Contains an untitled hidden track at the end of the disc.

AIN'T GONNA LIE TO YOU includes the last recordings Joe Callicott made before his death in 1969.

Solo performer: Joe Callicott (acoustic guitar).

Recorded in 1967.

For most of his career, the Mississippi guitarist Joe Callicott performed with the better-known Garfield Akers, until Akers' death in 1959. After then, Callicott lapsed into obscurity until just before his death in 1969, when he was recorded by the blues archivist George Mitchell. Mitchell's recordings show Callicott's style to be a forerunner of the more pastoral folk blues made popular by such younger players as Taj Mahal, Guy Davis, and Corey Harris. Callicott's versions of classics such as "Fare Thee Well" and "Roll and Tumble" display an agreeable baritone vocal style as well as accomplished, subtly percussive guitar technique.

Ain't a Gonna Lie to You contains the final sessions by bluesman Mississippi Joe Callicott, recorded in 1967 and 1968 by blues historian George Mitchell. In the '60s, Mitchell had taken a trip to the deep South to record extensively both legendary and obscure bluesmen, including Fred McDowell, Johnny Woods, and Callicott. At the time of these recordings, Callicott had all but given up playing professionally; when he did play it was for his own enjoyment. Unlike the grittier sound associated with the Mississippi Delta, Callicott played in a relaxed style that had much in common with Mississippi John Hurt. Happily, Ain't a Gonna Lie to You is the first in a series of discs Fat Possum will be releasing from Mitchell's deep archives. ~ Al Campbell

Record Collector (magazine) (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "It suited Callicot's aggressive, propulsive style which would slowly mellow over the years."