The 17 tracks on the compilation LP Georgia Blues (Rounder, 1975) consist of field recordings made by blues scholar George Mitchell in the Lower Chattahoochie Valley of southwestern Georgia from 1969 to 1971.
These are mainly simple recordings, with the vocalist accompanied by just guitar or sometimes harmonica. Among those recorded by Mitchell was Bud Grant, who lived and worked all his life in his birthplace of Thomaston, Ga.
Grant died in 1970, at age 46, less than a year after recording tracks included in the Rounder LP. Grant would play the blues at sawmills where he worked and also played at parties -- "mostly little frolicking pieces, you know, just for somebody to dance off," he told Mitchell. Perhaps they sounded something like the instrumental Bud Grant's Hen Strut, taken from the album Georgia Blues.
Bud Grant's Hen Strut
The Georgia Blues LP has not been issued on CD. However, all of George Mitchell's Georgia field recordings are available in a box set, either CDs or vinyl. The George Mitchell Collection can be purchased directly from Fat Possum Records.
In this video, George Mitchell talks about the unique sound of blues from the Lower Chattahoochie Valley.
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