Postwar Texas blues had a sparse sound all its own in the late 1940s and early '50s, as this two-disc, 36-track collection demonstrates. Featuring guitar (both acoustic and electric) and piano pieces recorded between 1948 and 1952, most of them for small local labels,
Texas Down Home Blues includes some familiar names like
Texas Alexander,
Lowell Fulson, Lil' Son Jackson and
Lightnin' Hopkins, but the balance of the performers are much more obscure, which is the real strength of this set. Among the standout tracks are
Texas Alexander's "Crossroads Blues" (no relation to
Robert Johnson's famous composition of the same name),
Wright Holmes' sprightly "Good Road Blues," Lil' Son Jackson's reconfiguration of "Deep Blue Sea" as "Milford Blues,"
Frankie Lee Sims' acoustic/electric hybrid "Don't Forget Me Baby," and
Luther "Rocky" Stoneham's extremely specific "January 11, 1949 Blues." Some of these tracks were actually recorded in California, which became somewhat of a haven for several Texas blues musicians after the war, but they retain a distinct Texas sound.