VA – American Epic: The Collection (2017) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

American Epic, a film series produced by Allison McGourty, Duke Erikson and Director Bernard MacMahon, explores the pivotal recording journeys at the height of the Roaring Twenties, when music scouts armed with cutting-edge recording technology captured the breadth of American music and discovered the artists that would shape our world.

The recordings they made of all the ethnic groups of America democratized the nation and gave a voice to everyone. Country singers in the Appalachians, Blues guitarists in the Mississippi Delta, Gospel preachers across the south, Cajun fiddlers in Louisiana, Tejano groups from the Texas Mexico border, Native American drummers in Arizona, and Hawaiian musicians were all recorded. It was the first time America heard itself.

American Epic: The Collection gathers 100 of these original recordings from the 1920s and 1930s in one five-disc set, restored to unprecedented levels of sonic fidelity. For this box set, compiled by Director Bernard MacMahon, engineer Nicholas Bergh refined a transfer process using a mix of both modern and vintage equipment in order to extract the remarkable resolution from the records that is often missed. This reverse engineering approach to the transfer process enabled the restoration team of Grammy Award-winning engineer Peter Henderson, Duke Erikson and Joel Tefteller to get the resulting audio closer to the original performance than ever before.

This is not “remastering,” in the normal sense, but something closer to fine art restoration. The intent is not for people to marvel at the antiquity of these discs, but rather to experience them as vital, immediate performances that speak to us as directly as they did on the day they were recorded not simply great art for their time, but great art for all times. It includes a 100-page book filled with stunning unpublished photographs, quotes from the artists, their friends and families, lyrics for every song, essays and recording notes. Among the artists included are Mississippi John Hurt, The Carter Family, Charley Patton, Jimmie Rodgers, Lydia Mendoza, Nelstone’s Hawaiians, Big Chief Henry’s String Band, Robert Johnson and many others.

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. The Coo Coo Bird (The Cuckoo) – Clarence Ashley
2. On the Road Again – Memphis Jug Band
3. The Panama Limited – Bukka White
4. Indian War Whoop – Hoyt Ming and His Pep Steppers
5. ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do, Pt. 1 – Frank Stokes
6. K. C. Railroad Blues – Andrew & Jim Baxter
7. I Am Bound for the Promised Land – Alfred G. Karnes
8. Cottonfield Blues, Pt. 2 – Garfield Akers
9. I Wish I Was a Mole In the Ground – Bascom Lamar Lunsford
10. Down On Penny’s Farm – Bentley Boys
11. Foldin’ Bed – Whistler’s Jug Band
12. Greenback Dollar – Weems String Band
13. Tallahatchie River Blues – Mattie Delaney
14. Walk Right In – Cannon’s Jug Stompers
15. Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow – The Carter Family
16. Old Dog Blue – Jim Jackson
17. Bayou Teche – Columbus Fruge
18. Cool Drink of Water Blues – Tommy Johnson
19. Train On the Island – J. P. Nestor

Disc: 2
1. My Heart Keeps Singing – Elder J.E. Burch
2. Ninety-Nine Year Blues – Julius Daniels
3. I Get My Whiskey From Rockingham – Earl Johnson and his Clodhoppers
4. Death’s Black Train Is Coming – Rev. J. M. Gates
5. Waiting for a Train – Jimmie Rodgers
6. Darling, Where Have You Been So Long? – Tenneva Ramblers
7. Rocky Road – Alabama Sacred Harp Singers
8. Ma Blond Est Partie – Amadie Breaux, Ophey Breaux & Cleoma Breaux
9. Peg and Awl – Carolina Tar Heels
10. Chocolate to the Bone – Barbecue Bob
11. Down On Me – Eddie Head and Family
12. Prenez Courage – Cleoma Breaux with Joseph Falcon and Ophy Breaux
13. Pickin’ Off Peanuts – Dilly and his Dill Pickles
14. Just Because – Nelstone’s Hawaiians
15. Dupree Blues – Willie Walker
16. Ladies On the Steamboat – Burnett & Rutherford
17. Mamma, ‘Tain’t Long Fo’ Day – Blind Willie McTell

