Remastered 1935-1938

• Artist: Blind Boy Fuller
• Rating:
• Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Type: Box set
• Genre: Blues

Review

Following Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller is probably the best known of the so-called Piedmont blues guitarists, a loose group of players from the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina, South Carolina, and upper Georgia who specialized in a flashy two- and three-finger picking style. Fuller was hardly in Blake's league, but his simple, crisp playing and easy singing style made him immensely popular, and he sold thousands of records for ARC (and a handful for Decca) until his death in 1941. This four-disc set from Britain's JSP Records collects everything Fuller did, 100 tracks in all, recorded in just a three-year span between 1935 and 1938, and features Fuller solo and with accompanists like guitarists Gary Davis (Fuller's guitar teacher, who may have been the greatest Piedmont picker of them all, but he steadfastly refused to do secular material) and Floyd Council, washboardist Bull City Red, and harmonica players Sonny Terry and Charlie Austin. Fuller worked off of a couple of well-used templates, generally fairly generic tunes with floating blues verses like "Tom Cat Blues," "Bulldog Blues," and "Weeping Willow," along with good-time rag pieces like "Rag, Mama, Rag" and "Piccolo Rag" (piccolo was seaboard slang for a jukebox), and hybrids between the two, like his signature piece, "Truckin' My Blues Away" (which is represented here in three versions, along with several variations on the theme under different titles). Truthfully, this is probably way more Blind Boy Fuller than most people will need, and a single-disc comp will work for most folks, but for serious collectors, having everything in one set may be just the ticket. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Baby, I Don't Have to Worry		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:06)
I'm a Rattlesnakin' Daddy	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:07)
I'm Climbin' on Top of the Hill	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:20)
Ain't It a Crying Shame		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:05)
Looking for My Woman	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:10)
Rag, Mama, Rag [Take 1]	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:06)
Rag, Mama, Rag [Take 2]	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:06)
Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:15)
Evil Hearted Woman	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:06)
My Brownskin Sugar Plum	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:01)
Somebody's Been Playing With That Thing	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:16)
Log Cabin Blues [Take 1]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:10)
Log Cabin Blues [Take 2]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:19)
Homesick and Lonesome Blues	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:08)
Walking My Troubles Away [Take 1]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:56)
Walking My Troubles Away [Take 2]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:56)
Black and Tan	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:22)
Keep Away from My Woman [Take 1]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:55)
Keep Away from My Woman [Take 2]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:14)
Baby You Got to Do Better		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:01)
Big Bed Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:05)
Truckin' My Blues Away	Fulton Allen, J.B. Long	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:07)
(I Got a Woman Crazy for Me) She's Funny That Way		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:07)
Cat Man Blues [Take 1]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:06)
Cat Man Blues [Take 2]	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:08)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
When Your Gal Packs Up and Leaves	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:55)
Mama Let Me Lay It On You	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:57)
If You Don't Give Me What I Want		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:56)
Boots and Shoes	Weaver	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:52)
Trucking My Blues Away [Take 1]		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:55)
Trucking My Blues Away [Take 2]		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:49)
Sweet Honey Hole	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:49)
Untrue Blues	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:50)
Tom Cat Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:39)
My Baby Don't Mean Me No Good		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:58)
Been Your Dog		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:47)
My Best Gal Gonna Leave Me		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:50)
Wires All Down		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:50)
Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:02)
Death Alley		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:43)
Mamie [Take 1]	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:52)
Mamie [Take 2]	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:46)
New Oh Red!		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:49)
If You See My Pigmeat	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:04)
Stingy Mama		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:44)
Why Don't My Baby Write to Me		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:43)
Some Day You're Gonna Be Sorry		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:11)
You Never Can Tell		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:57)
Put You Back in the Jail		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:20)
Walking and Looking Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:02)

CD 3

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Bulldog Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:15)
Where My Woman Usta Lay		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:06)
Working Man Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(3:21)
Weeping Willow	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(3:12)
Corrine What Makes You Treat Me So		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:59)
Stealing Bo-Hog	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:52)
Worried Evil Man Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:54)
Bull Dog Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:58)
Break of Day Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:47)
Oh Zee Zas Rag		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:44)
Throw Your Yas Yas Back in Jail		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:52)
Snake Woman Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:49)
Mojo Hidin' Woman		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:46)
Steel Hearted Woman		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:37)
Ain't No Gettin' Along		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:51)
Careless Love	W.C. Handy, Martha E. Koenig, Spencer Williams	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:44)
New Louise Louise Blues	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:51)
Mistreater, You're Going to Be Sorry	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:25)
Bye Bye Baby Blues	Blind Boy Fuller, Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:35)
Looking for My Woman No. 2		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:42)
Shaggy Like a Bear	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:36)
Ten O'Clock Peeper		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:36)
Hungry Calf Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:44)
Too Many Women Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:46)
Oozin' You off My Mind		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:44)

CD 4

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Shake That Shimmy		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:48)
Heart Ease Blues	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:29)
I'm Going to Move (To the Edge of Town)		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:40)
Pistol Snapper Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:43)
Mean and No Good Woman	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:33)
Georgia Ham Mama		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:48)
Piccolo Rag	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:51)
Funny Feeling Blues	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:51)
Painful Hearted Man		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:49)
You've Got to Move It Out		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:51)
Mama Let Me Lay It On You No. 2		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:59)
Meat Shakin' Woman		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:44)
I'm a Good Stem Wonder		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:42)
What's That Smells Like Fish	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:45)
She's a Truckin' Little Baby		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:28)
Jivin' Woman Blues	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:33)
You're Laughing Now		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:43)
Stop Jivin' Me Mama	Blind Boy Fuller	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:38)
Long Time Trucker		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:34)
Big House Bound	Blind Boy Fuller, Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:42)
Flyin' Airplane Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:28)
Get Your Yas Yas Out	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:27)
Jitterbug Rag	Fulton Allen	Blind Boy Fuller	(2:33)
Screaming and Crying Blues		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:34)
Blacksnakin' Jiver		Blind Boy Fuller	(2:34)

Credits

Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council (Guitar), Blind Boy Fuller (Guitar), Blind Boy Fuller (Vocals), George "Bull City Red" Washington (Washboard), Sonny Terry (Harmonica), Charlie Austin (Harmonica), Rev. Gary Davis (Guitar)