On vinyl for the first time. Second volume in a series of three.
Reissued in time to celebrate 25 years of Fat Possum, showcasingåÊ
their fine blues roots.‰ÛÏThis ain‰۪t no sequel, but the title was so good we decided to recycle it. Recycling being an honorable blues tradition.
‰ÛÏAre things really so bad? In case you haven‰۪t noticed, American teenagers, the record buying public, don‰۪t associate blues with anything good. How could they when all they‰۪ve been exposed to is the cheesy, cigar-smoking, frat-rock, and tourist trap side of it. At the other end of the spectrum, and the other side of the bar, but just as distasteful, are the folklorists, museum keepers, and musicologists - cozy existence insulated from reality with non-profit corporate checks. What place does Fat Possum Records have in all this? All we care about is capturing the vitality and subversive intensity our artists possess that is relevant in today‰۪s world. Blues used to be revered for its outrageousness, but it doesn‰۪t even serve as an outlet for frustration anymore. Hey - we‰۪re frustrated as hell. And we think it shows. Like, right now we‰۪re having to waste time arguing with Kenny Brown about that dent in his van he‰۪s trying to claim wasn‰۪t there before the tour so Fat Possum should fix it. We‰۪re about to release Kenny‰۪s solo record and all he‰۪s worried about is a quarter panel on a Chevy. Goddamn, Kenny Brown.
‰ÛÏWe are trying our best, that‰۪s our motto, in case you didn‰۪t know; and like the title, it fits. Our customers seem to like it, and it keeps everyone focused. Try your best, that‰۪s all you can do, when you‰۪ve got a job this big
‰ÛÏI don‰۪t make sequels and I‰۪m not a folklorist. I didn‰۪t start Fat Possum to document practitioners of a dying culture with ‰Û÷archival field recordings‰۪ that rarely sound good, much less do any artist justice. It‰۪s hard enough to make a good record when you are trying to; it‰۪s impossible to make one when all you are trying to do is record something. Fat Possum is always being criticized for being disrespectful, or for not being reverent, in our marketing and publicity. F*ck it. Old blues men are supposed to be bad people. I didn‰۪t find an impressionist painting at a flea market or discover some long forgotten Pharaoh‰۪s tomb. I didn‰۪t discover anybody, I record blues guys that were overlooked by other labels because they: hadn‰۪t toured, had only limited repertoires, were unreliable or refused to play standing up. Guys who sometimes have trouble standing up, who are better at falling down. But hey, that‰۪s the blues. At least, that‰۪s what I call the blues. Check it out.‰ - Matthew Johnson