Downhome Blues 1959 contains 46 tracks, spread out over two CDs, tracing the rural blues guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell’s earliest recordings. The sessions take place on the front porch of his Como, MS farm between September 21-25, 1959 and recorded by folk researcher Alan Lomax with assistance from Shirley Collins. On the first disc, McDowell is heard playing acoustic guitar and is occasionally joined by guitarist Miles Pratcher with Fannie Davis on kazoo and comb, with vocals by McDowell’s wife Annie Mae, James Shorty, Sidney Carter, and Rose Hemphill. The second disc includes one McDowell track, “Shake ‘Em on Down,” with the remaining cuts spotlight other Lomax recordings from the same time by bluesmen Forrest City Joe, Boy Blue, Willie Jones and the fife and drum duo of Ed Young and G.D. Young…

2 CD Set Contains Previously Unreleased Performances. JESUS ON THE MAINLINE is drawn from two 1971 concerts; April 14th, 1971 in Tacoma, Washington, and November 5th, 1971 at the Gaslight In New York, which would prove to be the final recording of the Delta Blues legend. The bottleneck guitarist was 67 years old when these tracks were recorded and his passion and conviction seem to have strengthened with the years. At this point in McDowell's career he had shifted to playing electric slide guitar. Accompanying McDowell's gruff voice, the guitar often seems to finish the singer's sentences for him; it's like listening to an old married couple.

"Mississippi" Fred McDowell played simple, haunting blues with vivid, demonstrative passion and power. He wasn't a great guitarist, but his voicings and backings were always memorable, while his singing never lacked intensity or conviction or failed to hold interest. This 1965 set contains mostly McDowell compositions, with the exception of the set's final number, a nearly seven-minute exposition of Big Bill Broonzy's "Louise." Assisted only at times by his wife Annie, Fred McDowell makes every song entertaining, whether they're humorous, poignant, reflective, or bemused.

Mississippi Fred McDowell was one of the links between the blues' past (specifically: Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson, and Son House) and the 1960s blues revival, where the music got a whole new young, white audience. Whereas some blues players attempted to modernize their style, McDowell's approach remained firmly rooted in the spacious, slide guitar-driven Delta (or country) blues.
Shake 'Em On Down captures McDowell live and in fine form in New York City in 1971. His voice is hearty, yet high-pitched and eerie, and his slide playing is terse, razor-sharp, and ominous. This reissue contains a respectable mix of classic McDowell tunes including "You Got To Move," covered by the Rolling Stones, and blues standards like "John Henry" and Big Joe Williams's "Baby Please Don't Go."