The second volume of World Music Network's excellent Rough Guide to Unsung Heroes of Country Blues series offers an even deeper look at some of history's forgotten early blues pioneers. Among the generous two-dozen tracks here are gems like
Sylvester Weaver's "Guitar Rag," which is credited as the first recorded blues instrumental. Most of the tracks, like
George Torey's snaky "Lonesome Man Blues" and
Jelly Jaw Short's "Grand Daddy Blues" feature solo guitar accompaniment, often with early slide and bottleneck techniques. Scattered throughout the collection are a handful of songs that feature banjo (
Papa Charlie Jackson's "The Cat's Got the Measles"), piano (
Jaybird Coleman's "Man Trouble Blues"), or small ensembles like the
Memphis Jug Band's "This Will Bring You Back." For the most part, though, the foundations of blues guitar in all its glory are laid out here by the genre's originators who likely never saw the massive influence their music would have on future generations. ~ Timothy Monger