Mercury Records Collection: EmArcy MG-26010: Strange Fruit

MG-26010: Strange Fruit / Josh White

Label Type :	blue EmArcy type A
Matrix Number :	SIDE-A	MG26010A MG25014A M1 C
	SIDE-B	MG26010B MG25014B M2 B

Comments

As the matrix number shows, this EmArcy MG-26010 is a re-issue of Mercury MG-25014: pressed from the same stamper.

All tunes are also available on EP-1-6019 and EP-1-6020.

Inside The Groove

soft, gentle but emotional folk blues from Keynote-Decca recordings.

Personal Impression (and brief notes)

Legendary blues singer/guitarlist Josh White left several tunes on Keynote label. This EmArcy release holds four of them (A-4, B-1, B-2, B-3), plus four more from Decca recordings. Although the jacket cover design resembles Keynote 4-78rpm album, the track listing is different.

Anyway, this album holds some the cream of Josh White's legendary blues singing. Accompanied only by his own guitar, he sings so soft, but emotional. A great blues recording.

Strictly Personal Rating (to what extent I could enjoy this album)

7 out of 10

Track Listing

SIDE-A
A-1	KJW12	Strange Fruit	-
A-2	KJW10	John Henry	-
A-3	KJW9	Evil Hearted Man	-
A-4	QB1692	Jim Crow Train	-
SIDE-B
B-1	QB1691	Southern Exposure	-
B-2	QB1689	Hard Time Blues	-
B-3	QB1688	Bad Housing Blues	-
B-4	KJW11	House Of The Rising Sun	-

Personnel

Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
(“The Mercury Labels - A Discography” by Ruppli and Novitsky, Greenwood Press, 1993)

According to the Ruppli discography, A-4, B-1, B-2, B-3 in 1941, and the rest in 1942.

Below recording date/place information is provided by Görgen Antonsson-san. Thank you again this time!

Josh White (vo, g).
A-4, B-1, B-2, B-3: Recorded in 1941.
B-4: Recorded in New York, November 10 1944.
A-2, A-3: Recorded in New York, December 13 1944.
A-1: Recorded in March 26 1946.