Document Records

28/07/2024

One of the greatest of all jug bands and possibly the most influential, the Memphis Jug Band recorded extensively from 1927-1930.

The original version of the group consisted of Will Shade on harmonica, guitar, and/or vocals; Ben Ramey on kazoo; guitarist/signer Will Weldon; and Charlie Polk on jug.

During the year-long period covered in Vol 1, the only significant personnel change was the addition of Vol Stevens on banjo-mandolin and guitar. The good-time music that they performed ranged from blues to pop numbers and even a couple waltzes. All of the Memphis Jug Band Document CDs are fairly equal in quality, with the second volume getting a slight edge in our opinion.

Among the highlights of Vol. 1 are "Memphis Jug Blues," "I Packed My Suitcase, Started to the Train," "Kansas City Blues" (recorded just a few days after Jim Jackson's famous version), the heated "Beale Street Mess Around," and a previously unreleased "She Stays Out All Night Long." Very fun music that still resonates today.

28/07/2024

The headstone of Sam Chatmon in Sanders Memorial Garden Cemetery in Hollandale, MS

https://mtzionmemorialfund.com/project/sam-chatmon/

28/07/2024

The "Mississippi John Hurt's Legacy Will Rise!" fundraiser is excited to announce that the Foundation's good friend John Price generously offered a dollar-for-dollar match for every donation up to $15K! This is a fantastic opportunity to double the impact of your contributions and we must raise at least $50K to activate the offer. So far, more than $35K has been raised and the $50K target is within reach.

With sufficient funding, the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation can begin construction on the Mississippi John Hurt Fine Arts Center to help restore John Hurt's legacy. If donating is something you've been considering, now is the time. You can also help by sharing this fundraiser on your social media - the more people we reach, the faster we'll attain our goal.

Thank you for joining us in this important initiative. Here is a link to the fundraiser: https://gofund.me/57a298f5

27/07/2024

BIG BILL BROONZY - Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1927-1932)

This album contains the first 26 selections ever recorded by Big Bill Broonzy as a leader. The beginning of Document's complete reissuance of all of Broonzy's early recordings, the set starts with four duet numbers that Broonzy cut during 1927-28 with fellow guitarist John Thomas. Although his style was already a bit recognizable, the young guitarist/vocalist really started coming into his own in 1930. There are 15 selections from that year included on this set, with Big Bill often using the pseudonyms of Sammy Sampson or Big Bill Johnson; in fact, even the final seven numbers (from 1932) had him billed as the latter.

The CD finds Broonzy evolving from a country-blues musician who already had strong technique into a star of what became known as hokum records. Among the many highlights are "Big Bill Blues" (different versions in 1928 and 1932), "I Can't Be Satisfied," "Pig Meat Strut," "Beedle Um Bum" and "Selling That Stuff." Pianist Georgia Tom Dorsey helps out on three numbers.

Had these songs been all he ever recorded, Big Bill Broonzy would still be considered a great talent - and yet there are 11 more albums in our collection, covering his rise to legendary status. Here is where it all began.

26/07/2024

Jazz Gillum recorded 100 selections during 1934-49, (not including a full album).

Of those 100, the first two seem to be completely lost to time, but the other 98 have all been reissued across four Document albums.

An expressive singer and an effective harmonica player, Gillum, holds his own with terrific sidemen which on Vol. 2 include guitarist Big Bill Broonzy, pianist Joshua Altheimer, bassist Ransom Knowing, Washboard Sam and (on one session) even a tenor-saxophonist.

Among the best selections from these performances covering the 1938-41 period are such wonderful numbers as "Get Away Old Woman," "Keyhole Blues," "Hard Drivin' Woman," "Key To The Highway" and "Is That A Monkey You Got?"

Jazz Gillum Vol. 2 1938 - 1941 - DOCD-5198. Available on CD and Download only from The Document Records Store.

