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Delta Experimental Project Compilation, Vol. 3

Various Artists
1 disc

1. Roll Me Over Slow - Alec Teal & Butter Biscuit
2. So Many Cold Mornings - Johnny Woods
3. Furry's Blues - Furry Lewis
4. Broke & Hungry - Sleepy John Estes
5. My Babe - Rising Star Fife & Drum Band
6. Old Blue Jumped a Rabbit - Mose Vinson
7. Turkey in the Straw - Furry Lewis
8. Floating Bridge - Sleepy John Estes/Ry Cooder/Jim Dickinson
9. Lonesome Feelin' - Johnny Woods
10. Barrel House Blues / Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay - Mose Vinson
11. Race That You Don't Run - Sleepy John Estes/Hammy Nixon/Ry Cooder/Jim Dickinson
12. Jesus Is on the Mainline - Tate County Singers/Othar Turner & the Afrossippi Allstars
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 47
Credits

Producer
Engineer
This disc of Mississippi field recordings assembled by legendary Memphis producer and session player Jim Dickinson is a fascinating mix of ragged and intimate roots music, stuff that falls so far outside the realm of the commercial music scene that its basic rawness can feel like a breath of fresh spring air. Opening with the primal North Mississippi fife and drum sound of Alec Teal and Butter Biscuit on "Roll Me Over Slow," and including blues tracks by Furry Lewis, Mose Vinson, and others, this loose-knit compilation plays like a funkier version of an Alan Lomax package. A particular delight here are the three songs by Sleepy John Estes, who turns in electric jug band takes of "Broke and Hungry," "Race That You Don't Run," and what may be his finest song, the autobiographical "Floating Bridge." The album closes with the stark, funky gospel sound of the Tate County Singers on "Jesus Is on the Mainline," while Otha Turner & the Afrossippi Allstars skitter along behind them in rhythmic support. Truthfully, this stuff isn't for everyone, but listeners who are looking for music that is stripped of any and all commercial aspirations, music so basic that it almost sounds alien, may find this collection to be just what the doctor ordered. ~ Steve Leggett