The Essential Collection
Charley Patton was the prototype Delta Bluesman. His bottleneck-driven blues contained a ragtime element, and he started making his living on the barrelhouse circuit. Discovered by HC Speir in 1929, he was signed up by Paramount Records and recorded about 40 sides which proved highly successful. This 50-track compilation includes a majority of these tracks, along with other essentials of the man who set the template for every Delta bluesman that followed.