This release in the Heroes of the Blues series is the only true cross-licensed best-of package for Skip James • A complete career retrospective, covering all periods of his career and various record labels • Digitally re-mastered • Original cover art by R. Crumb • Detailed liner notes and track information

About the Artist

Among the earliest and most influential Delta bluesmen to record, Skip James was the best known proponent of the so-called Bentonia school of blues players, a genre strain invested with as much fanciful scholarly "research" as any. Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, James's early recordings could make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Even more surprising was when blues scholars rediscovered him in the '60s and found his singing and playing skills intact. Influencing everyone from a young Robert Johnson (Skip's "Devil Got My Woman" became the basis of Johnson's "Hellhound on My Trail") to Eric Clapton (who recorded James's "I'm So Glad" on the first Cream album), Skip James's music, while from a commonly shared regional tradition, remains infused with his own unique personal spirit.

Track List:

1. 22-20 Blues

2. Little Cow Little Calf Is Gonna Die

3. Special Rider Blues

4. Vicksburg Blues

5. How Long Blues

6. Devil Got My Woman

7. Sick Bed Blues

8. I Don't Want A Woman To Stay Up All Night Long

9. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues

10. Skip's Worried Blues

11. Illinois Blues

12. Cypress Grove Blues

13. Cherry Ball Blues

14. Crow Jane

15. Everybody's Leaving Here

16. I'm So Glad