Why Do You Moan When You Can Shake That Thing

• Track Listing

Rural blues from two masters. Here's the rowdy, spirited and downright bawdy version of the blues that both singers took to audiences all over the South. Papa Charlie worked in travelling shows for at least a decade before he entered the recording studio. His records were instantly popular - but with the Depression, his star waned. These sides see Papa Charlie performing with the likes of Ida Cox, Freddie Keppard, Lucille Bogan and Ma Rainey - a measure of the esteem in which he was held. Bo Weavil Jackson is, like many early blues performers, a man shrouded in mystery. Little is known of his life before or after these recordings, except that he may well have been a native of Birmingham Alabama.. What we can say with certainty is that he had a superb (and surprisingly modern) guitar technique and a compelling singing voice.