Reviews (2)

Nice Variety Blues Beats, Some Familiar Songs
(How they sounded in the original)

Hear the Classics!
Hear the songs before they were covered by the stadium rockers. Led Zeppelin covered "Bring it on home", "You Need Love" and " I Can't Quit You Baby" Countless bands have done of a cover of Elmore James' "Madison Blues." And of course, the Rolling Stones did a cover of "Love in Vain" So, if you want hear what influenced famous rock rollers, this is the album for you. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

****1/2
While more horn-driven and less raw and guitar reliant than other forms of blues, the urban style nonetheless provides its own spectacular highlights, some of the best of which are right here:
Guitar Slim's "The Things That I Used To Do" is a must-have for any uptown blues compilation, and T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Blues", Big Joe Turner's "Chains Of Love", "Laudromat Blues" by Albert King, and Bobby Bland's "Farther up the Road" are prime examples as well. Otis Rush's classic "I Can't Quit You Baby" is more Chicago blues than urban blues, actually, but it is a welcome addition nonetheless.

They could have done better by "Every Day I Have The Blues", which should have been included in Memphis Slim's stately original rendition, and why isn't B.B. King represented?
But those are minor complaints, really. This is a fine place to go for a sampler (you should get "Blues Masters volume 2" as well for a taste of the rough, tough Chicago blues), and even though it's far from being definitive, it will provide the newcomer with an excellent introduction. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Classic Unknown Recording
"Raw Blues" is a mid-'60s sampler combining contributions from piano blues masters (such as Otis Spann and Jack Dupree) with selections by John Mayall along with other fixtures of the British blues scene. ("Long Night," for example, features help from "Steve Anglo" - actually Steve Winwood with identity disguised for legal purposes.) The playing is superb throughout, making "Raw Blues" a choice little nugget of British blues.

Stunning
This is a magic album featuring the best of 60s blues. The album is dominated by John Mayall and Eric Clapton, but features some great songs by early bluesmen: Otis Spann, Champion Jack Dupree and Curtis Jones. Long night features 'Steve Anglo' who is actually Steve Winwood. The Peter Green track is also memorable. The solo by John Mayall, 'Burn out your blind eyes' highlights how good John Mayall was and is. Clapton features on several tracks, playing in a style which is reminiscent of early 30s guitar, raw and vivid. An album not to be missed by any early blues fan. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Academically interesting
This CD is an interesting collection of field recordings done by Alan Lomax in Britain and Ireland. The singers are for the most part just regular, older people singing at their homes or pubs. If you are interested in traditional ballads, this is a great CD to check out. It has many singers, singing traditional ballads in traditional styles, without instrumentation.

In that sense, I enjoyed the recordings, because I have read many of the ballads on paper, but did not know how they were sung. But it's not something I'd put on for dinner music. The recording quality is patchy (these are, after all, field recordings), and some of the ballads are spliced together from several singers' renditions-- which is interesting for the subtle variations revealed in style and content from one singer to the next, but I really would have liked to hear just one person sing it all the way through.

The liner notes are actually more like a small book, loaded with historical detail and information about the various singers. There are a couple of annoying transcription errors in the song texts (the sound of a cuckoo clock in the background is written in as part of the lyrics, a chorus is marked incorrectly), but the rest more than makes up for them. It's a fascinating collection, but only if you are interested in folk ballads. ... Read more

Amazon.com

These three CDs document some of the greatest moments ofculture shock in American music. Most of the bluesmen who first came toNewport had never played before audiences so attentive, large, orwhite. And those listening had never experienced anything like Skip James'sblood-chilling whine, Reverend GaryDavis's furious testifying, or Mississippi John Hurt's twirling melodies. Most of the audience, in fact, assumedthe bluesmen were dead. As a cinematic sweep of just what made those countercultural gatherings so exciting and diverse, this set is anunqualified success (though the rather arbitrary and ahistoricalsequencing by blues subgenre is as puzzling as the omission of specificperformance dates). While many tracks have long been available on othercompilations, the unreleased cuts, 11 in all, are revelations,especially Muddy Waters andOtis Spannstrutting through "Flood" and John Lee Hookersinking into the scary groove of "Let's Make It." --Roy Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A treasure trove
It's almost hard to believe that this CD exists. So many excellent performances by legendary bluesmen like Son House, John Lee Hooker, Skip James, Muddy Waters and a whole host of others, all recorded live at the legendary Newport Folk Festival. And the sound is amazing, crisp and clear.

