Cat No ARBITER2008

• “Lifting The Veil: The First Bluesmen” is a truly remarkable collection of acoustic blues, all with new sound restoration, featuring unpublished performances by Rev. Gary Davis and Leadbelly; important material by blues legends Charlie Patton, Blind Blake and Big Bill Broonzy; and excellent rare tracks by lesser-known artists including Ramblin’ Thomas, Rube Lacy, William Moore, Edward Thopmson and Buddy Boy Hawkins

• There is also a superb 28-page booklet with rare photos, the full song lyrics and fascinating extracts from a long-lost interview with Gary Davis from 1951, by Alan Lomax’s wife Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold, a psychologist-anthropologist. She gained Davis' complete confidence and he talked to her without reserve or inhibitions.

• Rare and noisy shellacs were restored from Harry Smith's record archive to illustrate the origins of the blues and its first artists, ranging from folk songs, ballads, marches and improvisations to the rich language of regional blues styles. Private tapes and Paramount 78 rpm discs were restored with Arbiter's ‘Sonic Depth Technology’.

• Over two years were spent in deciphering the lyrics, seeking to overcome poor sound, archaic idioms and dialect inflections. Except for a couple of words, all was clarified (six people were involved).

• This project follows the previous 2005 Arbiter release: Rev. Gary Davis. “The Sun of our Lives”. ARBITER2005, which is still available.