In the 1950s and '60s, the blues was the dominant form of Black vernacular music throughout Texas and the surrounding areas. In segregated neighbourhoods, community members gathered in saloons, dancehalls, and each other's homes to hear their neighbours sing their stories of sorrow, heartbreak, jubilation, and triumph. Robert 'Mack' McCormick, an academically untrained but fanatical devotee of the blues, stepped into this world and became one of its most devout advocates and documentarians. By photographing Black and Latino Texans and their neighbourhoods, as well as recording and interviewing musicians, many of whom never stepped foot into a proper recording studio, McCormick endeared and eventually embedded himself into these communities. By the time he died in 2015, McCormick had amassed a collection of 590 reels of sound recordings and 165 boxes of manuscripts, original interviews and research notes, thousands of photographs and negatives, playbills, and posters. Because McCormick never published or released most of these materials, his collection became a thing of legend and intense speculation among scholars, blues aficionados, and musicians alike. 'Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958-1971' is the first compilation of music drawn from this fabled collection, which indelibly documents a pivotal moment in African American history. It features never-before-heard performances not only from musicians who became icons in their own right, including Lightnin' Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb, but also, crucially, performers whose names may be unfamiliar to even the most devoted blues fans and scholars.
Track Listing:
1. Mojo Hand - Lightnin' Hopkins
2. God Moves On the Water - Mance Lipscomb
3. The Clinton - Robert Shaw
4. Sugar Blues - Kid Wiggins
5. St. James Infirmary - Dudley Alexander and Washboard Band
6. Darlin' (You Know I Love You) - CeDell Davis
7. You Gonna Look Like a Monkey - Dennis Gainus
8. One Room Country Shack - Grey Ghost
9. Groceries On My Shelf (Piggly Wiggly) - Edwin 'Buster' Pickens
10. 3 O'clock Blues - Hop Wilson
11. Anything from a Foot Race to a Resting Place - Hop Wilson
12. Salty Dog Rag - James Tisdom
13. Goin' to the River - Gozy Kilpatrick
14. Quills - Joe Patterson
15. Ma Pa Cut the Cake - Lightnin' Hopkins
16. Crazy About Olahoma - Otis Cook
17. Little Red Rooster - Grey Ghost
18. My Work Will Be Done - The Spiritual Light Gospel Group
19. Steel Guitar Rag - James Tisdom
20. Tall Angel at the Bar - Mance Lipscomb
21. This Whole World's in a Sad Condition - George 'Bongo Joe' Coleman
1. World's in a Tangle - Lightnin' Hopkins
2. Someday Baby - Robert Shaw
3. It's Alright - CeDell Davis
4. Cryin' Won't Make Me Stay - R.C. Forest and Gozy Kilpatrick
5. China Tea - Allen Van
6. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is - George 'Bongo Joe' Coleman
7. Tom Moore's Farm - Lightnin' Hopkins
8. Tom Moore's Farm - Mance Lipscomb
9. Don't Do Me No Small Favors (Help the Bear) - Jealous James Stanchell
10. Fox Chase - Bill Bizor
11. Black Widow Spider Blues - R.C. Forest
12. Come and Go With Me to That Land - Hardy Gray
13. Rollin' and Tumblin' - CeDell Davis
14. Train Roll Up - Leroy 'Country' Johnson with Edwin 'Buster' Pickens
15. Shorty George - Edwin 'Buster' Pickens
16. Matchbox Blues - John Hopkins
17. It's My Life Baby - Blues Wallace
18. Hello Central, Gimme 209 - Andrew Everett
19. Bad Lee Brown - Jim Wilkie
20. Tin Can Alley Blues - R.C. Forest and Gozy Kilpatrick
21. Medicine Show Pitch - Murl 'Doc' Webster
1. So Different Blues - Mance Lipscomb
2. I Feel So Good - James Tisdom
3. Mr. Charlie - Lightnin' Hopkins
4. The Ma Grinder - Edwin 'Buster' Pickens
5. Deep Ellum Blues - Paul Elliott
6. K.C. Ain't Nothing But a Rag - Andrew Everett
7. Lonesome Road - Kid Wiggins
8. Old Judge Blues - Dennis Gainus
9. The Slop - Melvin 'Jack' Jackson and Lightnin' Hopkins
10. Corinne, Corinna - Lightnin' Hopkins
11. Talking Blues - Jimmy Womack
12. Good Times Here, Better Times Down the Road - John Hopkins
13. Put Me in the Alley - Robert Shaw
14. Auctioneer - Walter Britten
15. Runaway - Hardy Gray
16. Broke and Hungry - Hop Wilson
17. Big Road Blues - Mager Johnson
18. Casey Jones - Mance Lipscomb
19. Atomic Energy - Jimmy Womack
20. Natural Born Lover - Long Gone Miles/Lightnin' Hopkins and Love Crazy
21. Swanee River Boogie - E.B. Busby
22. Rock Me Baby - Long Gone Miles
23. Blues Jumped a Rabbit - Lightnin' Hopkins
24. George Coleman for President, Nobody for Vice President - George 'Bongo Joe' Coleman
Year of Production: 2023
