By Barry Lee Pearson (allmusic.com)

Most blues enthusiasts think of Josh White as a folk revival artist. It's true that the second half of his music career found him based in New York playing to the coffeehouse and cabaret set and hanging out with Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, and fellow transplanted blues artists Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. When I saw him in Chicago in the 1960s his shirt was unbuttoned to his waist à la Harry Belafonte and his repertoire consisted of folk revival standards such as "Scarlet Ribbons." He was a show business personality -- a star renowned for his sexual magnetism and his dramatic vocal presentations. What many people don't know is that Josh White was a major figure in the Piedmont blues tradition. The first part of his career saw him as apprentice and lead boy to some of the greatest blues and religious artists ever, including Willie Walker, Blind Blake, Blind Joe Taggart (with whom he recorded), and allegedly even Blind Lemon Jefferson. On his own, he recorded both blues and religious songs, including a classic version of "Blood Red River." A fine guitar technician with an appealing voice, he became progressively more sophisticated in his presentation. Like many other Carolinians and Virginians who moved north to urban areas, he took up city ways, remaining a fine musician if no longer a down-home artist. Like several other canny blues players, he used his roots music to broaden and enhance his life experience, and his talent was such that he could choose the musical idiom that was most lucrative at the time.

1. "Sweet Jesus"
2. "Gospel"
3. "Lord is Bleeding Me Right Now"
4. "Jesus, I'm Thankful"
5. "Looking for a Home"
6. "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"
7. "Balm in Gilead"
8. "Steal Away to Jesus"
9. "Precious Lord, Take My Hand"
10. "Something Within"
11. "My Father Watches Over Me"
12. "I Heard the Voices of Jesus"
13. "Come and Go with Me to My Father's House"

1. "Moses"
2. "Moses, Don't Get Lost"
3. "Turtle Dove"
4. "Adam in the Garden"
5. "Daniel"
6. "Daniel in the Lion's Den"
7. "Little David"
8. "Eli, You Can't Stand"
9. "John"
10. "Sign of Judgment"
11. "One of These Days"
12. "O Day"
13. "Rock in the Weary Land"
14. "It Just Suits Me"
15. "I'm Gonna Lay Down My Life for My Lord"
16. "Before This Time Another Year"
17. "O Death"
18. "Goodbye, Everybody"

1. "Run, Mary, Run"
2. "John Write a Letter This Morning"
3. "Keep Workin' on a Building"
4. "Heaven is a Beautiful Place, I Know"
5. "Right Down Here"
6. "Ezekiel and the Dry Bones"
7. "Daniel in the Lion's Den"
8. "Leprosy (Nicodemus)"
9. "A Long Grave and a Short Grave"
10. "Listen to the Roll"
11. "When the Roll is Called Again"
12. "Dead and Gone"
13. "Gonna Take a Ride on the Chariot Wheel"
14. "Got the Keys to the Kingdom"
15. "(Some of These Days) I'm Going Down to the River of Jordan"
16. "Wants to be in Heaven When the First Trumpet Sounds"
17. "I Have a Mother Gone to Glory Over Yonder's Ocean"
18. "I'm Troubled About My Soul"
19. "Bye-O-Baby"
20. "Shoo Robin"
21. "Ten Pound Hammer"
22. "Oh Lordy Me, Oh Lordy My"
23. "I Sure Can't Stand it Long"
24. "Look Down That Long Lonesome Road"
25. "Tally Rally Devil"
26. "The Downward Road"
27. "Where is the Gambling Man?"
28. "Ain't but the One Train Run This Track (All Night Long)"
29. "Honey in the Rock"

1. "Jazz Battle"
2. "Little Willie Blues"
3. "Sleepy Time Blue"
4. "Take Your Time"
5. "Sweet and Low Blues"
6. "Take Me to the River"
7. "Ace of Rhythm"
8. "Let's Get Together"
9. "Sau-Sha Stomp"
10. "Michigander Blues"
11. "Decatur Street Tutti"
12. "Till Times Get Better"
13. "Lina Blues"
14. "Weird and Blues"
15. "Croonin' the Blues"
16. "I Got the Stinger"
17. "Boston Skuffle"
18. "Tanguay Blues"
19. "Band Box Stomp"
20. "Moanful Blues"
21. "Rhythm in Spain"
22. "Absolutely"
23. "More Rain, More Rest"
24. "How Can Cupid Be So Stupid?"

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This page updated June 5, 2005 by Adrian Carter.