Skip James was a Delta blues artist from Mississippi. Known for his career during the Great Depression and subsequent decades, he was “rediscovered” and became much more widely recognized during the 1960’s when he was in very poor health nearing the end of his life. His playing style was primarily in a minor key, featuring complex fingerpicking. After years of being out of print, The Complete 1931 Sessions, taken from James' Paramount recordings, will be remastered and reissued by ORG Music for RSD Black Friday on color vinyl. The compilation is made up of some of the earliest years of the artist’s career and showcases the astounding talent he possessed from the very beginning.

Hard Time Killin' Floor isn't the first Skip James collection, and one could bet it will not be the last. But Hard Time Killin' Floor makes a pretty good argument for itself: the hour-and-six-minute album holds all of James' early work, and it's been remastered. James' soulful vocal style, like Robert Johnson's, has often been noted, but his quick picking style is also distinctive. "I'm So Glad" is performed at an up-tempo, breakneck pace, and the finger work will leave the listener dizzy. The title cut, on the other hand, has a slow, lazy quality, with the blue notes of the guitar matching the singer's mournful cry. James was somewhat unique among blues guitarists in that he also played piano. His spunky gospel style is on full display on songs like "How Long Buck" and the bizarrely titled "Little Cow and Calf Is Gonna Die Blues"…