Disc one opens with a six-song set by "Mississippi" John Hurt which includes "Candy Man" and "Stagolee", and also includes two spooky songs by an ailing but still-powerful Nehemiah "Skip" James, four songs by Son House, and songs by Bukka White and Fred McDowell, as well as two excellent acoustic solo performances by Muddy Waters. House's "Death Letter Blues" and "Empire State Express", Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be Satisfied", and Skip James' "Devil Got My Woman" are among the highlights, but there aren't really any "lowlights".

Disc two features a great little set by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, a wonderful rendition of Sleepy John Estes' "Clean Up At Home", three excellent songs by the underrated Robert Pete Williams, and several other fine performances, including Mance Lipscomb's version of Blind Willie Johnson's "God Moves On The Water", and Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Bay Blues" (which you may have heard Eric Clapton cover on his "Unplugged" album).

On disc three, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins plays an electric guitar (gasp!) on a great, swaggering "Baby Please Don't Go", and is backed by drummer Sam Lay on "Shake That Thing". John Lee Hooker lays down haunting versions of "Tupelo" and "The Great Fire Of Natchez", as well as a gritty "Boom Boom". Muddy Waters is accompanied by pianist Otis Spann on a great, swinging "Blow Wind Blow". And the 6'6" John L. "Memphis Slim" Chatman plays a version of "How Long" to rival that of Leroy Carr himself.

Almost all of these performances are acoustic, and there is a lot of wonderful acoustic slide guitar here...Muddy Waters, Son House, Fred McDowell, Mance Lipscomb, and Bukka White all play ringing bottleneck phrases. Sonny Terry blows his customary harmonica, and Memphis Slim and Otis Spann both contribute some excellent piano playing. And while many of these songs have been available on various LP and CD releases before, "Best Of The Blues 1959-1968" includes almost a dozen previously unreleased recordings, of which Sonny Terry's & Brownie McGhee's "Drink Muddy Water", "How Long" by Memphis Slim, and John Lee Hooker's "Let's Make It", are among the greatest.

This collection is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the 60s blues revival, or just acoustic blues music in general, and you won't believe the fidelity. A wonderful two hours and fifty-three minutes of music.

A Stunning Collection Of Live Performances
If there is a better collection of live blues than this Newport 3 CD set, I haven't heard it. This stunning CD covers 10 years Newport performances during the height of the folk blues revival in the early 60's. Many of the artists were rediscovered by blues enthusiasts like John Fahey, Al "Blind Owl" Wilson and Sam Charters by canvassing remote areas of the south and locating the M.I.A.s of the 1920-30s "race" records. Some of these performers were presumed to be dead, and Newport was their first time in front of an audience in decades. There is not a single throw-away among 16 performers and the 51 (count 'em!)cuts here.

Vangaurd Records is to be commended for making the right artistic choices in thier production of this CD. Many of these performances had been floating around for years on other Newport collections. Producer Tom Vicker devoted an entire disc to each of these three categories: delta blues, country blues and urban blues. There is a sense of continuity on each disc without any jarring segues. Engineer Jeff Zaraya captures the warm analogic glory of the orginal performances and wisely chooses not to edit out foot stomping, hand clapping and crowd noises. Zaraya's mastering work captures the passion of the living blues and he avoids the mistake of reducing the performances to sterile museum piece curiosities.

The scope of performers is staggering. Son House, self proclaimed mentor of Robert Johnson, whose piercing slap-time steel guitar was the alter-ego to his gritty emotional baritone. Skip James, ghost of the delta, sings in his haunting falsetto with his mastery of complex right hand poly-rhythymic bassline fingerpicking. Jesse Fuller, San Francisco's one man band, plays his ramshackle ragtime blues. Mississppi John Hurt demonstrates his wry humor and his delicate five finger picking of his brillant orginal music. Polished performers like Muddy Waters and Brownie McGee know how to pace a show and work the crowd. Harlem's Rev. Gary Davis' does "old time religion" gospel shouting and precision ragtime picking. The suprise is an obscure ex-con, Robert Pete Williams with his eerie "stream of consciousness" lyrics and elliptical song structures. Robert Pete Williams, more than any of the performers, is connected to the roots of West African folk music. By my own count, John Lee Hooker was the last performer on these recordings to die(June 21, 2001). These astounding Newport performances are, at once, a historical document, a tribute to the diverse artistry of American blues, and some of the most passionate and riveting music I've ever heard. An essential for anyone collecting blues or roots music.

Great Set & Package
This is a nice cd set done by the folks at Vanguard records. They collected many of the cuts that have been previously released into one collection, with some tasty unreleased tracks.

