Sylvester Weaver

Complete Recorded Works 2 November 1923 – 30 November 1927

Vol. 2: 31 August 1927 to 30 November 1927

Featuring the recordings of:

Sylvester Weaver, vocal / guitar. Weaver And Beasley: Sylvester Weaver, Walter Beasley, guitar duet. Sylvester Weaver, vocal / guitar; Walter Beasley, guitar. Helen Humes, vocal; accompanied by Sylvester Weaver, Walter Beasley, guitars. Sylvester Weaver, vocal / guitar; Walter Beasley, guitar. Helen Humes, vocal; accompanied Sylvester Weaver, Walter Beasley, guitars. Weaver And Beasley: Sylvester Weaver, Walter Beasley, guitar duet. Walter Beasley, vocal / guitar; Sylvester Weaver, guitar. Sylvester Weaver, vocal / guitar; Walter Beasley, guitar.

Genres: Country Blues, Country Blues Guitar, Country Blues Bottleneck-slide Guitar, Louisville Blues, Female Blues, Guitar Duet

Abridged from this album’s original booklet notes. Document’s second volume devoted to the (nearly) complete recordings of blues guitarist Sylvester Weaver covers the second half of his brief recording career, beginning with three titles waxed on August 31, 1927 and filling the rest of the picture with 18 sides cut three months later on November 26, 27, and 30. Opening with the last two solo records he is known to have made, this tasty collection gathers in all of Weaver’s collaborations with guitarist Walter Beasley, blended with five titles featuring a young vocalist by the name of Helen Humes. Like Weaver a native of Louisville KY, Humes was only 14 years old when she recorded these salty sides with titles like Cross Eyed Blues, Garlic Blues, and Nappy Headed Blues. Although Weaver is said to have “discovered” her, Helen Humes‘ recording debut actually took place more than half a year earlier in April at the age of 13! The Weaver/Beasley duo was a fine unit that compares and contrasts nicely with that of Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang, who would begin making records together in November 1928 with Lang billed as Blind Willie Dunn in an attempt by the record company to mask his whiteness. Many of the Weaver/Beasley duets were issued under Weaver’s name, and in fact the only titles released as by Walter Beasley were Georgia Skin and Southern Man Blues. Four titles were recorded as by Weaver and Beasley: Soft Steel Piston, St. Louis Blues, Bottleneck Blues, and the delectable Me And My Tapeworm, subtitled Hungry Blues, which the squeamish management at OKeh left unissued for some unaccountable reason. Taken at face value, a song about an intestinal parasite occupies a special niche in musical history alongside the Mean Old Bedbug Blues, Memphis Minnie‘s report on her bout with meningitis and other bracingly honest testimonials describing problems that make the usual interpersonal relationship woes pale by comparison.

Keith Briggs Copyright 1992 & 2007 Document Records.

DOCD-5113