26/07/2024

Teddy Bunn was one of the finest acoustic jazz guitarists of the 1930s, although he had relatively few opportunities to be showcased on record.

This album features Bunn on a series of hokum vocal duets with Spencer Williams (Clarence Profit or James P. Johnson provide the piano accompaniment); backing singers Buck Franklin, Fat Hayden, and Walter Pichon; jamming with clarinetist Mezz Mezzrow and trumpeter Tommy Ladnier (six alternate takes from the famous Panassie Sessions); and leading a session of his own.

This is his definitive collection.

24/07/2024

John Mayall (1933 – 2024)

This morning, Gillian and I woke up to the sad news that John Mayall had died.

If there is such a thing as a father of the British Blues or British R & B scene that tore its way into 1960s Britain with a legacy that continued for decades, then Alexis Koerner was one of them. The other, who’s impact on both British musicians and audiences alike was even greater, was John Mayall.

The first time that I heard John was when, in the mid 1960s, my brother Mike (six years older than myself) came home with a single, on the Decca label, by John Mayall and the Blues Breakers; a record that was greatly received by the Atkinson family blues and jazz appreciation household. I would be eight at the time and was already very appreciative of what was to me a very natural sound.

Roll the story onto 2006. I was in my office at Document Records when one of my staff said “There is a phone call and someone is asking for you”. I asked who it was. The answer was that it was John, with the last name being stumbled over and unrecognisable. “I do not know that name.” I said. “Could you ask them for it again?” The answer came back and the name was still a mystery but added to this, I was told that the gentleman was calling from Hollywood and that it was important. After a third try at this, the member of staff said that it was “…someone called John Mayall”.

I took the call and desperately tried not to sound cliched and corny by asking “Hello, is this the John Mayall that I think that it is?”
“Yes”, came the answer. “Oh!” I replied and for some reason opened up the conversation with “I have lots of your records”, having slipped into a dizzy teenage mode, which I continue to do on the odd occasion. John’s response was “That’s funny, because I have a lot of your records too”, meaning Document albums…

John was keen to collaborate with Document, having been inspired by the double album that we had produced for Bill Wyman for his ‘Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey’ project. As a result, I worked with John to produce ‘Picking The Blues – Boogie Woogie Pioneers’ which was released by Document.

It was a pure labour of love for him and typically, John put a lot of effort into it. Not only did he trawl through the extensive Document Records catalogue and also carefully chose and compiled the album but he also wrote the fascinating booklet notes that went with the CD, in which he used the recordings to explain their personal meaning to him and how they had shaped his music and career in the early days.

He opened the notes with:

“One of the treats for me being asked to put this compilation together is that it has allowed me to take a trip down memory lane.”

Sometime later, John invited me to meet up with him and as often been the case, by having Document Records, I once again found myself in the presence of one of the music heroes of my youth.
It goes without saying that he will be sadly missed but he and his music legacy will never be forgotten nor overstated.

- Gary Atkinson, Managing Director of Document Records

Groovy!

23/07/2024

With his falsetto and haunting guitar tunings, Skip James sounds like no other country blues player.

Although his lyrics were often drawn from the floating bag of clichés that showed up in countless blues songs, his atmospheric recordings, done in 1931 for Paramount, gave James' songs the appearance of poignancy, and his sad, lonely vocal style made them all seem quite heartfelt.

When he was rediscovered in the mid-'60s, his skills were still intact, and he made several solid recordings for Vanguard and other labels, but his reputation really rests on the 18 tracks from the 1930s presented here.

Our collection includes the incredible classics "Devil Got My Woman," "Cypress Grove Blues," and "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues".

James was also a pretty interesting piano player, and his playing on "If You Haven't Any Hay Get on Down the Road" sounds, again, like no other country blues pianist.

These are beautiful and maverick performances, and we believe this album is essential for any good blues collection!

