Here's an 18-track collection of
McGhee's earliest recordings, all of it emanating from sessions held in 1940 and the following year. Brownie's recordings as Blind Boy Fuller #2 are here, as well as the first recordings pairing him with longtime future partner
Sonny Terry. His work with washboard player
Oh Red and the mysterious
Jordan Webb playing harmonica is every bit as effective, though, and tracks like "Picking My Tomatoes" and "Born For Bad Luck" get this set off to a wonderful start; the musical quotient stays high all, the way to the end. Everything is pulled off of old, beat-up 78s, and the quality is up and down on every track, but this as fine an early
Brownie McGhee set as you'll come across.