House of the Rising Sun, by Leadbelly (1944).

Walkin’ My Troubles Away, by Blind Boy Fuller.

Old Devil, by Armenter “Bo Carter” Chatmon (1938).

The World Is Going Wrong, by The Mississippi Sheiks (1931).

Goin’ Down To The River, by Mississippi Fred McDowell. Electric and live.

My Mama Don’t Allow Me, by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup.

Don’t Throw Your Love On Me So Strong, by T-Bone Walker (live, 1962).

Birmingham Gambler, by Curley Weaver (1934).

Blues Trip Me This Morning, by Tommy McClennan (1942). I’ve blogged a dozen songs now by the underrated McClennan and his friend and “sound-alike,” Robert Petway, since I heard them for the first time a little over a year ago. Tommy’s rough, raspy voice reminds me of Tom Waits. His guitar style, throwing in chord changes when the mood strikes him, recalls Robert Johnson. Honeyboy Edwards once described Tommy’s style in an interview: “He just play the blues. Play straight blues. There wasn’t nothin’ betwixt nothin’. Just straight go.” That’s a good description of McClennan’s music: just straight go!” For more, check these out: It’s Hard To Be Lonesome (2/28/12), Drop Down Mama (1/5/2012), along with the following tunes in 2011: You Can Mistreat Me Here (12/21), Whiskey-Head Woman (7/3), I’m A Guitar King (7/17), My Little Girl (9/12),Cotton Patch Blues (10/28), Travelin’ Highway Man (10/31), Mr. So And So (11/1), Crosscut Saw (11/2), and New Sugar Mama (11/20).

John Henry, by Mississippi Fred McDowell. Live and electrified.

Worried Life Blues, by Otis Spann (1960).

Ashes In My Whiskey, by Walter Davis and Henry Townsend.

Old Time Rider, by Clifford Gibson.

Alley Boogie, by Lucille Bogan. The more of these 80-year-old blues jams I dig up, the more I’m convinced that rock ‘n’ roll began many years before the generally accepted year of 1955.

Police Station Blues, by Peetie Wheatstraw (1902-1941).