Nov 1, 2025
Sid Hemphill & Lucious Smith - Old Devil's Dream
from Southern Journey 10: Yazoo Delta Blues And Spirituals, Field Recordings by Alan Lomax
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Sid Hemphill & Lucious Smith - Old Devil's Dream
from Southern Journey 10: Yazoo Delta Blues And Spirituals, Field Recordings by Alan Lomax
Sid Hemphill
Sid Hemphill and Lucious Smith.
I found a recording of this song on another banjo compilation as well. This is Lucious Smith, who spent half a century playing with Sid Hemphill, picking "New Railroad". His style of playing is so archaic that it almost sounds avant garde to my dainty modern eardrums, but I love it. Meandering, rhythmic, and hypnotic.
Sid HEMPHILL & Lucius SMITH "Old Devil's Dream" (1959)
A remarkable blind musician who could play fiddle, banjo, guitar, jaw harp, piano, organ, quills, and cane fife, Sid Hemphill was born in Como, Panola County, MS, in 1876. He recorded 22 tracks (plus an interview) for Alan Lomax in Sledge, MS, in 1942, followed by two more tracks recorded 17 years later in Senatobia, MS, when Lomax revisited Hemphill in 1959.
Sid Hemphill and Lucious Smith - "Old Devil's Dream". This is similar to "The Devil's Dream", which is presumably a different version of the same song. Quills, snare drum, and hollering.
Sid Hemphill by Alan Lomax
