Yet, I'm left wondering. The question is not an idle one. The vast bulk of what we know about the blues comes from commercial record companies, and I do not believe these were ever the passive agents of transmission they are usually portrayed. In short they were part of the process which changed the blues from a folk to a popular music. So it would have been nice to report on a fountain of pure inspiration, unhindered by any considerations but the musical ideas of its creators.
Life is never that simple.
Firstly, Oster is on record as favouring the odd and the unusual and I wonder to what extent this may have affected the selections here. Secondly, a large portion of these tracks show the influence of commercial recordings. My Grave Is Kept Clean, all five verses of which concur with Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1928 recording. The Cool Cats - the popular songs of the fifties were as much in evidence there as anywhere else. They have left their various imprints, lyrics, melodies and vocal styles, on several items.