Set 9 of the iconic Matchbox Bluesmaster Series. The six LPs of the Library of Congress Series were released as a joint venture between Flyright Records and Saydisc Records during the 1970s. The original recordings made between 1934 and 1943 were made in the field on portable 78rpm lacquer disc cutting machines by various collectors. In the 30 years or so that they were lodged with the Library of Congress before being transcribed for this series in the 1970s many of the fragile discs deteriorated. The music recorded on those discs is of the highest importance in the history of the development of the blues and it was vital to preserve this for posterity. Some of the performances are really outstanding and from completely unknown and previously unrecorded singers and musicians some of whom (volumes 5 & 6) were in state penitentiary farms.

Artists

Lucious Curtis (guitar), Willie Ford (guitar), John Lomax, George Boldwin, Allison Mathis, Jessie Stroller (harmonica), Buster "Buzz" Ezell, Buster Brown, Gus Gibson, Charles Ellis, Sonny Chestain, James Sneed, J.F. Duffy (guitar), Alvin Sanders (guitar), Gabriel Brown (guitar), Rochelle French (guitar), John French, Booker T. Sapps, Roger Matthews, Willy Flowers, Ace Johnson, L.W. Gooden (guitar), Jesse Lockett, Smith Casey, Roger Gill, Wallace Chains, Sylvester Jones (guitar), Richard L. Lewis, Wilbert Gilliam (guitar), Hattie Ellis, "Cowboy" Jack Ramsey (guitar), Pete Harris, Tricky Sam, Augustus "Track Horse" Haggerty, Jack Johnson, Little Brother, A. Haggerty

The Smith Band