Picture this scenario: A box of 78rpm acetates languish in a forgotten closet. Enter: a record exec who buys the lot. After days of sifting through un-memorable renditions of forgettable tunes, he happens upon a set wrapped in cardboard, seemingly unplayed since they were cut decades ago. Out of the grooves comes the voice and music of a powerfully individual bluesman - biting guitar playing, soulful vocals and recorded reminiscences of a troubled man and mind. Cut to a meeting of the record company: They sample the music and the decision is unanimous - this is music that must be heard. "It can only happen in the movies", you think, but this is precisely the tale of these long lost recordings of the enigmatic blues legend, Ollie Watkins. Watkins is remembered by only a handful of people now as being seen playing the streets and informal gatherings of California's Central Valley in the late 50's and early 60's (when these recordings were made). Coming out of Oklahoma in the 1920's, most certainly moving through Texas on his way to California, no one knows what happened to Ollie after he cut these records. Fedora is proud to introduce this genuine and unaffected artist who mysteriously vanished from the blues landscape.

Olie Watkins- guitar, harmonica,vocals, recollections.

Tracks: Country Boy; Let Me Go; "Mr. Lou Wants Me To Tell My Life Story" (Interview with Ollie); California Blues (Blue Yodel Number 4); Precious Lord; Greyhound Bus; Baby Doll; "...Saw My Mother, When She Got Me Out Of The Nuthouse" (Interview With Ollie); Used To Keep Me Worried; Woman I've Been knowin';Lord I Want To Go Through; I'm Twenty One; Baby Doll (Alternate Take); I Ain't Never; "Call Him Mister Now...Respect Him" (Interview With Ollie); California Blues (Blue Yodel Number 4); Twist.

 Country Boy

 Baby Doll

 Twist