Blind Alfred Reed - The Remaining Tracks 1927-1929

I first discovered Blind Alfred Reed (as a songwriter) through Ry Cooder's cover of his "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live" (lyrics).

"What set Reed apart from most performers of the time, and brought him to Ralph Peer’s attention, were his self-penned numbers brimming with topical and social commentary.  He was a strict, God-fearing man, perhaps, whose views about the perils of damnation awaiting young ladies who bobbed their hair (“Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls”...) might seem a tad harsh to modern ears. But also one with a social conscience who also sang about racial inequality in “There’ll Be No Distinction There”...  and the inequities suffered by the poverty-stricken during the Great Depression on songs like “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” (as fate would have it, Reed himself is said to have died of starvation in 1956)."

(Alan Brown, Pop Matters)

Blind Alfred Reed's initial recording session (Bristol, TN, Jul 28, 1927) has already been documented in this blog and can be downloaded HERE.

 Camden, NJ, December 19, 1927 (6 tracks MONO mp3, 13.18 MB)  
 05 Blind Alfred Reed - Explosion in the Fairmount Mines     
 06 Blind Alfred Reed - Fate of Chris Lively and Wife        
 07 Blind Alfred Reed - Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls
 08 Blind Alfred Reed - Always Lift Him up and Never Knock Him Down
 09 Blind Alfred Reed - The Prayer of the Drunkard's Little Girl
 10 Arville Reed - The Telephone Girl                        

New York, NY, December 03, 1929 (5 tracks MONO mp3, 10.51 MB)
11 Blind Alfred Reed - Woman's Been After Man Ever Since  
12 Blind Alfred Reed - Why Don't You Bob Your Hair Girls-No. 02
13 Blind Alfred Reed - There'll Be No Distinction There   
14 Blind Alfred Reed - We've Got to Have 'Em, That's All  
15 Blind Alfred Reed - Beware   

New York, NY, December 04, 1929 (5 tracks MONO mp3, 10.7 MB)
16 Blind Alfred Reed - The Old-Fashioned Cottage            
17 Blind Alfred Reed - How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live
18 Blind Alfred Reed - Black and Blue Blues                 
19 Blind Alfred Reed - You'll Miss Me                      
20 Blind Alfred Reed - Money Cravin' Folks          

DOWNLOAD BLIND ALFRED REED'S COMPLETE RECORDINGS
(20 tracks MONO mp3, 42.81 MB)