American Primitive

The words "sprawling," "epic," and "revelatory" are neither inappropriate nor hyperbolic in describing the John Fahey-curated, fifty-song collection American Primitive Vol. 2. This two-CD anthology pulls together gospel, blues, country, and folk recordings from 1897-1939, years when the aforementioned genres were about to split from each other. The songs represented on the collection refuse to recognize any such distinctions. Most are secular and spiritual all at once, northern and southern, black and white (in fact, the curators of the collection don't know the race of some of the artists included). Favorites include:

*Walter Taylor's "Deal Rag." From 1930, one of the later recordings on the anthology, this blues number is pure boogie. The sound is dirty, zero polish, but the melody and attitude match anything on a Robert Johnson record.

*Mattie May Thomas's "Workhouse Blues." The most powerful voice on the collection. She was in prison when this and four other tracks on American Primitive were recorded over a two-day period. Yes, this is straight from the sewing room of the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Her voice is everything you'd expect it to be and more. Oh, and the lyrics...I've got to bring this and play it for my Creative Writing class this term. Check the lyrics: "In the empty belly, black man, in the year 19 and 9. I was a little young hobo, empty belly from all up and down the line. I rambled through the state, baby, all up and down the line. I wrassled with the lions, black man, with the lions on the mountains high. I pulled they hair out, black man, hair out strand by strand. Leaping spiders, lord, began to bite my poor heart. But let me tell you, baby they crawled away and died. I wrassled with the hounds, black man, hounds of hell all day. I squeeze them so tight, until they fade away. I swim the blue sea, with the mountains on my back. I mean, I conquered all the lions and I even turned they power back."