Talkin' To You Wimmen' About The Blues 78

Record collector John Tefteller has just issued what is apparently the only known copy of Blind Willie McTell & Mary Willis’ “Talkin To You Wimmen’ About The Blues.” The track and it’s flip side, “Merciful Blues”, was issued on the CD that accompanies Tefteller’s most recent blues artwork calendar. To quote Tefteller: “the record you see in the center of this page [Talkin’ To You Wimmen About The Blues] apparently has not been heard by anyone since its release back in the late fall of 1931. I have had this record in my collection for almost ten years. I had no idea that it was potentially a one-of-a-kind record! …Late last year, legendary Blues reissue producer Larry Cohn called me about his upcoming Blind Willie McTell box set. He told me he would like to borrow certain records from my collection …I sent him a list of what I had. To my amazement , he called immediately with the comment, “I’ve never heard the Mary Willis record!” Apparently, there is no master in the Columbia vaults. Cohn is aware of no other copy of the record anywhere. Finding this hard to believe, I started calling “all the usual suspects” and sure enough, none of them had the record or had ever heard it.”

Simply put this is a terrific performance with superb sound. McTell’s distinctive guitar work opens the tracks as he sings a few verses before giving it over to Willis as he makes some amusing spoken asides. Willis is a marvelous singer possessing a strong, clear voice and sings this one with plenty of conviction. Essentially the song is is a string of floating blues verses: “Whatta ya going to do when they send your man to war/You gonna drink muddy water, sleep in a hollow log” and “Gotta shine my light, like some headlight on some train/My mind is stealing, my heart leaks away in pain/It’s a hateful fireman and a mean old engineer/Took my good man away and left me standing here.” The flip, “Merciful Blues”, is also good with Willis singing solo but not quite as memorable as the other number. McTell lays down some fine bottleneck throughout this latter number.

“Talkin To You Wimmen’ About The Blues” (MP3)