the discs included here have been available as individual sets from Document, but having them all together in one package brings the full sweep of McTell's commercial career into focus. Few country bluesmen of his day could boast as varied a repertoire, one that embraced deep blues, Piedmont, and hokum styles, as well as religious and gospel pieces, and he was a remarkably consistent performer in all of these guises. There are multiple takes of some songs that might irritate some casual listeners, and since the set unfolds chronologically, the pacing at times bogs down, but as the lion's share of his life's work, these recordings show why artists like Bob Dylan hold Blind Willie McTell in such high regard. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

TRACKS

1. Writing Paper Blues
2. Stole Rider Blues
3. Mamma, Tain't Long fo' Day
4. Mr. McTell Got the Blues [Take 1][#]
5. Mr. McTell Got the Blues [Take 2]
6. Three Women Blues
7. Dark Night Blues
8. Statesboro Blues
9. Loving Talking Blues
10. Atlanta Strut
11. Travelin' Blues
12. Come on Around to My House Mama
13. Kind Mama
14. Teasing Brown
15. Drive Away Blues
16. This Is Not the Stove to Brown Your Bread
17. Love Changing Blues
18. Talkin' to Myself
19. Razor Ball
20. Southern Can Is Mine
21. Broke Down Engine Blues
22. Stomp Down Rider
23. Scarey Day Blues
24. Rough Alley Blues
25. Experience Blues
26. Painful Blues

DISC 2

27. Low Rider's Blues
28. Georgia Rag
29. Low Down Blues
30. Rollin' Mama Blues
31. Lonesome Day Blues
32. Mama, Let Me Scoop for You
33. Searching the Desert for the Blues
34. Warm It Up to Me
35. It's Your Time to Worry [#]
36. It's a Good Little Thing
37. You Was Born to Die [#]
38. Dirty Mistreater [#]
39. Lord Have Mercy if You Please
40. Don't You See How This World Made a Change
41. Savannah Mama
42. Broke Down Engine
43. Broke Down Engine No. 2 [Take 1][#]
44. Broke Down Engine No. 2 [Take 3][#]
45. My Baby's Gone
46. Love Makin' Mama [Take 1][#]
47. Love Makin' Mama [Take 2][#]
48. Death Room Blues [Take 1][#]
49. Death Room Blues [Take 2][#]
50. Death Cell Blues

DISC 3

51. Lord, Send Me an Angel [Take 1][#]
52. Lord, Send Me an Angel [Take 2][#]
53. B and O Blues No. 2 [Take 1]
54. B and O Blues No. 2 [Take 2][#]
55. Weary Hearted Blues
56. Bell Street Lightnin' [#]
57. Southern Can Mama
58. Runnin' Me Crazy
59. East St. Louis Blues [#]
60. Ain't It Grand to Be a Christian
61. We Got to Meet Death One Day [Take 1]
62. We Got to Meet Death One Day [Take 2]
63. Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around [#]
64. I Got Religion, I'm So Glad [#]
65. Dying Gambler
66. God Don't Like It
67. Bell Street Blues
68. Let Me Play with Yo' Yo-Yo [#]
69. Lay Some Flowers on My Grave
70. Ticket Agent Blues
71. Cold Winter Day
72. Your Time to Worry
73. Cooling Board Blues [#]
74. Hillbilly Willie's Blues

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