"American Primitive" Vol. 1: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926-1936)

77-minutes of gut-bucket, early gospel from the collections of Gayle Dean Wardlow and John Fahey, complete with a 24-page booklet of liner notes and photos. Includes Charley Patton, Rev. I.B. Ware with Wife & Son, Bukka White, William & Versey Smith, Blind Willie Davis, Frank Palmes, Bo Weavil Jackson, Elder Otis Jones, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Blind Joe Taggart, Blind Mamie Forehand, Jaybird Coleman, and more.
“26 tracks of uncut religious fervor, clearly selected for maximum intensity” - Downbeat Magazine
“Best Records of 1997: #1 Gospel Release” – Tower Pulse
“Diabolically great.” – PlayboyUntil he took a more deconstructionist course on albums like City of Refuge and Womblife, John Fahey wrote songs that drew largely from his love of country blues and folk music. These early American (and European) forms were assimilated into his own unique fingerpicking guitar style. He spent his late teenage years canvassing for 78 rpm records in America's Deep South. In 1997, he launched the Revenant reissue label to document the history of music as he saw it. Surprisingly, releases ran the musical gamut from the raw rockabilly sounds of Charlie Feathers to the otherworldly blues of Captain Beefheart. More than anything else, however, American Primitive, Vol. 1, a collection of early gospel-blues, feels like a labor of love. One of Fahey's fascinating stories has him feeling physically sick upon hearing Blind Willie Johnson's "Praise God I'm Satisfied," only to find that he was unable to get the sound out of his head. Hearing it for a second time, he was reduced to tears. While Johnson is not featured on this compilation (his entire recording career is documented on two exceptional Yazoo compilations), the music here is rooted in the same soil. One of the fascinating things about American Primitive is the wealth of little-known musicians it turns up. The biggest names here are Charlie Patton and Booker "Bukka" White. But alongside them are artists as obscure as Blind Mamie Forehand, Dennis Crumpton, and Robert Summers. Many of these musicians came face to face with the dichotomy of playing sinful blues and redemptive gospel. Patton was known for his attempts to cleanse himself with intermittent periods of church attendance. Collected here are a recording under his own name (with his common-law wife, Bertha Lee) as well as under the religious pseudonym Elder J.J. Hadley. Throughout American Primitive, warnings abound from the converted. Some titles alone tell it all: "Sinner You'll Need King Jesus," "You Better Quit Drinking Shine," and "This Time Another Year You May Be Gone." The material ranges from the harsh tones of William & Versey Smith (singing from the gut, the sound is a rawer version of the recordings Blind Willie Johnson made with his wife) to the calm strength of Mamie Forehand's gorgeous "Honey in the Rock." Charlie Patton is obsessed with the other side on "Oh Death" and "Prayer of Death." On the former, he comes face to face with the dark angel himself, waking up to find him in his room. "Hush! Oh hush! Somebody is calling me," he sings, accompanying himself and Lee with some biting slide guitar and adding, "Lord I know my time ain't long." On the latter, he wrings the notes out of his instrument in his typically hard style, yet sings like he's come to terms with his fate. Blind Roosevelt Graves & Brother make a joyful noise on "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus)" and "I'll Be Rested (When the Role Is Called)." Purely as a historical document, American Primitive is absolutely indispensable. It becomes difficult to imagine these precious recordings being lost. The titles here date back to the time electrical recording first became a feasible concept (1927). As a group of songs unlike anything anyone is likely to hear today, it's one of the most unique and rewarding listening experiences available. (Nathan Bush, Allmusic)

trax:

1. I Believe I’ll Go Back Home, Paramount 1926 - Blind Willie Davis 2. Down on Me, Columbia 1930 - Eddie Head & His Family 3. Honey in the Rock, Victor 1927 - Blind Mamie Forehand 4. I’m Gonna Cross the River of Jordan Some O’ These Days, Silvertone 1927 - Jaybird Coleman 5. Oh Death, Vocalion 1934 - Charley Patton & Bertha Lee 6. You Better Quit Drinking Shine, Vocalion 1928 - Rev. I.B. Ware with Wife and Son 7. Been Listening All the Day, Paramount 1928 - Blind Joe Taggart 8. Sinner You’ll Need King Jesus, Paramount 1927 - William and Versey Smith 9. This Time Another Year You May Be Gone, Vocalion 1928 - Rev. Edward Clayborn (The Guitar Evangelist) 10. Lord I’m the True Vine, Bluebird 1936 - Eddie Head And His Family (The Guitar Evangelist) 11. Woke Up this Morning (With My Mind on Jesus), Melotone 1936 - Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother 12. Holy Mountain (3:06), Bluebird 1936 - Elder Otis Jones 13. I Wouldn’t Mind Dying (But I Gotta Go By Myself), Vocalion 1928 - Rev. I.B. Ware with Wife and Son 14. Everybody Help the Boys Come Home, Paramount 1927 - William and Versey Smith 15. Everybody Ought to Pray Sometime, ARC 1926 - Dennis Crumpton and Robert Summers 16. Tryin’ To Get Home, Columbia 1930 - Eddie Head And His Family 17. I’ll be Rested (When the Roll is Called), Melotone 1936 - Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother 18. I'm On My Way To The Kingdom Land, Paramount 1926 - Bo Weavil Jackson (Sam Butler) 19. Troubled ‘Bout My Soul, Paramount 1929 - Frank Palmes 20. When That Great Ship Went Down, Paramount 1927 - William and Versey Smith 21. I am in the Heavenly Way, Victor 1930 - Washington White (Booker White) 22. Good Lord (Run Old Jeremiah), Library of Congress Archive of American Folk 1934 - Austin Coleman (with Joe Washington Brown and Group) 23. Jesus is Getting us Ready for that Great Day, Columbia 1927 - Luther Magby 24. I Believe I'll Go Back Home, Paramount 1929 - William & Versey Smith 25. Prayer of Death: Part I, Paramount 1929 - Elder J.J. Hadley (Charley Patton) 26. Prayer of Death: Part II, Paramount 1929 - Elder J.J. Hadley (Charley Patton)

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