Slide master Homesick James’ credentials were legend, starting from his Chicago sides in the 50’s with cousin Elmore James to recording LPs in the early 60s.  Groups like Fleetwood Mac covered his tunes and by the early 90s Homesick had “retired” to his birthplace of Somerville Tennessee, 40 miles outside of Memphis. It was here in a tin-roofed shack deep in the woods in 1995 that Tim Duffy, founder of Music Maker Relief Foundation, brought his field recording gear to document a life that defines the wholly American art form we call the Blues.

Unencumbered by a ticking clock and free to say or play whatever he wanted, Homesick sat on his couch and delivered the unvarnished uncensored truth, writing: King Dracula, Take That Monkey Off My Back, Rock Headed Woman, Daddy Gotta Give It Away, Gotta Be a Redneck to Play Like That during the session.

This is connoisseur quality blues, deep, wicked, painful and raw, nothing like what’s presented today as contemporary blues. This is beyond that, it’s timeless at the same time being immediate, raw and somehow refined.

Only an acoustic guitar and faithful slide accompany his ravaged voice except when he requested the assistance of the Tim Duffy on guitar and Ardie Dean on drums.

Duffy arrived at Homesick’s family shack in the sweltering heat of late summer and Homesick was anxious to record and get paid, we set up gear and laid down about 3 hours of spoken word and songs, paid him in Pepe Lopez tequila and cash then left. We reviewed the recording and noticed the recording gear malfunctioned so Duffy along with Music Maker Musical Director; Ardie Dean had to go back the next day and try again. When we arrived unexpectedly he was on the front porch screaming, “That crack whore stole all my money!”  He was very impatient for us to re-set up gear to record and get paid again. Duffy rolled tape to capture the whole saga in words and song along with volumes of penetrating first-hand details about the gods of the blues, Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters and many others.