Regarding the artists & their material.. well, you really can't go wrong with sets by Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy, Son House, John Lee Hooker, & etc. The artists on disc 1 alone is a "who is who" of the early blues that were only heard on scratchy vinyl before these organized festivals existed. Some might've considered them past their so called "prime", but their performances don't reflect upon it, as they take the listener & the white crowd on a trip down the Delta. Some of the performances on this package are unbelievable.

Might be me, but John Lee Hooker's set REALLY stands out. He sounds DANGEROUS, & his unreleased tracks alone make this package a well worth buy.

An interesting note, that in this mostly acoustic set is the inclusion of two Butterfield Blues band cuts. Having these cuts on different sources, it was great to hear them sonically remastered in all its glory.

Recommended, but more importantly, this is essential listening.

Blues in the Open Air
The Newport Folk Festival in the 1960's regularly featured blues artists; from Son House to the Butterfield Blues Band, acoustic to electric: Mike Bloomfield was on hand with Butterfield in '65 and wound up backing Bob Dylan in his now-near-mythic "coming out" as a rocker. This new anthology of Newport blues supercedes and expands upon the "Blues With a Feeling" set, leaning heavily on the acoustic, but including some essential electric performances. The rawness and authenticity of these artists will excite anyone with ears for this kind of music. Essential for blues fans, and a real bargain as a three-CD set. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A nice addition to any blues fan's collection
Chess' 1960s "The Blues" series, which spanned five volumes, originally focused on hits, not rarities, but this 1991 addition to the series goes the other way by collecting a number of rarities, all of which make their CD debut here.

It opens with a great version of Howlin' Wolf's magnificent, thumping blues-rhumba "Cause Of It All", re-titled "Goin' Back Home" and featuring completely different lyrics. Tremendous syncopated drum part by Earl Phillips.
And there are plenty of other highlights, including the somber "Funeral Hearse At My Door", a gritty acoustic country blues by obscure Chess artist Rocky Fuller, the up-tempo boogie "Date Bait" by Blue Smitty & His String Men (great piano playing by Malron Jett), a latter-day Memphis Minnie-tune called "Lake Michigan", the nasal Percy Mayfield's catchy, horn-driven jump blues "Would You Call Me A Fool", and Jody Williams' energetic, R&B-flavoured "What Kind Of Gal Is That" (credited to Williams' alter ego, Little Joe Lee).

Other rarities include Eddie Boyd's "Got Lonesome Here", John Brim's jumping instrumental "Gary Stomp", which features a surprisingly energetic and complicated harmonica solo by the usually very minimalistic Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters' "All Night Long", just him and his guitar and Little Walter playing the harmonica, and a mournful "Alarm Clock Blues" by the always morose Floyd Dixon.

A couple of the best songs are available elsewhere (MCA/Chess' "Chess Blues Guitar: Two Decades Of Killer Fretwork"), and not everything is equally great, but it's all worth a listen, and there is more than enough here to keep any 50s blues fan occupied.
4 1/4 stars - definitely recommended. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Alan Lomax received funding from Atlantic Records in 1959 to head into the Southeast with the latest in stereo field recording technology, and this set collects the original eight records issued as a result of that trek in 1961. The sound quality is brilliant, the performances uncompromisingly raw, vibrant, plaintive, and real--everything the Greenwich Village folk movement tried to be is encapsulated on these slices of rural sound. Because of its high fidelity and the immense character found within the performances, this is the Lomax document to own if you absolutely have to pick a single one. Deep delta slide blues, enthusiastic shape-note singing from the Sacred Harp song book, lined-out hymnody, children's songs, mountain bluegrass music, juke-joint barrelhouse blues--it's all here and much more. This is vibrant, pure American music at its finest. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (2)

details on which songs were used for what!
Moby uses "Green Sally Up" for Flower on Play: The B-sides, he uses "Joe Lee's Rock" for Find My Baby on Play, he uses "Sometimes" for Honey on Play, he uses "Trouble So Hard" for Natual Blues, "Love Rock"(not on this cd) for Bodyrock, and "Run On For A Long Time" for Run On.
How ironic.

