The First Decade 1953-62

Snooks Eaglin was a blind blues singer and guitarist from New Orleans who played a highly accessible brand of blues, sometimes ranging into folk or rock ‘n’ roll styles, often re-working other artists’ songs, earning himself the nickname of “The Human Jukebox” with his wide and varied repertoire in ‘live’ performances. He was active for around half a century, but this great-value 52-track 2-CD set focuses on the first decade or so of his extensive recording career. It comprises early recordings as Blind Guitar Ferd for the Wonder label, plus most of the titles from his albums as Snooks Eaglin “Possum Up A Simmon Tree” on Folk-Lyric, “Message From New Orleans” on Heritage, and “That’s All Right” on Bluesville, plus his A & B sides from these years on Imperial on which he was known as Ford Eaglin, and on which he strays very much into the pop arena. It features versions of classic songs plus equally classic recordings associated with him, including “Mean Old World”, “Bottle Up And Go”, “Down By The Riverside”, “That’s Alright”, “Country Boy”, “Mama Don’t You Tear My Clothes”, “Yours Truly”, “Travellin’ Mood” and many more. He was an artist who played the blues primarily to entertain people, and this very much comes across in these selections of his early recordings.