Skip James’ 1931 recordings for the Paramount label in Grafton, Wisconsin, all but vanished after their limited release during the Depression, now ranking among the rarest and highest-priced records on the collectors’ market. But through reissues and James’ own brief blues revival career in the ’60s, James’ body of work is recognized as an aesthetic pinnacle of blues recording. An idiosyncratic, ethereal approach permeates his music, as does a deep aura of despair on “Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues,” among others. “Killing floor” was slang for the slaughterhouse room where animals were killed; as James used the term, “If I ever get off this killin’ floor, I’ll never get down this low no more.”
