Charley Patton is widely regarded as perhaps the archetypal early exponent of Mississippi Delta blues. He was a true original, a strident and imposing enterainer with a distinctive slide guitar technique, and he performed a range of blues, spirituals and ballads in a powerful and intense fashion which uniquely captures the style and spirit of the genre. His recording career was restricted to a few sessions between 1929 and 1934, from which around thirty double-sided 78s were released, first on Paramount and latterly on Vocalion, and that was the entirety of his recorded output before his premature death from a heart disorder in 1934 aged 45.

This collection comprises the entirety of that canon, including six tracks with Henry Sims and Bertha Lee respectively performing the vocals, on which Patton played guitar. Anyone seriously interested in the blues and its history needs to have heard Charley Patton, and this anthology provides a comprehensive overview of his work.
 

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Disc 1
Track	Title	Artist
1	Pony Blues	Charley Patton
2	Banty Rooster Blues	Charley Patton
3	Prayer Of Death Part 1	Charley Patton
4	Prayer Of Death Part	Charley Patton
5	Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues	Charley Patton
6	Mississippi Boweavil Blues	Charley Patton
7	Down The Dirt Road Blues	Charley Patton
8	It Won't Be Long Now	Charley Patton
9	Shake It And Break It (But Don't Let It Fall Mama)	Charley Patton
10	A Spoonful Blues	Charley Patton
11	Pea Vine Blues	Charley Patton
12	Tom Rushen Blues	Charley Patton
13	Lord I'm Discouraged	Charley Patton
14	I'm Goin' Home	Charley Patton
15	High Water Everywhere	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
16	High Water Blues Part 2	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
17	Farrell Blues	Henry Sims acc by. Charley Patton
18	Come Back Corrina	Henry Sims acc by. Charley Patton
19	Rattlesnake Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
20	Running Wild Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
21	Be True Be True Blues	Henry Sims acc by. Charley Patton
Disc 2
Track	Title	Artist
1	Tell Me Man Blues	Henry Sims acc by. Charley Patton
2	Mean Black Cat Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
3	Magnolia Blues	Charley Patton
4	Mean Black Moan	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
5	Heart Like Railroad Steel	Charley Patton
6	Green River Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
7	Elder Greene Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
8	Jesus Is A Dying-Bed Maker	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
9	I Shall Not Be Moved	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
10	Hammer Blues	Charley Patton
11	When Your Way Gets Dark	Charley Patton
12	Moon Going Down	Charley Patton acc. by Willie Brown, 2nd gtr.
13	Going To Move To Alabama	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
14	Some Happy Day	Charley Patton
15	You're Gonna Need Somebody When You Die	Charley Patton
16	Circle Round The Moon	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
17	Devil Sent The Rain Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
18	Bird Nest Bound	Charley Patton acc. by Willie Brown, 2nd gtr.
19	Dry Well Blues	Charley Patton acc. by Willie Brown, 2nd gtr.
20	Jim Lee Blues Part 1	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
Disc 3
Track	Title	Artist
1	Some Summer Day	Charley Patton acc. by Willie Brown, 2nd gtr.
2	Frankie And Albert	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
3	Some These Days I'll Be Gone	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
4	Joe Kirby	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
5	Jim Lee Blues Part 2	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
6	Poor Me	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
7	34 Blues	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
8	Yellow Bee	Bertha Lee acc by. Charley Patton
9	Mind Reader Blues	Bertha Lee acc by. Charley Patton
10	High Sheriff Blues	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
11	Stone Pony Blues	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
12	Jersey Bull Blues	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
13	Love My Stuff	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
14	Oh Death	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
15	Troubled 'Bout My Mother	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
16	Revenue Man Blues	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
17	Hang It On The Wall	Charley Patton with Bertha Lee, vocal
18	Elder Greene Blues Take 2	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin
19	Hammer Blues Take 2	Charley Patton
20	Some These Days I'll Be Gone Take 2	Charley Patton acc. by Henry Sims, violin