For anyone who's collected 78-rpm records, enjoyed Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, or expressed interest in the great missing old-time and blues records of yesteryear, The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of will be the Holy Grail.

Whereas it isn't unusual for Yazoo to place a rarity on a new collection by Blind Blake or Blind Lemon Jefferson, this two-disc collection -- all 46 cuts -- is a testament to rarities. Perhaps the best-known (to a general old-time/blues audience) performer here is Son House, and the collection includes recordings of "Mississippi County Farm Blues" and "Clarksdale Moan." Others might be familiar with Dock Boggs ("Old Rub Alcohol Blues"), Ken Maynard ("Sweet Betsey from Pike"), and the Memphis Jug Band ("Jim Strainer Blues"). Incredibly, several of these tracks were recorded as test pressings and never officially released, meaning that as far as the recording industry is concerned, they don't exist.

It's probable that all of the fuss made over this collection of rarities will make little sense to folks who don't spend all of their spare money and time hunting down 78-rpm records, and there's a point here. If you don't know that a certain item is rare, you won't value it in the same way a collector might. In this sense, one CD filled with scratchy old recordings is as good as another. But even for those who might not understand why they should be excited by The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, the collection nonetheless holds up as good old-time folk and blues, and expense-wise, Yazoo always offers lots of quality music for one's money. As an added bonus the cover art and inside cartoon has been put together by none other than Robert Crumb, a record collector and one-time string band performer himself.

Bitrate: 320K/s
Label: Yazoo
Styles: Country blues, Country gospel, String bands, Bluegrass gospels, Acoustic blues
Year: 2006
Art: Front


Album: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Super Rarities & Unissued Gems Of The 1920s & 30s (Disc 1) 
Time: 70:35
Size: 167.3 MB 

[3:09] 1. Freeny's Barn Dance Band - Croquet Habits
[2:50] 2. Son House - Mississippi County Farm Blues
[2:40] 3. Georgia Pot Lickers - Up Jumped The Rabbit
[2:49] 4. Memphis Minnie - I'm Going Back Home
[3:17] 5. Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles - Fightin' In The War With Spain
[3:26] 6. John Byrd - Old Timbrook Blues
[2:50] 7. Ernest Phipps & His Holiness Singers - A Little Talk With Jesus
[3:12] 8. Tommy Johnson - Slidin' Delta
[3:12] 9. Three Stripped Gears - Alabama Blues
[2:56] 10. Jack Gowdlock - Rollin' Dough Blues
[2:51] 11. Kentucky Ramblers - Ginseng Blues
[3:05] 12. Ollis Martin - Police And High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down
[3:19] 13. Roy Harvey & Jess Johnston & The West Virginia Ramblers - John Hardy Blues
[2:43] 14. Long 'Cleeve' Reed & Little Harvey Hull - The Down Home Boys Original Stack O' Lee Blues
[2:56] 15. Amedie Ardoin & Dennis McGee - Two Step De La Prairie Soileau
[3:28] 16. Andrew & Jim Baxter - Operator Blues
[3:10] 17. J.D. Harris - The Grey Eagle
[3:23] 18. Memphis Jug Band - Jim Strainer Blues
[3:01] 19. Grayson County Railsplitters - Ain't That Trouble In Mind (Unissued)
[3:08] 20. Dock Boggs - Old Rub Alcohol Blues
[3:07] 21. Jaybird Coleman - Mistreatin' Mama
[2:54] 22. Henry Whitter - It's A Tough Road To Georgia (Unissued)
[2:57] 23. Rev. B.L. Wightman - Live The Life

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Album: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Super Rarities & Unissued Gems Of The 1920s & 30s (Disc 2) 
Time: 70:42
Size: 167.5 MB

[3:04] 1. Yank Rachelle - Sweet Mama
[2:35] 2. Crowder Brothers - We All Love Mother
[2:59] 3. Son House - Clarksdale Moan
[2:57] 4. Ashley & Foster - Bull Dog Sal
[3:13] 5. Jesse Babyface Thomas - Down In Texas Blues
[2:54] 6. Georgia Pot Lickers - Chicken Don't Roost Too High
[3:08] 7. William Harris - I'm Leavin' Town (But I Sho' Don't Wanna Go)
[3:21] 8. Asa Martin & Roy Hobbs - Wild Cat Rag
[3:09] 9. King Solomon Hill - Whoopee Blues
[3:11] 10. Chubby Parker - Davey Crockett
[3:15] 11. Geeshie Wiley - Skinny Leg Blues
[3:03] 12. Sweet Brothers - I'm Gonna Marry That Pretty Little Girl
[3:07] 13. Blind Roosevelt Graves & Uaroy Graves - I Shall Not Be Moved
[3:16] 14. Smith And Irvine - Lonesome Road Blues
[3:16] 15. Luke Jordon - If I Call You Mama
[3:09] 16. Grayson & Whitter - My Mind Is To Marry
[2:59] 17. Osey Helton - Green River
[2:35] 18. Lottie Kimbrough - Don't Speak To Me
[2:45] 19. Wade Ward - Married Man's Blues
[3:38] 20. Ken Maynard - Sweet Betsey From The Pike
[3:04] 21. Jaybird Coleman - Boll Weevil
[3:07] 22. Bill Shepherd Orchestra - Bound Steel Blues
[2:48] 23. Middle Georgia Singing Convention No. 1 - Bells Of Love