Required listening, I Can't Be Satisfied, Vol. 1 is the "Country" volume in a two-part series of early American blueswomen (Volume 2 is the "Town" volume). It is an absolutely essential compilation of early country blueswomen, many of whom appear on virtually no other recordings. This definitive archival collection of underdocumented, classic blueswomen and the better known bluesmen who performed with them includes such artists as Ruby Glaze backed by husband
Blind Willie McTell and Hattie Hart who performs here with the
Memphis Jug Band. Also heard are the only two available tracks by the intense Bertha Lee (Charlie Patton's wife during the last years of his life), "Yellow Bee" and "Mind Reader Blues." The sound quality of these 1920s recordings varies from mild, surface noise to the intense hiss of Geeshie Wiley's "Eagles on a Half," but some listeners will find that the power and rarity of this music outweighs such aesthetic inconveniences. If you want to hear incredible, tough women sing country-blues, get this. ~ Joslyn Layne