Country Blues: Complete Early Recordings
With his dark genius lauded by the literary likes of Greil Marcus in this compilation's accompanying 64-page hardcover booklet, Dock Boggs is remembered as a grim and tortured man who barely managed to save his soul with a banjo and a handful of songs. Originally recorded in the late 1920s, this collection illuminates the history of murder ballads like "Pretty Polly" from their origins in the English countryside to their more contemporary expressions (see "Polly" by Nirvana). While Boggs experienced popularity when these recordings were made, he retired from music for more than 30 years until being "rediscovered" in the early 1960s. Along with 12 classic Boggs performances,Country Bluesincludes five unreleased outtakes and four cuts with Dock as an instrumental sideman.--Mitch Myers