fred mcdowell vol. 2
Day Fifteen. The oldest album you own
This one … I don’t know. I’ve never been a collector of Old Albums. I’m sure I have some random Thrift Scores from the 50’s and 60’s, but nothing worth anything. If I have any old albums, it’s because I like them, and liked playing them. Faded and scratched records of the past.
So yeah, basically, if it’s older than me, it’s old. And that has led me to two choices. A couple of favorites from days gone by, that have kept me smiling for the past few decades.
I was looking at Chet Baker initially, but … I’ve been feeling the blues recently. So veer away from the jazzy and head to the Mississippi. As in Mississippi Fred McDowell.
Growing up and through most of high school, the closest to the blues I got was the Rolling Stones. That all changed somewhere around 1987 / 1988 when I was introduced to the Gun Club by a best friend / band mate. “Wait!” you say. “That’s not the blues.”
No, and yes.
Hitting eighteen years old and hearing “Preaching the Blues”, “She’s Like Heroin to Me”, and “For the Love of Ivy” … yeah, it was punk, and it was blues. My friend pushed me further into the music, Both present / future (Nick Cave, Concrete Blonde, Sister Double Happiness, Dream Syndicate) and past (Robert Johnson, Bo Diddley, CCR, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Mississippi Fred McDowell).
That’s where this started. Long summer nights in the back yard, which was actually across the street in the graveyard. Drinking Old Crow or Southern Comfort, and Preachin’ The Blues.
There were a lot of albums, a lot of songs, but the one I hold close is the Vol. 2 released in 1966. An interesting mix, but it’s the memories that spin on this circle. The guitar is the star, the slide is a ride, And these blues sing me some memories that still know how to shine.
#30daysofalbums #mississippifredmcdowell #fredmcdowell #vol2 #deltablues #arhoolierecords
Marcel Feldmar 