1940 - The Legendary Library of Congress Session

By the time Georgia native William Samuel "Blind Willie" McTell earned ten dollars by sitting down in a hotel room in Atlanta on November 5, 1940, to preserve his artistry on 15 transcription platters for the Library of Congress, he had achieved a degree of fame by having recorded some 85 sides for multiple labels during the years 1927-1936. McTell was a skilled 12-string guitarist, an expressive vocalist, and a well-versed interpreter of ragtime, spirituals, blues, and a wide range of rural folk forms. He performed well for the Library of Congress, sometimes narrating and explaining the social background for his music while fielding John Lomax's rather careless and insensitive questions. What you get here is an excellent spectrum of McTell's stylistic range and repertoire. His slide manoeuvres on "Amazing Grace" are strikingly reminiscent of Blind Willie Johnson's technique. The overall content of this hotel room recital points directly to McTell's Atlantic session of November 1949.

A1 Chainey (2:46) A2 Murderer's Home Blues (3:03) A3 Kill-It-Kid Rag (2:40) A4 I Got To Cross De River O' Jordan (1:53) A5 Monologue On History Of The Blues; Monologue On Life As Maker Of Records: Monologue On Himself (5:37) A6 Monologue On Old Songs; Old Time Religion; Amen (3:00) B1 Will Fox (1:34) B2 Dying Crapshooter's Blues (3:07) B3 Amazing Grace (1:20) B4 Monologue On Accidents (1:50) B5 Just As Well Get Ready, You Got To Die: Climbin' High Mountains, Tryin' To Get Home (2:49) B6 King Edward Blues (1:45) B7 Delia (2:38) B8 Boll Weevil (1:54) B9 I Got To Cross The River Jordan (4:31)