🎙️ The Story of the Lost Tapes: Country Blues 1940–1951 For decades, these recordings were scattered across the South — a reel in a barn loft in Alabama, an acetate found in a pawn shop in Shreveport, a dusty box discovered behind an old church in Tennessee. Each tape carried a name, sometimes just a first one, and the faint hum of a bygone world. Most were recorded by Harlan “Doc” McCree, a roving radio engineer who, between 1940 and 1951, traveled with a portable Presto cutter, capturing front porch songs, juke joint nights, and backroad blues from men who’d never see a studio. Over seventy years later, the reels were gathered by collectors and archivists who carefully cleaned, restored, and digitized the fragile sounds. What emerged was a rare portrait of country blues before electricity — warm, ragged, and deeply human. Now, for the first time, these forgotten voices — Willie “Short Time” Parker, Eddie Mae Brooks, J.T. “Little Hammer” Collins, and others — are reunited in The Lost Tapes: Country Blues 1940–1951, a celebration of life, love, and Southern soul. [Verse 1] Well, the roof got holes and the floorboards creak, My truck won’t start, been dead all week, But the sun’s shinin’ down through that old oak tree, Got a woman who loves me — that’s good enough for me. [Chorus - one vocal] I ain’t got much, but I got enough, Ain’t got gold, but I got love, I ain’t got much, but I got enough, Ain’t got gold, but I got love, Bread on the table, fish on the line, Ain’t livin’ fancy, but I’m feelin’ fine. [Verse 2] Got a shack by the river where the catfish bite, Play my old guitar in the pale moonlight, Neighbors laughin’, kids runnin’ free, Ain’t no rich man got it better than me. [Chorus - one vocal] I ain’t got much, but I got enough, Ain’t got gold, but I got love, Bread on the table, fish on the line, Ain’t got gold, but I got love, Bread on the table, fish on the line, Ain’t livin’ fancy, but I’m feelin’ fine. [Bridge - one vocal] Don’t need no mansion, don’t need no car, Don’t need to travel, I don’t go far, Got peace in my heart, Lord, that’s my pay, Every sunrise starts a brand-new day. [instrumental solo 24 bars] [Bridge - one vocal] Don’t need no mansion, don’t need no car, Don’t need to travel, I don’t go far, Got peace in my heart, Lord, that’s my pay, Every sunrise starts a brand-new day. [Verse 3] Now my baby she hums when she fries that bread, Coffee on the stove, I ain’t worryin’ ahead, Got a smile on my face, a tune in my mind, Ain’t got a dime, but I’m doin’ just fine. [Chorus - one vocal] I ain’t got much, but I got enough, Ain’t got gold, but I got love, Roof might leak, but my heart don’t mind, Ain’t livin’ fancy, but I’m doin’ fine. [Tag] Yeah, I’m sittin’ by the river, pickin’ my tune, Sun’s gonna shine till the risin’ moon…
