I don’t usually feature radio broadcasts on Free Albums Galore. God knows I’m tempted every day when I browse though the splendid mini-concerts in abundance at the Free Music Archive. There are so many good ones. But when I found this rare 2004 live performance of North Mississippi Country Hill Blues, I knew I was going to have to yield to temptation.

Fat Possum is a marvelous record label that showcases a lot of raw and authentic country blues by under-rated, and then unknown, practitioners including R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Less celebrated but no less talented were three blues musicians, Paul “Wine” Jones, T-Model Ford, and Kenny Brown. In 2004 , the Fat Possum Juke Joint Caravan tour hit the road and somewhere down the line WFMU was lucky enough to get Jones, Ford and Brown into the studio. To quote an old diva of an actress who probably knew nothing about the blues, “Tighten your seat belt. It’s going to be a bumpy ride”.

Paul “Wine” Jones stayed pretty loyal to the Missisippi Delta style yet had a number of distinguishing trademarks; a lot of “Wah Wah” guitar riffing, driving bass and rhythm lines, plus a gritty but passionate vocal style. The five tracks on the set are all hard driving and raucous with “If You Love Me Like You Say” and “Stop Arguing” being highlights. Paul Jones passed away in 2005.

T-Model Ford aka James Lewis Carter Ford isn’t sure when he was born but is probably in his late 80s and didn’t start his recording career until he was in his 70s. He is still going strong and touring. After stints in a log camp, a gig as a trucker and ten years on a chain gang you would think his music would be as raw and rough as reality and it is. When asked how often he has been in jail, T-Model replied, “Every Saturday night, for a while”. Ford’s songs are a mix of Mississippi and Chicago blues with a bit of John Lee Hooker boogie thrown in for good measure. Of the four tracks by Mr. Ford, I especially like “Chicken Heads” and “Wish I Was a Catfish”.

Kenny Brown is the young-un of the trio. He did his apprenticeship with R. L. Burnside but, in my opinion, has evolved into one of the best blues talent still performing. His first album Stingray is a doozy. There are only two tracks on this WFMU broadcast by Mr. Brown, “Jumping on the Line” and, easily my favorite of the entire session,”Laughing To Keep From Crying”. Kenny Brown is the next generation in Missisippi Hill Country Blues, a genre that is threatening to become extinct butthankfully spurred on by Fat Possum Records and the emergence of radio broadcasts like this.

And if you like the music, run over to the Fat Possum web site and load up on the artists’ CDs.

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