JESSE FULLER & JOSH WHITE - Four Classic Albums (Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals & Ballads / The Lone Cat / Sings Ballads-Blues / Empty Bed Blues) (2CD)

AVID Roots continues with its Four Classic Albums series with a re-mastered 2CD release featuring two albums apiece from Jesse Fuller & Josh White complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details
Jesse Fuller- “Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals & Ballads” and “The Lone Cat”; Josh White –”Sings Ballads & Blues” and “Empty Bed Blues”
Following the incredible success of our AVID Roots series which includes such classic blues names as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jimmy Reed and B.B King, we thought it was time to add another couple of names to our Roots roster - Jesse Fuller and Josh White. Our first bluesman, Jesse Fuller, did not quite follow the traditional blues musicians path in that he did not start playing and earning money as a blues singer until he was in his fifties, hell, he didn’t even record his first album until he was 62! Although he was an accomplished guitarist he had always earned a living the more traditional way by working on railroads, shining shoes or wherever he could to make a buck. Following a meeting with Douglas Fairbanks while operating a hot dog stand in southern California he had even appeared in a couple of Hollywood movies! Not knowing or trusting any other musicians, Jesse decided to create his own one man band, playing a variety of instruments including guitar, kazoo, harmonica and fordella (a unique percussion device!). The results can be heard on our two wonderful albums. To do justice to the life and achievements of Josh White would take an entire book. His was an extaordinary story of a man who travelled from being a shoeless child street entertainer to being a central character in the early civil rights movement to performing in the White House for the Roosevelts, to the HUAC hearings where he was blacklisted as communist, he then relocated to the UK and performed all over Europe. And that’s not to mention his acting career and his life as a family man and oh yeah his fantastic career as a blues singer and guitarist. Featuring only two of his extensive recordings hardly scratches the surface of his many musical styles but we hope our selections will give you a flavour of the man and his talent. We at AVID have a strong suspicion that we will be re-visiting his catalogue for a full Four Classic Album set in the very near future. As they say, watch this space.
Check out:- Muddy Waters/Howlin’ Wolf (AMSC1162); Lightnin’ Hopkins (AMSC1225 & 1254); Jimmy Reed (AMSC1214); John Lee Hooker (AMSC1234); B.B. King (AMSC1203); Lonnie Johnson (AMSC1207; Rev. Gary Davis (AMSC1271); Rural Blues: The Essentil Collection (AVC942).

CD1
1-11: ‘Jesse Fuller: Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals & Ballads’
1.Take This Hammer
2. Linin’ Track
3. I’m Going To Meet My Loving Mother
4. Tiger Rag
5. Memphis Boogie
6. Raise A Ruckus
7. By And By
8. Fingerbuster
9. Stagolee
10. 99 Years
11. Hesitation Blues
12-23: ‘Jesse Fuller: The Lone Cat ’
12. Leaving Memphis, Frisco Bound
13. Take It Slow And Easy
14. The Monkey And The Engineer
15. New Corrine
16. Guitar Blues
17. Runnin’ Wild
18. Hey Hey
19. In That Great Land
20. The Way You Treat Me
21. Down Home Waltz
22. Beat It On Down The Line
23. Buck And Wing

CD2
1-12: ‘Josh White: Sings Ballads - Blues’
1. Midnight Special
2. Miss Otis Regrets
3. Halleleu
4. Woman Sure Is A Curious Critter
5. Prison Bound Blues
6. Gloomy Sunday
7. Ball And Chain Blues
8. One For My Baby
9. Jim Crow Train
10. Told My Captain
11. So Soon In The Morning
12. Bury My Body
13-22: ‘Josh White: Empty Bed Blues’
13. Empty Bed Blues
14. Mother On That Train
15. Bottle Up And Go
16. Blackwater Blues
17. Baby Baby Blues
18. Lord Have Mercy
19. Home In That Rock
20. Paul And Silas
21. His Eye Is On The Sparrow
22. That Suits Me