Influenced Moby
Moby uses samples from Sounds of the South in his album, Play. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The field recordings made from 1936 to 1942 for the Library of Congress by John and Ruby Lomax, with their son Alan, showed that much of America's finest music and poetry have come from far beyond the entertainment and publishing industries. In the case of these stirring selections from the Lomax archives, among this country's richest cultural resources was the black population enslaved on southern plantations and penal farms. Evident here are echoes of lost worlds--the eerie sounding call of a Mississippi ferryman, the mystery of Charlie Butler's stunning "Diamond Joe," and the fierce spirituality of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down" by Reverend C.H. Savage and congregation. Most extraordinary are the performances by Sid Hemphill, who Alan Lomax said was his greatest discovery. Playing the ancient pre-harmonica quills or panpipes, whooping with primal fervor, his ingenious "Emmaline, Take Your Time" anticipates Hemphill's unreleased fife-and-drum masterpiece, "The Devil's Dream." --Alan Greenberg ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A hidden treasure!
Never heard of Lee Atwater?No matter.More important is the all-star cast on this wonderful album. Isaac Hayes, B.B. King, Carla Thomas, Sam Moore, Billy Prestonm , The Memphis Horns, Chuck Jackson, Arlette Nightingale--a fabulous collection of great R&B roots musicians.The effort was put together by Lee Atwater, a political activist with a history as a musician.He was a competent guitarist and singer, but the album was put together as a charity event with a simply fabulous cast.

The song selections and arrangements are excellent.Anyone who enjoyed the old Stax records sound, or just enjoyed the music of The Blues Brothers, is virtually guaranteed to love this album.The fact that it's so cheap is just a bonus!Buy it while you still can!

Super Hot Blues- 91' Grammy Award Winner-Great BBQ
Awesome blues mix.Atwater is onfire on this CD which was a 1991 GrammyAward winner.These tunes can be heard at Atwaters BBQ chain after thename sake- Red Hot & Blue.The name was from the 50's radio programhosted by Dewy Phillips in Memphis.This CD is fantastic and features thelate Lee Atwater along with such Blues greats as BB King, Isaic Hayes, andAreatha Franklin ... Read more

Reviews (2)

"I ain't gonna tell you no lies"
I have noticed that this website doesn't bring up every disc in this series with just a "Deep River Of Song" search. In the interest of helping people find these discs here, I'll name every other disc in the series.

South Carolina

Bahamas 1935

Bahamas 1935 Volume 2

Mississippi: The Blues Lineage

Mississippi: Saints and Sinners

Georgia

Big Brazos

Black Appalachia

Virginia and the Piedmont

Alabama

I bought the entire Deep River Of Song series all at once. So many surprises awaited me! Some discs I thought about not buying because maybe I wouldn't be into them, and some I assumed I'd love. This was one of the discs I was iffy on. Until I heard it.

This and Big Brazos are two of the best discs in the series, in my opinion. They are also two I originally thought maybe I wouldn't like. Moses "Clear Rock" Platt is great. I particularly love his Old Chisholm Trail, which happens to be the source for Mike Seeger's Whoopin' Up Cattle on his excellent solo cd, Southern Banjo Sounds. James "Ironhead" Baker's St. James Hospital, which was clearly the source for Doc Watson and Tony Rice's excellent versions (on the Doc Watson and Native American albums, respectively), haunts me. Ironhead is a true highlight of this disc.

This disc also contains my one exposure to "eephing". An odd vocal thing that defies description. In terms of musicianship... guitar playing... Smith Casey is the hidden gem of this collection. His East Texas Rag is sublime acoustic slide guitar. He certainly could have earned more tracks here. I also particularly enjoy Phineas "Flatfoot" Rockmore's Boll Weevil done to a familiar Frankie & Johnny melody.

Of course if you are into American history (the true history, not the white-washed garbage that still gets taught in American schools) then these recordings become all that more meaningful. Imagine a song that dates back to slavery being sung by a group of prisoners in the 1930's, one of the harshest era's within the Jim Crow Era.

I love this disc, but the official review on this site is correct. It may only appeal to roots fanatics. I fear most of it is just too rough for the modern listener who is used to everything being more polished. I just want people to take that into account. I'd hate to recommend something and find out someone was disappointed when they heard it for themselves. If you don't like field-recordings of true real-people folk music, then this is probably not for you.

Fantastic
This collection is fantastic and shows a great respect for men who were forgotten in the history books. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Stevie would be pleased to hear this
Great guitar work all around, no slackers here. However the Frank Marino & Mahogony Rush cut by itself is worth the price of the CD

Best non-Stevie playing SRV tracks
All the guys playing on this SRV tribute do a good job. Their playing is technically good and highlight the SRV legacy. However, if you are looking for the best, go back to the SRV originals. The playing is mostly true to the SRV sound but somehow lacks the excitement that SRV generated. Almost worth having, but a best of SRV is a better buy, or generate your own with MP3.

