This interesting collection draws from recordings in the Harry Smith archive and includes what sounds like songs taken from casual, private sessions with various country blues artists along with a few scratchy songs from commercial 78s. The sound is all over the map, but the value of sets like this aren't really in their sonic qualities but in their historical value. Worth noting here is Rev. Gary Davis' striking and stark "The Blood's Done Signed Your Name," a kinetic version by Leadbelly of "Gallows Pole," and Charley Patton's classic "Mississippi Boll Weevil."
Lifting the Veil: The First Bluesmen
Rev. Gary Davis
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Lifting the Veil: The First Bluesmen Review
by Steve Leggett
