Down Home Blues: New York, Cincinnati & The North Eastern States: Tough Enough (4cd Set)

Down Home Blues: New York,Cincinnati & The North Eastern States is THE definitive collection of blues music from New York City and the north-eastern region from the early 1940s to the early 1960s is the third box set in Wienerworld’s Down Home Blues series that explores the unique regions of the black American blues sceneures 37 artists, many of whom were influential in developing the down home blues scene, including Brownie McGhee, Big Chief Ellis, Alonzo Scales, Cousin Leroy and others.A four CD set, packaged in a deluxe digipak with an outer slip case, featuring 110 rare tracks, all digitally remastered, some of which have never been reissued since their original release features an 80 page book on the origins of the music and the blues scene in this region by eminent blues writer and scholar Chris Bentley, complete with essay, rare photos, tracklisting and full sessionography box set contains the down home blues of the territories of the North Eastern States that encompasses two important cities that certainly helped in the development and growth of this blues genre. Mainly from artists who were far more comfortable playing their music within the bars and out-of-town juke joints. The tough little venues that were quite different from the bigger rhythm and blues, jazz orchestrated venues that New York and Northeastern cities had established for those bigger sounds is black American musicians, many with pre-war country blues roots which had evolved with an edge that didn’t have to come out of the Delta and migrate up to the Illinois or Michigan cites during and after the Second World War. Here, many hailed from Florida, Georgia, Alabama and The Carolinas. 110 performances from single solo artists who were lucky enough to get just one, sublime record release, up to the tight small combo groups of musicians whom all produced equally fine intense recordings.
Another solid entry in a series that asserts that home is wherever you lay your blues!-Record Collector – 4 StarLovers of down home harmonica-and-guitar blues should find plenty to please them in this 110 track compilation. Presentation and notes (by Chris Bentley) are on a par with Wienerworld’s previous Down Home Blues sets. –4 Star – MojoThis is the blues as raw as it comes, a worthy addition to any blues fan’s collection. –Roy Bainton – Blues Matters Magazine This beautifully packaged four-CD set focusses attention on the work of a string of relatively obscure blues.-Belper NewsMarvellously well-curated four CD boxed set 5 * Review This is the best way to re-issue music that we all love, and thanks to this label for showing the way. One hopes others will follow.- Bits N Pieces MagazineOnce again, the people at Wienerworld have come up trumps.. a combination of the semi-obvious and high rarity. So, dig in and enjoy you won’t regret it!Peter B. Lowry, Living Blues MagazineThis is the third box set in Wienerworld’s blues series that explores the different regions of the black American blues scene. (The first two covered Detroit and Chicago). This smart four-CD set features the postwar blues from 1945 to 1962 of the north-eastern States encompassing the cities of New York and Cincinnati. The black artists in these territories had mostly migrated from the south-eastern states of Georgia, Alabama, Virginia and the Carolinas and were more comfortable playing in the tough little bars and out-of-town juke joints than the bigger R&B and jazz-oriented venues that had become established in the citiesr music was stylistically different to that of their counterparts who had migrated from Mississippi and Louisiana and had tended to end up in Chicago or Detroit. As a general rule of thumb the latter’s rough, hard-edged music resulted in the tough electric blues coming out of those cities whereas the music of this box set originated from the gentler, sensitive pre-war blues of the south-east a style that became known as the Piedmont Blues collection features 37 artists and 110 tracks. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee (recorded here before combining as a folk blues partnership) are probably the better-known musicians. Many are relatively obscure but the quality of the musicianship is none the worse for this. Some tracks have never been issued since their original release and all have been digitally remastered. The fold-out box set comes with an 80-page booklet by Chris Bentley with biographies, photos, a sessionography and pictures of the original labels. It’s a top quality production. –Jazz Journal