Tracks
01. 4 O’clock
02. Sun Going Down
03. Green River
04. Come to Die
05. Been Here and Gone
06. Henry Miller’s Dream
07. Jo’s Mistreated Blues
08. Bothering that Thing
09. Traveling Solo
10. King Street
11. Baby Where You Been
12. For Son
13. Blues Ain’t Nothin’
14. Come to Die – Son’s Take
15. Slow Motion
16. Rolling Log
17. Pigmeat
18. Sour Jive
19. New Stockyard
20. Drunken Barrelhouse
21. Coda for Jo
BEEN HERE AND GONE (with Son House and Joann Kelly)
On separate occasions, when Woody Mann was just a teenager, he recorded a series of duets with Son House and JoAnn Kelly. These recordings have recently been remixed and released for the first time on “Been Here and Gone.” Mann’s distinctive guitar style is already evident and serves as a powerful accompaniment to the classic blues vocals of the legendary Son House, and British great Jo Ann Kelly in an intimate exchange between one guitarist and one vocalist. On the tracks with House, the veteran Mississippi bluesman sings with the intensity of his 1920’s recordings that recalls memories of long ago. The songs with Jo Ann Kelly might be thought of as “blues expansions.” The duo used traditional material as a springboard for their own improvising and original songs – and Kelly sings with the depth and creativity that has become the hallmark of her career. Throughout the album are seven short instrumentals recently written or arranged by Mann specifically for this CD. These impressionistic pieces interweave throughout the vocal tracks to create an overall unity of blues-based textures and moods. These, along with the earlier sessions, show Woody’s ability to capture the essence and nuances of acoustic blues guitar playing at it’s finest. “Been Here And Gone” is a historically important recording that showcases two of the greatest vocalists ever to sing the blues. Their timeless artistry and powerful musical presence is as fresh today as it was then.