"... Two albums, Fred McDowell, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, were released on Arhoolie
in the mid-'60s, and the shock waves were felt throughout the folk-blues
community. Here was a bluesman with a repertoire of uncommon depth,
putting it over with great emotional force, and to top it all off, he
had seemingly slipped through the cracks of late-'20s/early-'30s field
recordings. No scratchy, highly prized 78s on Paramount or Vocalion to
use as a yardstick to measure his current worth, no romantic stories
about him disappearing into the Delta for decades at a time to become a
professional gambler or a preacher. No, Mississippi Fred McDowell had
been in his adopted home state, farming and playing all along, and the
world coming to his doorstep seemed to ruffle him no more than the
little boy down the street delivering the local newspaper..."
