Hard Time Killin' Floor Free MP3, Song Download, Lyrics, Album Track List

Skip James

Hard Time Killin' Floor

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Song	Lyrics	Save	Buy
PLAY QUEUE 1 Cypress Grove Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 2 If You Haven't Any Hay Get On Down The Road		save
PLAY QUEUE 3 Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 4 Special Rider Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 5 Devil Got My Woman		save
PLAY QUEUE 6 I'm So Glad		save
PLAY QUEUE 7 Cherry Ball Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 8 22-20 Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 9 Jesus Is A Might Good Leader		save
PLAY QUEUE 10 Hard Luck Child		save
PLAY QUEUE 11 Little Cow and Calf Is Gonna Die Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 12 Illinois Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 13 Drunken Spree		save
PLAY QUEUE 14 Four O'Clock Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 15 How Long Buck		save
PLAY QUEUE 16 Yola My Blues Away		save
PLAY QUEUE 17 Be Ready When He Comes		save
PLAY QUEUE 18 What Am I Gonna Do Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 19 My Black Mama (Part 1)		save
PLAY QUEUE 20 My Black Mama (Part 2)		save
PLAY QUEUE 21 Walkin' Blues		save
PLAY QUEUE 22 Dry Spell Blues (Part 1)		save

MOG Editorial Review

To listen to the recordings of Skip James on Hard Time Killin' Floor is, in many ways, to hear the sound of the Delta blues taking shape in the early '30s. Though not technically from the Mississippi Delta, James nonetheless embodied its early spirit, mastering the genre's intricate finger-picking on classics like "22-20 Blues" and "Yola My Blues Away." While James eventually revisited some of these songs during the last years of his life, the early 78s here capture an important era and beginning for one of the masters, even on these (very) lo-fi recordings, the raspy soul in James voice is on full display for all hoping to learn the history of the blues.
AMG Review of Hard Time Killin' Floor

Ronnie D. Lankford
All Music Guide

Hard Time Killin' Floor isn't the first Skip James collection, and one could bet it will not be the last. But Hard Time Killin' Floor makes a pretty good argument for itself: the hour-and-six-minute album holds all of James' early work, and it's been remastered. James' soulful vocal style, like Robert Johnson's, has often been noted, but his quick picking style is also distinctive. "I'm So Glad" is performed at an up-tempo, breakneck pace, and the finger work will leave the listener dizzy. The title cut, on the other hand, has a slow, lazy quality, with the blue notes of the guitar matching the singer's mournful cry. James was somewhat unique among blues guitarists in that he also played piano. His spunky gospel style is on full display on songs like "How Long Buck" and the bizarrely titled "Little Cow and Calf Is Gonna Die Blues." Of course Hard Time Killin' Floor wouldn't be complete without "Devil Got My Woman," the same song that would bring down the house at ~the Newport Folk Festival some 30 years later. The sound quality of these recordings, it should be noted, is a bit rough. This isn't a criticism; just something that should be noted for blues fans unfamiliar with the minefield of re-recording old songs from rare 78s. Yazoo and its engineers have made the best of a difficult situation, and for that, blues fans will be grateful. Interestingly, Yazoo, having extra room at the end of the CD, added four songs by another blues great, Son House. While the pairing might seem a bit odd, who'd complain about having four early Son House songs for free? Not this reviewer.