Blind Lemon Jefferson was a street singer with a wide and varied repertoire, although he is best known for his straight-ahead blues pieces like the title track here, "Black Snake Moan." As this sampler of
Jefferson's 1920s and 1930s 78s from Snapper Records shows, however, he was equally at home doing hillbilly spirituals ("He Arose from the Dead") and folk-blues ("See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"), and he also had a fine slide sound ("Jack O'Diamond Blues"). Immensely popular,
Jefferson's 78s were poorly pressed and frequently played, so these tracks have a good deal of surface hiss, which may be bothersome to some listeners.