Book excerpt: The shellac of the 20's, 30's and 40's caught the fleeting moment, the spirit of the times; the raunchy ragtime, barrelhouse boogie and the country blues. Some of those records will never be replaced. Some, never will be heard again. Many of those songs are here in printed form for the first time, as an only monument to a pristine era never to happen again. This is a valued collection of the great country blues — as sung and played by the greatest of the country bluesmen — as collected and annotated by Stefan Grossman, Hal Grossman and Stephen Calt: Aberdeen Mississippi Blues/Booker White'Bout A Spoonful/Mance LipscombAlabama Blues/Robert WilkinsAin't You Sorry?/Mance LipscombAll Night Long/Skip JamesAt Home Blues/Sam "Lightnin' " HopkinsAvalon Blues/Mississippi John HurtAwful Fix Blues/Buddy Boy HawkinsBanty Rooster Blues/Charlie PattonBeer Drinkin' Women/R.K. TurnerBig Chief Blues/Furry LewisBig Leg Blues/Mississippi John HurtBird Nest Bound/Charlie PattonBob McKinney/Henry ThomasBud Russell Blues/Sam "Lightnin'" HopkinsBull Frog Blues/William HarrisCandy Man Blues/Mississippi John HurtCasey Jones/Furry LewisCatfish Blues/Skip JamesCharlie James/Mance LipscombCoffee Blues/Mississippi John HurtCorinne, Corinna/Mississippi John HurtCounty Farm Blues/Son HouseCrossroad Blues/Robert JohnsonCrow Jane/Skip JamesCypress Grove Blues/Skip JamesDepot Blues/Son HouseDevil Got My Woman/Skip JamesDevil in the Lion's Den/Sam CollinsDough Roller Blues/Joe CallicottDown the Dirt Road/Charlie PattonDrunken Spree/Skip JamesDry Well Blues/Charlie PattonFallin' Down Blues/Robert WilkinsFuture Blues/Willie BrownGet Away Blues/Robert WilkinsHambone Blues/Ed BellHammer Blues/Charlie PattonHell Hound On My Trail/Robert JohnsonHot Jelly Roll Blues/George CarterHow Long Buck/Skip JamesI'm Satis fied/Mississippi John HurtJinx Blues/Son HouseKnocking Down Windows/Mance LipscombLong Train Blues/Robert WilkinsMarried Woman Blues/Joe Callicott