The third hour reaches into the prewar record shelf and finds music that remains immediate. Pinetop Smith’s driving piano, Sippie Wallace’s command, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s night music, and Peg Leg Howell’s work-song imagery establish an hour rich in rhythm and character. George Carter, Alura Mack, Jim Jackson, Clifford Gibson, Raymond Barrow, Georgia Tom, and Lil Johnson keep the performances funny, forceful, and uncommonly direct.

Will Bennet’s “Railroad Bill,” Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon’s “Take It Easy,” the Carver Boys’ harmonica feature, and Lonnie Clark’s Tennessee song complete a broad regional map. The selections resist the idea that early blues was a single sound. They bring guitar, piano, harmonica, dance rhythm, travel, labor, flirtation, and hard luck into the same room. These old sides are not museum pieces; they are records made to move a crowd.

**Playlist**

– “Jump Steady Blues” — Pinetop Smith

– “Weak-Minded Blues” — Willie Baker

– “Hot Jelly Roll” — George Carter

– “I’m a Mighty Tight Woman” — Sippie Wallace

– “Big Night Blues” — Blind Lemon Jefferson

– “Sho Is Hot” — David Cross

– “Rolling Mill” — Peg Leg Howell

– “In the Gutter” — John Oscar

– “Beef Blood Blues” — Alura Mack

– “Hey Mama—It’s Nice Like That” — Jim Jackson

– “Beat You Doin’ It” — Clifford Gibson

– “Walking Blues” — Raymond Barrow

– “Hear Me Beefin’ at Ya” — Georgia Tom

– “Rock That Thing” — Lil Johnson

– “Railroad Bill” — Will Bennet

– “Take It Easy” — Frankie “Half-Pint” Jaxon

– “Wang Wang Harmonica” — Carver Boys

– “Down in Tennessee” — Lonnie Clark