Disc: 3
1. Cecilia – Cuarteto Flores
2. La Coquetera – Los Borinquenos
3. Coconito – Guty Cárdenas Y Lencho
4. Lovesick Blues – Emmett Miller
5. Long Tall Mama – Big Bill Broonzy
6. John Henry Blues – Two Poor Boys
7. Mr. Tom Hughes’ Town – Lead Belly
8. Louis Collins – Mississippi John Hurt
9. I Am The Light of the World – Blind Gary Davis
10. Fifty Miles of Elbow Room – Rev. F.W. McGee
11. Chant of the Eagle Dance – Hopi Indian Chanters
12. Hilo Hula – Mike Hanapi & The Ilima Islanders
13. If The River Was Whiskey – Charlie Poole
14. Stackalee – Frank Hutchison
15. The Wreck of the ’97 – Ernest Stoneman
16. Faded Coat of Blue – Buell Kazee
17. Country Blues – Dock Boggs
18. Sail Away Ladies – Uncle Dave Macon and His Fruit-Jar Drinkers
19. Sail Away Lady – Uncle Bunt Stephens
20. Sally Gooden – Eck Robertson
21. Arkansas Traveller – Don Richardson

Disc: 4
1. Hard Time Blues – Lane Hardin
2. Down the Dirt Road Blues – Charley Patton
3. Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home – Banjo Joe
4. Hastings Street – Blind Blake & Charlie Spand
5. See That My Grave’s Kept Clean – Blind Lemon Jefferson
6. Gonna Have ‘Lasses In the Morning – Golden Melody Boys
7. New Orleans Stop Time – Memphis Minnie & Bumblebee Slim
8. Prove It On Me Blues – Ma Rainey
9. Gonne Die with My Hammer in My Hand – Williamson Brothers & Curry
10. Last Kind Words Blues – Geeshie Wiley
11. Banjoreno – Dixieland Jug Blowers
12. It’s a Good Thing – Beale Street Sheiks
13. Trust In God and Do the Right – Blind Willie Davis
14. Someday Baby Blues – Sleepy John Estes
15. Lonesome Road Blues – Sam Collins
16. Future Blues – Willie Brown
17. Bull Doze Blues – Henry Thomas
18. Brown Skin Gal (Down the Lane) – Massey Family
19. Henry Lee aka Young Hunting – Dick Justice
20. Old Country Rock – William Moore
21. La Danseuse – Delma Lachney & Blind Uncle Gaspard
22. My Black Mama, Pt. 1 & 2 – Son House
23. Cypress Grove Blues – Skip James

Disc: 5
1. Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson
2. Mal Hombre – Lydia Mendoza
3. Sunshine Special – Frenchy’s String Band
4. Old Jim Canan’s – Robert Wilkins
5. Les Blues De Voyage – Amédé Ardoin & Dennis McGee
6. The Lost Child – Stripling Brothers
7. I’m Gonna Cross the River Jordan Some of These Days – Jaybird Coleman
8. Tomi Tomi – Sol K. Bright with The Aloha Serenaders
9. Sittin’ On Top of the World – Mississippi Sheiks
10. James Alley Blues – Richard Rabbit Brown
11. The Indian Tom Tom – Big Chief Henry’s Indian String Band
12. Blues In a Bottle – Prince Albert Hunt’s Texas Ramblers
13. Je Me Suis En Alle – Bartmont Montet & Joswell Dupuis
14. Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground – Blind Willie Johnson
15. E Mama Ea – Sol Hoopii & His Novelty Quartette
16. Ghost Dance – Truett & George
17. Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind On Jesus) – Roosevelt Graves & Brother
18. Allons A Lafayette – Joseph Falcon
19. Corrido De Joaquin Murrieta, Pt. 1 & 2 – Los Madrugadores
20. Denomination Blues (Part 1 & 2) – Washington Phillips