Blues, Songs and Ballads [Compilation]

• Artist: Tom Rush
• Rating:
• Release Date: 1963
• Total Time: 75:20
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Blues

Review

A 23-song collection combining two albums that Tom Rush recorded in 1963 (Got a Mind to Ramble and Blues, Songs and Ballads) onto a single CD. Rush plays acoustic guitar, accompanied only by Fritz Richmond on washtub bass, for a selection of almost exclusively traditional material; the only track penned by Rush himself is the opener, "Duncan and Brady." This anthology is definitive early-'60s Cambridge coffeehouse music, which means that it's a bit quaintly dated, and also that it's Sunday-morning listening in the good sense of the term. Rush plays accomplished acoustic guitar and sings with calm authority, though he's no one's ideal bluesman (or even ideal white bluesman). The traditional blues covers, which dominated the original Blues, Songs and Ballads LP (now the second part of this CD), can sound pretty callow; the folkier ones work better, one highlight being the instrumental "Mole's Moan," penned by a young Maria Muldaur. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Duncan and Brady	Tom Rush	Tom Rush	(3:35)
I Don't Want Your Millions, Mister	Jim Garland	Tom Rush	(2:03)
San Francisco Bay Blues	Jesse Fuller	Tom Rush	(3:25)
Mole's Moan	Maria Muldaur	Tom Rush	(2:53)
Rye Whiskey	Traditional	Tom Rush	(2:06)
Big Fat Woman		Tom Rush	(2:44)
Nine Pound Hammer	Merle Travis	Tom Rush	(2:34)
Diamond Joe	Traditional	Tom Rush	(3:00)
Mobile-Texas Line	Leroy Carr	Tom Rush	(3:07)
Joe Turner	Big Bill Broonzy	Tom Rush	(4:33)
Every Day in the Week	Pink Anderson	Tom Rush	(2:45)
Alabama Bound	Traditional	Tom Rush	(3:10)
More Pretty Girls Than One	Traditional	Tom Rush	(1:44)
Sister Kate	Armand Piron	Tom Rush	(3:05)
Original Talking Blues	Traditional	Tom Rush	(4:10)
Pallet on the Floor	Traditional	Tom Rush	(3:55)
Drop Down Mama	Sleepy John Estes	Tom Rush	(4:05)
Rag Mama	Jesse Fuller	Tom Rush	(2:35)
Barb'ry Allen	Traditional	Tom Rush	(6:40)
Cocaine	Traditional	Tom Rush	(3:14)
Come Back Baby	Traditional	Tom Rush	(2:27)
Stackerlee	Traditional	Tom Rush	(4:40)
Baby Please Don't Go	Traditional	Tom Rush	(2:50)

Credits

Fritz Richmond (?), Tom Rush (Guitar), Don Schlitten (Photography), Tony Lane (Art Direction), Phil DeLancie (Digital Mastering), Fritz Richmond (Washtub Bass), Peter Knobler (Liner Notes), Tom Rush (Vocals)