The eighth volume of the “Blues At Home” Collection, this CD features one of the most important blues artists ever known. Born in 1904 in Bentonia, Mississippi, Jack Owens spent his whole life there farming. He was the master of a distinguished traditional blues style characterized by peculiar guitar tunings, vocal style, and repertoire. Along with his fellow-countryman Skip James and an old generation of Bentonian musicians, Owens represents the top-notch of the blues culture in the United States. Despite his importance, very little of his music has ever been recorded and released on record, leaving pieces that he used to play like “Baby Please Don't Go,” “Cypress Grove Blues,” or “Special Rider Blues” unrecorded. Discovered in 1966, Owens cut some outstanding material issued on Decca, Rounder, and Testament LP in the '60s and '70s, performing alone and with the accompaniment of the local harmonica player Benjamin “Bud” Spires. In 1978, 1980, and 1982, I had the chance to meet Owens at his home in Bentonia and to record, during several informal sessions, the material finally released on this CD, which mostly had remained unreleased for over 30 years. In 1978, Owens was also filmed by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax and appears in the documentary film The Land Where The Blues Began. From the early '80s until his death in 1997, Owens participated in several public events and folk festivals, also receiving a congratulatory letter from the U.S. president Bill Clinton. The 1982 interview is featured in volume 15 of the series. All tracks have been fully digitally remastered in 2013 from the original tapes. —Giambattista Marcucci ALBUM CREDITS Phonographic copyright & © 2013 Giambattista Marcucci All rights of the producer and copyright owner reserved Recorded, edited, and produced by Giambattista Marcucci Image caption: Jack Owens at home, Bentonia, Mississippi, 1982 Cover photograph © 1982-2013 by Giambattista Marcucci