''Those Prison Blues'' is an album by blues musician

Robert Pete Williams Robert Pete Williams (March 14, 1914 – December 31, 1980) was an American Louisiana blues musician. His music characteristically employed unconventional structures and guitar tunings, and his songs are often about the time he served in pri ...

recorded by

Harry Oster Dr. Harry Oster (April 12, 1923 – January 19, 2001) was an American folklorist and musicologist. Biography Oster was the firstborn of Jacob and Sarah, Russian-Polish Jews, who emigrated to Cambridge, Massachusetts. After one year in college ...

Louisiana State Penitentiary The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"Sutton, Keith "Catfish".Out There: Angola angling. ''ESPN Outdoors''. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. ...

in 1959 and 1960 and originally released on the Folk-Lyric label before being reissued with an altered track listing on

Arhoolie Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label that was run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was ...

in 1971.Dr. Harry Oster Recordings
Retrieved December 7, 2018

Reception

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...

's review on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

stated: "Although some of these tracks are brilliant, there are more consistent collections available by this artist, as well as ones that are more generous with playing time".

Track listing

All compositions by Robert Pete Williams except where noted

Original Folk-Lyric Release

# "I'll Be Glad When I'm from Behind Iron Walls" – 5:23 # "Louise" – 4:24 # "Blue in Me" – 4:02 # "Come Here, Baby, Tell Me What Is Wrong with You" – 1:57 # "I Got the Blues So Bad" – 3:35 # "Boogy Woman" – 3:06 # "Pardon Renied (Denied) Again" – 4:44 # "Army Blues" – 3:13 # "Blues in the Dark" – # "

Make Me a Pallet on the Floor "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" (also "Make Me a Pallet on your Floor", "Make Me a Pallet", or "Pallet on the Floor") is a blues/jazz/folk song. It is considered a standard. As Jelly Roll Morton explained, "A pallet is something that – you get so ...

" (Traditional) # "Angola Special" – 4:12

Arhoolie Reissue

# "Pardon Denied Again" – 4:44 # "This Wild Old Life" ka "I'll Be Glad When I'm From Behind Iron Walls"– 5:23 # "Louise" – 4:24 # "Blue in Me" – 4:02 # "I Got the Blues So Bad" – 3:35 # "Come Here Baby, Tell Me What Is Wrong with You" – 1:57

Personnel

Performance

– guitar, vocals *Hogman Maxey –

12 string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in ...

(on "Boogy Woman" and "Army Blues")

Production

Chris Strachwitz Christian Alexander Maria Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (; July 1, 1931 – May 5, 2023) was a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He was the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he esta ...

– producer * Harry Oster, Richard Allen –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

References

{{Authority control Robert Pete Williams albums 1959 albums Arhoolie Records albums