These 18 tracks from Skip James’ legendary 1931 session are, in fact, the sum total of his surviving work. A total of 26 tracks were recorded by HC Spier, record store owner, talent scout for the Paramount label, and the man who discovered Charley Patton, though eight of them have been lost forever.
Nevertheless, this February 1931 session includes such blues landmarks as Cypress Grove Blues, Hard Time Killing Floor Blues and I’m So Glad (as later�most famously covered by Cream). Don’t expect anything remotely resembling hi-fidelity sound, however. Originally pressed on poor quality shellac 78s, with all the attendant pops, hisses, crackles and distortion, James survives as a melancholic, spectral voice from a far-off time.
Commonly regarded as the first Delta blues artist to cut a record (he was reputedly paid $40 for his trouble and never actually heard the finished recordings) these historic sides were hugely influential on Robert Johnson, with Devil Got My Woman and 22-20 Blues providing the basis for Hellhound On My Tail and 32-20 Blues. Taken together, they’re the wellspring of the blues on record.
