Jack Owens & Bud Spires: Hard-Time Killing Floor Blues (1978)

Date recorded: August 12, 1978
Contributor(s): Recordist: Bishop, John; Recordist: Long, Worth; Recordist: Lomax, Alan; Performer: Spires, Benjamin (Blind Bud); Performer: Owens, Jack

Description: Jack Owens (vocal and guitar) and Benjamin "Blind Bud" Spires (harmonica) perform "Hard-Time Killing Floor Blues," made famous by Owens' friend Skip James. Shot by Alan Lomax, Worth Long, and John Bishop at Jack Owens' farm near Bentonia, Mississippi, August 12, 1978.

Subject(s):

Instruments: voice, guitar, harmonica

Setting: Jack Owens' farm

Location: Bentonia, Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States

Track Number: 54

Archive ID: JKhYLft6_p4

Belongs to: Mississippi Delta and Hill Country (1978)

About the session: Bluesmen; fife-and-drum ensembles; former muleskinners and railroad tie-tampers; and tall-tale reciters. Performers include Skip James collaborator Jack Owens, diddley-bow player Lonnie Pitchford, fife legend Otha Turner, and R. L. Burnside in his first film appearance.

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