For most of his life he played in the countryside near his home in Como, Mississippi. By the time he was "discovered" by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1959, McDowell was very much his own man and, in fact, one of the most significant masters of country blues to have emerged since the mid-1930s.

At the time this album was recorded in 1969 (and 1968) it represented a significant departure for Fred, for here he was heard for the first time in an entire program of performances with electric guitar and sometimes with the support of a small group.

It should be pointed out that Fred had been playing the amplified instrument heard here for several years, both at the country parties and dances he then played around Como and at the Sunday morning church services at which he and the Hunter's Chapel Singers performed weekly.