Memphis Minnie and Kansas City Joe: “Bumble Bee Blues”
Recorded June 18, 1929, New York City.
A substantial hit from Minnie’s first recording session, frequently incorporated and covered by other blues artists, and redone several times by Minnie herself, including one version with the Memphis Jug Band.

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Memphis Jug Band: “K.C. Moan”
Recorded 1929.
Led by guitarist and harmonica player Will Shade, the Memphis Jug Band covers a traditional work/train song, with probable roots in music from the turn of the 19th century and earlier. The jug band format was generally more inclined to play uptempo numbers, so this is a relatively rare instance of a ballad. Several rock bands of the 1960s got their start in the jug band format, including the Grateful Dead and the Lovin’ Spoonful.

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Cannon’s Jug Stompers: “Featherbed”
Recorded circa 1928, Memphis.
Led by banjo player Gus Cannon, “Featherbed” is an example of the uptempo jug band style. Cannon continued to play and record until the 1970s, including an album for Memphis label Stax that sought to capitalize on the cover of his song “Walk Right In,” a hit for folk-pop group The Rooftop Singers.

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Furry Lewis: “Billy Lyons and Stack O’Lee”
Recorded October 9, 1927, Chicago.
This song relates a traditional tale, common even then in folklore and blues musicians’ repertoires, of a relentlessly murderous man, and is thought by some to be based on a St. Louis or Memphis murder in the late 1800s. Known also as “Stagger Lee” and “Stagolee,” the tale has been told by musicians ranging from Cab Calloway and Lloyd Price to the Clash and Nick Cave.

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