To learn more about and love "the blues" you need to go back to the roots, this double album is a compilation of songs performed by Bessie Smith back in the early 1920's. These recordings were originally made using acoustic/mechanical techniques NOT electrical i.e no microphones were used. Through careful restoration but some of the best in the music industry, these recordings still sound great to this day. The full story of Bessie and these recordings is outlined inside the gatefold cover.
BESSIE SMITH - Any Woman's Blues
CBS Records
Cat# 2BP 220071
Monoaural
19xx (Year of release is not indicated, original release was 1970)
Australian release
Heavy cardboard gatefold cover is in good condition, no personal writing, no external tears and very light edgewear from normal handling however the inside of the gatefold has at one time seen some liquid and minor graphic damage (text) has occurred when the cover was "opened up".
New inner plastic liner sleeves
Both vinyl records are in very good condition, visually inspected under a bright White halogen light source and I can see NO scratches or marks at all on either record. Just looking at the vinyl is not a great way to judge the condition so I then played the double album ENTIRELY, both records and every single track on each side, there are no significant issues with surface noise nor clicks/pops - I did initially hear a bit of low level surface noise (dirt in the grooves not scratches) and put both records through the Monk a couple of times and this cleared up a lot of that noise. Certainly an admirable job was made of the audio restoration, quite amazing that there wasn't a microphone in sight when these recordings were made! All of her vocals (and the accompaniment) is clear and easy to listen to.
New outer protective sleeve
TRACKS: Jail House Blues, St. Louis Gal, Sam Jones Blues, Graveyard Dream Blues, Cemetery Blues, Far Away Blues, I'm Going Back To My Used To Be, Whoa Tillie Take Your Time, My Sweetie Went Away, Any Woman's Blues, Chicago Bound Blues, Mistreating Daddy, Frosty Morning Blues, Haunted House Blues, Eavesdropper's Blues, Easy Come Easy Go Blues, I'm Wild About That Thing, You've Got To Give Me Some, Kitchen Man, I've Got What It Takes, Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out, Take It Right Back, He's Got Me Goin', It Makes My Love Come Down, Wasted Life Blues, Dirty No-Gooder's Blues, Blue Spirit Blues, Worn Out Papa Blues, You Don't Understand, Don't Cry Baby, Keep It To Yourself, New Orleans Hop Scop Blues
