Invited to Washington, D.C. by
Paul Robeson to appear at a civil-rights defense concert along with
Leadbelly,
Brownie McGhee and
Sonny Terry came up north in 1942 and eventually settled in New York where they played all manner of hootenannies and loft parties around Greenwich Village with other big names in the growing folk boom:
Leadbelly,
Big Bill Broonzy,
Woody Guthrie, and
Pete Seeger.
New York Blues 1946-1948 includes 22 tracks recorded for the labels Alert, Disc, and Savoy during
McGhee's first few years there, with celebrated sidemen like
Sonny Terry (on six tracks), his brother
Sticks McGhee,
Champion Jack Dupree,
Baby Dodds,
Pops Foster, and others. The music emphasizes not his Village folk-revival style but a bluesy urban R&B for songs like "Sportin' Life Blues," "Big Legged Woman," "Worried Life Blues," "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee," and "My Fault." Though the sound quality is inferior, these are great performances.