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Vinyl Album

Artist: Various Artists Title: Big Road Blues Label:   Saydisc Country: UK Catalogue: SDM 225 Date: 1973 Format: Unreleased Collection:   I Own It     I Want It  Community:  1 Wants Price Guide: Valuation Page » Search eBay #AD  » Search Amazon #AD This site contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated.

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Track	Artist	Title	Composer	Rating
A1	Mott Willis	Pick And Shovel Blues		Rate
A2	Robert Johnson	So Soon I'll Be At Home		Rate
A3	Mott Willis	Dresser Drawer Blues		Rate
A4	Isaac Youngblood	No Place To Go		Rate
A5	Mott Willis	Riverside Blues		Rate
A6	Mager Johnson	Travelling Man Blues		Rate
A7	Willis Taylor (With Mott Willis)	Mama Do Right		Rate
B1	Roosevelt Holts	Maggie Campbell Blues		Rate
B2	Willis Taylor (With Mott Willis)	Trashy Gang Blues		Rate
B3	Cary Lee Simmons	Catfish Blues		Rate
B4	Arzo Youngblood	Big Road Blues		Rate
B5	Mott Willis	Who Is That Yonder Coming Down The Road		Rate
B6	Mager Johnson	Moustache Blues		Rate
B7	Mott Willis	It Ain't Gonna Rain No More		Rate
B8	Roosevelt Holts	Sundown Blues		Rate
B9	Mott Willis	Bad Night Blues		Rate

Notes

Two white label test pressings are confirmed as existing with SDM 225 matrix numbers and handwritten catalogue number on side 1 label. The LP is also listed as 'release pending' in Saydisc's 1972 catalogue.
However, the LP, made up of music from several informal sessions recorded by David Evans in Mississippi and Louisiana, between 1966 and 1971, was not subsequently issued. The test pressing includes a typewritten set of Evans' notes, which look to be prospective sleeve notes, and a photo of Mott Willis by Cheryl Evans (below). In his book, 'Big Road Blues' (published 1982, University of California Press) Evans makes no mention of a Saydisc Matchbox release and, instead, lists the LP as having been issued on the US Advent label (as 2815). However, this also went unissued when Advent was shut down.

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Comments and Reviews

The Record Press 23rd Aug 2021		Gef Lucena says that the normal number of supplied test pressings was three, so, that's all three accounted for now. Also note that the photo of Mott Willis, mentioned in the notes above, had to be removed for copyright reasons. However, you can see a larger version of the photo at https://www.amazon.com/Big-Road-Blues-Tradition-Creativity/dp/0520034848 - the image with the LP was a cropped version showing only Willis and a pair of disembodied legs in the top, right-hand corner.
The Record Press 5th Apr 2021		The full story of how the LP came to be unissued is included in my upcoming book, "Blues from the Avon Delta: the Matchbox Blues Story", which is to be published by The Record Press, August 2021, distributed by Nimbus/Wyastone. The book covers all blues releases on (in order of appearance) Saydisc, Sunflower, Kokomo, Highway 51, Matchbox, Village Thing, Ahura Mazda, Flyright-Matchbox and Matchbox Bluesmaster - over 100 blues records in all between 1967 and 1987.
The Record Press 5th Apr 2021		Update to the Notes section - there are now THREE known white label copies. Tony Russell, author of the influential November Books' Blues Paperbacks series book, 'Blacks, Whites and Blues', also has a copy (the LP was intended to support and illustrate an upcoming book from the same publisher).

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See Also

Vinyl Album

Various Artists - Mississippi River Blues - Saydisc - UK (1973)

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Vinyl Album

[no artist listed] - Music From The West Cornwall Museum Of Mechanical Music - Saydisc - UK (1973)

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