Skip James – Devil Got My Woman – Grafton, Wisconsin, February 1931

1. HARD TIME KILLIN’ FLOOR BLUES
2. CHERRY BALL BLUES
3. 22-20 BLUES
4. IF YOU HAVEN’T GOT ANY HAY, GET ON DOWN THE ROAD
5. ILLINOIS BLUES
6. YOLA MY BLUES AWAY
7. HOW LONG BUCK
8. LITTLE COW AND CALF IS GONNA DIE BLUES
9. DEVIL GOT MY WOMAN
10. CYPRESS GROVE BLUES
11. I’M SO GLAD
12. SPECIAL RIDER BLUES
13. HARD LUCK CHILD
14. FOUR O’CLOCK BLUES
15. BE READY WHEN HE COMES
16. JESUS IS A MIGHTY GOOD LEADER
17. DRUNKEN SPREE
18. WHAT AM I TO DO BLUES

• Delta Blues legend SKIP JAMES was a remarkable musician, accomplished on two instruments, guitar and piano.
• His guitar style was noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique, associated with the Bentonia School of playing.
• Indeed, his style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont Blues of the East Coast, than with the Blues of his native Mississippi.
• James is chiefly remembered for a concise, albeit obscure body of work; just nine 78rpm shellac discs recorded for Paramount, in Grafton, Wisconsin, in February 1931, which rank among the rarest records known to serious Blues collectors.
• His most well-known number, by default, is ‘I’m So Glad’; recorded by British Rock band Cream in 1966, it generated the only royalty cheque he ever received, for $10,000.