One Room Country Shack and Other Struggling Blues

Mercy Dee Walton was a pianist, singer and songwriter, whose oeuvre encompassed blues, jump blues and R&B, invariably bewailing the unattractiveness of rural life. Invariably billed on record as just Mercy Dee, he remains chiefly important for his US Top 10 R&B hits 'Lonesome Cabin Blues (Log Cabin Blues)' and 'One Room Country Shack'. The latter song became established as a blues standard, and was later closely associated with Mose Allison.

A powerful body of work, this compilation is a selection of popular sides and rarities, recorded between 1949-55, variously for Spire, Imperial, Colony, Rhythm, Flair, and Specialty. His 1955 Flair release 'Come Back Maybellene', an answer disc to Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene', was a big record among specialist Rock & Roll collectors.

He sadly died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1962, just a year after recording a fine comeback album, "Mercy Dee", for Arhoolie.