The Blues in St. Louis, Vol. 2: Henry Brown and Edith Johnson: Barrelhouse Piano and Classic Blues

Recorded in 1961, The Blues in St. Louis, Vol. 2 celebrates 1930s– and ’40s–style barrelhouse blues and boogie–woogie. Henry Brown and Edith Johnson came from very different musical backgrounds: pianist Brown was formally trained, while Johnson learned the blues by singing along with music playing in her husband’s record shop. Yet, the two came together in jazz and blues fan Bob Oswald’s recording studio, and the result is a combination of classic blues instrumentals and vocals like “Honeysuckle Rose” and “Little Drops of Water,” often accompanied by Brown tapping his foot against the piano pedal. Musician and scholar Samuel Charters gives a first–hand account of the musicians and circumstances of recording in the liner notes.