Skip James – Devil Got My Woman (Bluesville Acoustic Sounds Series)

Skip James's Devil Got My Woman captures the singer, guitarist and pianist on his 1968 Vanguard solo album, a late-career statement built around the eerie high voice and minor-key guitar style that made him one of the most singular figures in Delta blues. The title song was later singled out by the Blues Foundation as the quintessential Skip James performance, and the album as a whole shows why: these recordings turn his haunted phrasing and sharply etched storytelling into something intimate, severe and hard to mistake for anyone else.

Useful context matters here. James first made his name with his 1931 recordings, then was rediscovered in the 1960s in time for the folk-blues revival; Devil Got My Woman belongs to that return, drawing together signature pieces such as “22-20 Blues,” “Catfish Blues” and the title track in a setting that feels spare but fully commanding. If you know Robert Johnson's “Hellhound on My Trail,” this album also points back to one of its key roots: James's “Devil Got My Woman” is widely noted as a model for it.

This Bluesville Acoustic Sounds edition makes a strong case for the record on vinyl. It is cut all-analog from the original master tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, pressed at Quality Record Pressings, and finished with a tip-on jacket, obi strip and liner notes by Scott Billington. For anyone building a shelf of country and Delta blues, it is a thoughtful reissue of one of the strangest and most affecting albums in Skip James's catalogue.

Features

• LP, 180g, Stereo, Bluesville Acoustic Sounds Series
• All-analog mastering from the original master tapes by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab
• Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
• Tip-on jacket with obi strip and liner notes by Scott Billington