Georgia White Vol. 3 1937-1939

Throughout the late 1930s Georgia White made a whole lot of swinging blues records for the Decca label with instrumental accompaniments by pianists Richard M. Jones and Sammy Price, guitarists Lonnie Johnson, and Teddy Bunn and bassist John Lindsay. Volume three in her complete recorded works on Document provides access to 22 titles cut between October 1937 and May 1939. White was keenly aware of the tradition within which she was operating, and chose her material wisely, reviving old favorites like W.C. Handy's "Careless Love," Porter Grainger's "'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do," and Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues" and "Fare Thee Honey Fare Thee Well" which were both premiered in 1920 by Mamie Smith. What you get on this disc constitutes some of White's very best performances on record. Her backup musicians swing hard with a boogie-woogie beat whenever necessary, and she expresses herself powerfully on "Strewin' Your Mess," "Holding My Own," "The Blues Ain't Nothin' But...???," and "The Stuff Is Here," a lively tea pad tune that has been reissued on a brimming handful of party blues collections ever since its rediscovery during the '70s by the producers of the Stash record label. The relaxed and very sensual "Rock Me Daddy" has a beautiful solo by an unidentified alto saxophonist, while "Alley Boogie" (attributed to both White and her contemporary, Lucille Bogan) cooks to a jelly like there's no tomorrow.