There really aren't very many
Scrapper Blackwell collections to choose from, especially compared to what's available by his famous colleague
Leroy Carr or his contemporaries
Big Bill Broonzy and
Tampa Red. No one has ever put together a more comprehensive
Scrapper Blackwell retrospective than Document's unprecedented mid-'90s three-volume series of his complete recorded works, which made 64 reissued titles from the years 1928-1960 available in chronological sequence. P-Vine's
Mr. Scrapper's Blues Guitar, a 50-track double-disc released in 2002, comes close to the splendor of Document's achievement without including anything recorded after the mid-'30s. Beginning with his very first solo recording (the "Kokomo Blues" of June 16, 1928), P-Vine lays out the guitarist's best work as a solo act and in close collaboration with
Leroy Carr, tossing in a handful of records cut in the company of
Bertha "Chippie" Hill and
Dot Rice, and finishing off with examples of how he sounded when sitting in with pianist
Jimmie Gordon and singing guitarist
Bumble Bee Slim in 1935, the year of
Carr's death. Virtually any
Scrapper Blackwell collection is well worth having in your life; this one is exceptionally fine.
–
arwulf arwulf, Rovi