Gee, But It’s Hard
LP Riverside RM 8803
This record has a worn out sleeve. For two reasons. First and foremost because me and a friend as teenagers used to copy and play and sing the tunes on the record and secondly because, for once, there were the words of the songs inside.
Thomas A. Dorsey was later to become “the father of gospel music” but here he works under the name Georgia Tom in the blues and hokum music tradition. He plays piano sings and is the composer of all the tunes. As companion on guitar he has the best men possible, namely Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy and here Scrapper Blackwell (probably) in a recording from February 1930.