Born in Rossville, Tennessee in 1904, Mississippi Fred McDowell is one of the great Delta bluesmen, and by 1971 when his You Gotta Move first appeared on the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album, one of its best known. But in 1959 when he was first hunted down at his home in Como, Mississippi by Alan Lomax (and Shirley Collins) he had not yet made a single recording. The first time McDowells amazing repertoire was ever committed to tape was when Lomax set up his tape recorder on McDowells front porch and over a period of 4 days from September 21-25, 1959 proceeded to record McDowell singing and playing acoustic guitar, joined at times by guitarist Miles Pratcher and Fannie Davis on comb. Occasional vocals were also provided by McDowells wife Annie Mae, James Shorty, Sidney Carter and Rose Hemphill. Lord Have Mercy is an excerpt of that historic front porch session.