Good Morning Little School Girl

The Mississippi hill country is the Delta’s tobacco-spitting, one-eye-missing, hard-luck cousin. Distinct in style from the more popular Delta blues of Robert Johnson, hill country blues is characterized by an emphasis on rhythm and percussive guitar. Mississippi Fred McDowell’s weathered voice soars over the hypnotic, droning groove of his bottleneck slide guitar. On several tracks his wife, Annie Mae, joins in, contributing her hoarse, high wail to the driving force of the spirituals. Standards like “Amazing Grace” and the titular “Good Morning Little School Girl” are transformed into haunting, elemental dirges. McDowell does not play rock ʼn’ roll, but the spirit is rollicking in this compilation of spirituals and blues.

Track Listing

101	Good Morning Little Schoolgirl	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:21
102	Little Girl, Little Girl, How Old Are You	Mississippi Fred McDowell	02:59
103	Fred's Rambling Blues	Mississippi Fred McDowell	04:46
104	Don’t Look for Me on a Sunday	Mississippi Fred McDowell	06:59
105	I Walked All the Way from East St. Louis	Mississippi Fred McDowell	04:20
106	Red Cross Store Blues	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:05
107	Gravel Road Blues	Mississippi Fred McDowell	05:02
108	Where Were You When the Rooster Crowed 'Fore Day	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:35
109	Drop Down Mama	Mississippi Fred McDowell	02:54
110	I Looked at the Sun	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:23
111	Early This Morning (Write Me A Few of Your Lines)	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:24
112	Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning	Mississippi Fred McDowell and Annie Mae McDowell	02:53
113	Get Right Church	Mississippi Fred McDowell, Annie Mae McDowell, Hunters Chapel Spiritual Singers	02:29
114	I’m Going over the Hill	Mississippi Fred McDowell and Annie Mae McDowell	02:42
115	Amazing Grace	Mississippi Fred McDowell, Annie Mae McDowell, Hunters Chapel Spiritual Singers	03:32
116	I Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down	Mississippi Fred McDowell, Annie Mae McDowell, Hunters Chapel Spiritual Singers	01:45
117	You Gotta Move	Mississippi Fred McDowell, Annie Mae McDowell, Hunters Chapel Spiritual Singers	03:46
118	It's a Blessing	Mississippi Fred McDowell and Annie Mae McDowell	02:46
119	Bye and Bye	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:03
120	I'm So Glad, Got Good Religion	Mississippi Fred McDowell	04:27
121	Look Way Down That Lonesome Road	Mississippi Fred McDowell	03:29
122	When the Saints Go Marching In	Mississippi Fred McDowell	02:19