In the year of blues, amid the Martin Scorsese films and their requisite 30 CDs of material, other labels with substantial blues holdings got in on the act to (over)saturate the market. The good news is that a lot of material came out on CD for the first time, interesting anthologies abounded, and even the harder to find works by major and mid-level artists came to the fore.
Worried Life Blues is just such a collection from BMG's massive Bluebird vaults. These 16 recordings are a who's who of the pre- and WWII era (only one cut, "Sweet Little Angel" by
Tampa Red, was recorded after 1948). From
Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl,"
Big Maceo's "Worried Life Blues,"
Bessie Smith's "Downhearted Blues," and
Leadbelly's "Midnight Special" to
Tommy Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues,"
Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go,"
Big Bill Broonzy's "Keep Your Hands Off Her," and
Alberta Hunter's "Beale Street Blues," this collection runs the gamut of prewar blues. There are a couple of real surprises here, tracks not usually included on blues compilations -- though they should be: Robert Petway's "Catfish Blues," Lil Green's "Why Don't You Do Right," St. Louis Jimmy's "Goin' Down Slow," and Johnny Moore's
Blazers read of "How Blue Can You Get." In all, this is a fine-sounding, well-compiled set with great notes by no less than Colin Escott. ~ Thom Jurek