Snakefinger's History Of The Blues: Live In Europe is a blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 cover album

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 released in 1984 by Snakefinger

Snakefinger

Philip Charles Lithman , who performed under the stage name Snakefinger, was an English musician, singer and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, he was best known for his guitar and violin work and his collaborations with The Residents.-History:Lithman was born in Tooting, South London, and came...

. The album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 includes an expanded version of his backing band

Backup band

A backing band or backup band is a musical ensemble that accompanies an artist at a live performance or on a recording. This can either be an established, long-standing group that has little or no change in membership, or it may be an ad hoc group assembled for a single show or a single recording...

, Vestal Virgins, performing a wide range of blues songs spanning from its humble beginnings to its modern incarnations. The show toured once in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and once in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, where the performances on the album were recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

.

While many Snakefinger albums feature avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 and highly experimental music

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

, the man was a master musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

; the History Of The Blues features faithful renditions bursting with the vitality of an ensemble who genuinely loves the music.

A review in SNORP #3 (Summer 1987) described it thus: "Snakey's vocal range

Vocal range

Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...

is never more evident than on this album. The bottom line is very simply stated: This is the greatest performance of black blues by white artists ever, period."

Track listing

Side A

1. Natural ball
2. 36-22-36
3. Cryin for my baby
4. I can't be satisfied
5. Cross cut saw
6. Everyday I have the blues
7. If you haven't any hay

Side B

1. You upset me
2. Preachin Blues
3. These kind of blues
4. Stolen moments

Personnel

• Joshua Ende - Baritone
• Stephen MacKay - Tenor
• Richard Marriot - Trumpet, Trombone, Tenor
• Raoul N. Diseimbote - Piano
• Jonny B. Ryan - Drums
• Michael Bertel - Guitar
• Eric Drew Feldman - Bass
• Snakefinger - Guitar, Vocal, Harmonica, Piano