Memphis Jug Band - Commercial Recordings

Commercial Recordings

Between 1927 and 1934, the Memphis Jug Band made more than eighty commercial recordings, first for Victor Records, then—as the Picaninny Jug Band—for the Champion-Gennett label, and finally for OKeh Records. The Victor recordings were made in Memphis and Atlanta, Georgia between 1927 and 1930, the Champion-Gennetts in Richmond, Indiana, in August 1932, while the final sessions on Okeh were held in Chicago in November 1934. By that time, their style of music was no longer in demand by record companies, as commercial styles were moving toward a more urban sound.

However, two of their 1920's recordings were included on the influential 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music (with a third on the unreleased fourth volume) and their 1928 recording of "Stealin', Stealin'" was included on the compilation album The Country Blues issued on Folkways Records in 1959. "Stealin' Stealin'" became one of the group's best known songs, especially after the Grateful Dead recorded it as its first single in 1966.

The other jug band song on "The Country Blues" was Gus Cannon's "Walk Right In," which became a hit for The Rooftop Singers in 1962. Capitalizing on the success of that recording, Memphis label Stax Records invited then-79-year-old Gus Cannon to record a full-length album the following year. Memphis Jug Band leader Will Shade backed Cannon on jug, with former member Milton Roby on washboard.