Slide master Homesick James’ credentials were legend, starting from his Chicago sides in the 50’s with cousin Elmore James to recording LPs in the early 60s. Groups like Fleetwood Mac covered his tunes and by the early 90s Homesick had “retired” to his birthplace of Somerville Tennessee, 40 miles outside of Memphis. It was here in a tin-roofed shack deep in the woods in 1995 that Tim Duffy, founder of Music Maker Foundation, brought his field recording gear to document a life that defines the wholly American art form we call the Blues. Unencumbered by a ticking clock and free to say or play whatever he wanted, Homesick sat on his couch and delivered the unvarnished uncensored truth, writing: King Dracula, Take That Monkey Off My Back, Rock Headed Woman, Daddy Gotta Give It Away, Gotta Be a Redneck to Play Like That during the session. This is connoisseur quality blues, deep, wicked, painful and raw, nothing like what’s presented today as contemporary blues. It’s timeless at the same time being immediate, raw and somehow refined. Only an acoustic guitar and faithful slide accompany his ravaged voice except when he requested the assistance of the Tim Duffy on guitar and Ardie Dean on drums.