Page "Blind Lemon Jefferson" Paragraph 8

Unlike many artists who were " discovered " and recorded in their normal venues, in December 1925 or January 1926, he was taken to Chicago, Illinois, to record his first tracks.

Uncharacteristically, Jefferson's first two recordings from this session were gospel songs (" I Want to be like Jesus in my Heart " and " All I Want is that Pure Religion "), released under the name Deacon L. J. Bates.

This led to a second recording session in March 1926.

His first releases under his own name, " Booster Blues " and " Dry Southern Blues ," were hits ; this led to the release of the other two songs from that session, " Got the Blues " and " Long Lonesome Blues ," which became a runaway success, with sales in six figures.

He recorded about 100 tracks between 1926 and 1929 ; 43 records were issued, all but one for Paramount Records.

Unfortunately, Paramount Records ' studio techniques and quality were bad, and the resulting recordings sound no better than if they had been recorded in a hotel room.

In fact, in May 1926, Paramount had Jefferson re-record his hits " Got the Blues " and " Long Lonesome Blues " in the superior facilities at Marsh Laboratories, and subsequent releases used that version.

Both versions appear on compilation albums and may be compared.