22/07/2024

This set of field recordings done in Texas between 1934 and 1939 shows the tremendous influence of Blind Lemon Jefferson, as both Pete Harris and Smith Casey, who have the bulk of the tracks here, have repertoires almost entirely based on Jefferson's work.

Harris does "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" here as "Blind Lemon's Song," and takes a couple of stabs at "Jack O' Diamonds," also a Jefferson staple. "Carrie" is less in the Jefferson vein, and features some nice slide guitar work. Casey also does "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" here, only under the song's more common title, "Two White Horses Standing in a Line," and a song called "I Wouldn't Mind Dyin' if Dyin' Was All" that is definitely Jefferson-ian in construction. Jesse Lockett has a single track, Augustus Haggerty has four, and Tricky Sam also adds three tracks, including the pleasant, rag-inspired "Ella Speed," to round out the disc.

Released May 1, 1995.

22/07/2024

This double-disc collection is part of Document Records' field recordings series, and while it features a half-dozen or so unaccompanied vocal tracks, the greater share of the program is taken up by a series of interviews with ex-slaves Laura Smalley and Harriet Smith, conducted by John Henry Faulk in 1941, which undoubtedly will hold some appeal for scholars and historians.

The musical selections are intriguing, and include the mock folk epic "The Grey Goose," sung by "Lightning" Washington, and an intimate, haunting version of the lullaby "Go to Sleep, Little Baby," sung by Lester Powell. The set closes with five of the nine tracks (most of which are about unions or union organizing) that John Handcock, a sharecropper from Brinkley, AR, recorded in Washington, D.C. on March 9, 1937.

Physical CDs are sold out at the time of writing this, but it is available for download.

21/07/2024

Booker Washington White

21/07/2024

Son House

21/07/2024

Bunk Johnson Band, 1944
Curiously underdressed.

20/07/2024

To all our friends and fans around the world,

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your continued support of our label.

We love what we do because of you. Despite our vast catalog, we are a very small company, owned and operated by only a handful of people. We simply could not have done it without your support over all these years.

With gratitude,
The Document Records team

19/07/2024

Houses, churches, cemeteries, and other sites centering African American histories receive $3 million in funding for preservation projects. Among these are eight buildings designed by Black architects.

19/07/2024

Big Joe Williams

19/07/2024

Son House and Booker White, 1967

16/07/2024

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard EnterprisesLate In The Evening · Lightnin' HopkinsLightnin' Hopkins Vol. 1 (1950-1961)℗ 1998 Document RecordsReleased on: ...

16/07/2024

Lead Belly

16/07/2024

1938

15/07/2024

PEETIE WHEATSTRAW (real name William Bunch, 1902-1941) aka "The Devil's Son-in-Law" and "The High Sheriff from Hell" wrote and recorded an astounding 161 sides from 1930 to 1941, and was said to be a big draw in and around his St. Louis, Missouri home when he played live.

Some critics may dismiss Wheatstraw as repetitive, but cutting that many songs is a staggering achievement nonetheless, particularly through the Depression era.

Primarily a pianist on his own records, he played guitar on many other artists' recordings, such as Charley Jordan.

15/07/2024

Walter Furry Lewis

15/07/2024

Charles Cow Cow Davenport

14/07/2024

I pawned my watch, pawned my chain,
pawned my diamond ring
If that don't settle my drunken spree
I'll never get drunk again

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard EnterprisesDrunken Spree · Skip JamesSkip James Live 1964 & 1966℗ 2004 Document Records LtdReleased on: 2005-03-22Auto-gen...

13/07/2024

Another day at the office, surrounded by our heroes...

12/07/2024

Shannon Evans has worked closely with the Mary Frances Hurt of the Mississippi John Hurt Blues Foundation to help preserve the St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Teoc, Mississippi. This blog post details her research over the past year.

11/07/2024

The world's largest catalog of vintage American music is available for download and on cd at

www.thedocumentrecordsstore.com

10/07/2024

What's your most prized possession in your collection?