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had been playing for decades variations of their original music, but it had been adapted to the wishes of a white audience, but Lightnin’ wasn’t that. Brownie knew what songs people wanted to hear.”18 It was the first time Lightnin’ met McGhee, Terry, and Williams, whose 1935 recording of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” was undoubtedly an influence upon him. However, Lightnin’ had relatively little experience playing for white audiences, so when he came on stage, no matter how much Lomax Jr. may have tried to coach him, he could only be himself. There was no pretense. Lightnin’ was still trying to figure out what white audiences really wanted, so he played whatever came to mind, and his songs rambled on in the style he was accustomed to.

The World Pacific label worked out a deal with Lightnin’ and the other musicians to make an LP together. 19 Pearl says, “Down South Summit Meetin’ was recorded entirely in the studios of World Pacific studio, by Ed Michel, with me there as holding it together, kibbitzing and making suggestions. [Applause was added to the LP master to make it sound as if it was recorded live at the Ash Grove.] It was initially called First Meeting as it was the first time Lightnin’, Brownie, and Sonny had appeared on an LP together. Surprised the hell out of me, but there it was…. I bought a huge bottle of whiskey at the request of the guys as we drove to World Pacific. Big Joe drank half of it in the first couple of hours and not so gradually slipped through incoherence into dreamland. An historic error by yours truly.”20

Essentially the LP was a loosely structured jam session, with the four performers trading licks in songs that extended longer than five minutes each. Lightnin’s vocals and acoustic guitar picking were impressive because he was able to quickly improvise as he played along, but it was the banter that propelled the session forward.21 “Big Joe Williams, he got over there,” Lightnin’ said, “he told me, ‘You can steal my chicken, Lightnin’, but can you make her lay?’ I told him I had roosters all over my cabin, and I make any hen lay when the times get hard. I think it was great…. I guess we all felt good, and we all went along with it.”22

Billboard wrote, “A meeting of minds and voices is the accomplished fact of this unusually entertaining folk-blues album by four top names in the current folk-blues revival. All four share playing and singing improvisations on four of the tracks. Two others are shared by Hopkins and McGhee and Hopkins alone. Extremely entertaining fare.”23

After Lightnin’ returned to Houston, he went back to work in the little joints in the Third Ward, though it was clear that he was rapidly gaining an expanding white audience, primarily as a result of the efforts of Lomax and McCormick, who were vying for his favor. McCormick was more ambitious, and in addition to trying to get bookings for Lightnin’, he continued trying to find other blues musicians to record.

While Lightnin’ was in California, McCormick and Strachwitz went to Navasota, Texas. “We drove out towards Washington County,” Strachwitz says. “And I literally just got out of the car and I saw people working in the fields and asked them, ‘Have you heard of any guitar pickers out here?’ And they said, ‘You better go to Navasota for that.’ Mack recalled a Hopkins song ‘Tim Moore’s Farm.’ … Mack had a feeling that Tom Moore might have a plantation in the area because he knew Lightnin’ was from that part of the country, and thought the best place to start inquiring would be a feed store. We walked into the feed store and Mack just walked up to one of the employees and said, ‘Does Tom Moore live here in town?’ And he directed us to his office over the bank building in Navasota. And Mack acted very police-like. ‘Can we visit your plantation?’ ‘Well, you have to make an appointment. I don’t have time right now.’ And then Mack asked something to the effect of ‘Do you know of any hands who play music for your workers?’ And Mr. Moore said, ‘There’s a fellow here they seem to like him. I don’t know his name but you need to go to