Because only 500 copies were pressed, legendary Memphis banjo picker and singer Gus Cannon's 1963 album for Stax Records has been heard--let alone seen--by very few record collectors, making it among the rarest of all blues LPs. The Mississippi-born musician was 79 years old at the time of this recording, made shortly after a Greenwich Village folk trio called the Rooftop Singers took "Walk Right In"--a catchy Cannon composition first cut by Cannon's Jug Stompers for Victor Records in 1930--to the top of the pop charts. Cannon reprised "Walk Right In" and 11 other raggy numbers for Stax from his vast repertoire, along with some fascinating, humor-laced reminiscences. Will Shade, Cannon's one-time rival in the jug-band business, is the jug blower, and Milton Roby supplies rural rhythms on washboard.

with Will Shade, Milton Roby