THE BEST SRV TRIBUTE
Forget about that supposed all-star tribute crap put on by Jimmy Lee. This is simply the best and most pure example of the blues. Stevie himself would be proud of the work these fine lesser known guitarists have done. Pat Travers does a great job of starting the CD out with a searing rendition of Cold Shot. It only gets better from there. Buy this today....you won;t be disappointed. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Mississippi blues become Chicago blues
This is an amazing collection: the complete blues recordings of the obscure Chance label, which operated in Chicago from 1950 to 1954 or '55.Since the bigger labels already had the more well-known blues artists signed, Chance recorded mostly uncelebrated bluesmen.Some of these men are now legends, while others have remained unknown except to hard-core blues specialists.Included here are the debut recordings of Homesick James, J.B. Hutto, and Little Walter!(Chance purchased Walter's first recording session from the even tinier Ora Nelle label.)Among the other well-known artists represented are John Lee Hooker, Sunnyland Slim, and Tampa Red, but you will also find the likes of Big Boy Spires, Johnny Williams, Willie Nix, and Lazy Bill Lucas.

Most of the artists are captured making the transition from Mississippi-style blues to modern Chicago style; they have one foot in the Delta and one on Maxwell Street.The music is raw and powerful; these musicians are more interested in making a strong expressive statement than in counting the correct number of beats before the next chord change.Much of the music is reminiscent of the music the Fat Possum label has been recording in Mississippi in recent years, with the expressiveness of down-home blues overlayed with the energy of the big city.As with many of the small Chicago labels, the sound quality is extremely variable.

About the time the Chance label folded, Chicago blues entered its classic phase.Nothing here can compete with the power and beauty of the best recordings of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, but blues fans should do themselves a favor and check out these rugged, groundbreaking sides. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

****1/2
One of the finest in Chess' mid-60s "The Blues" series, volume two (out of six) may throw a few people off by opening with Chuck Berry's very much rock n' roll-flavoured single "Thirty Days".
But everything else is pure blues, from John Lee Hooker's supremely gritty "Sugar Mama" and Howlin' Wolf's eerie 1954 single "Evil", to (comparatively) young guitar slingers like Buddy Guy (the smouldering slow blues "Ten Years Ago") and Otis Rush ("So Many Roads, So Many Trains", one of his best songs featuring one of the best slow guitar solos of all time).

In between you'll find Bo Diddley's thumping proto-rocker "I'm A Man", the basis for Muddy Waters' standart "Mannish Boy", the swinging, up-tempo "It Ain't No Secret", a rarity from Jimmy Witherspoon's June, 1955 sessions, Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working" in a powerful live rendition, Chuck Berry's slow blues "Wee Wee Hours" (he was a big admirer of Muddy Waters, after all), and two of harp wizard Little Walter's best singles, "Blues With A Feeling" and a great take on "Key To The Highway", molded on Big Bill Broonzy's original.

Not a whole lot here for veteran blues listeners, but a really fine taste of classic Chess blues nevertheless. ... Read more

Album Description

Japanese 12 track version of this title previously issued in France only includes two of the remixes found on that pressing. Tracks, 'Someday (Remixed By Nova Nova)', 'Save The Day (Remixed By Wechsel Garland)', 'Sugar Man (Remixed By Chari Chari)', 'Someday (Remixed By Lewis Parker)', 'I Will Miss This Holy Garden (Remixed By Nitin Sawheney)', 'Prisons (Remixed By DJ Vadim)', 'Where The Sidewalk Ends (Remixed By A Reminiscent Drive)', 'Prisons (Remixed By Mark Stewart)', 'Sugar Man (Remixed By Indopepsychics)', 'I Will Miss This Holy Garden (Remixed By Doc Scott)', 'Where The Sidewalk Ends (Remixed By Baby Nambos) & 'Save The Day (Remixed By Seven Dub)'. 2001 Toy's Factory/Japan release. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Natural Blues is a Cure for the Blues
While Moby sampled a few of these songs for his very successful
release 'Play', this compilation stands on its own as a fabulous
introduction to many well known and "should be well known"
blues artists. The liner notes discuss each performer and the
context for their recording.

I found this CD in the Miscellaneous Blues section of a local
(Boston, Massachusetts) music store, but it's far
from "miscellaneous".

You will find strong performances by Bessie Smith, Vera Hall,
Little Milton, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Louis Jordan, Etta
James, and more. Listening to Etta James "I'd Rather Go Blind"
forced me to learn how to set "Repeat" on my boom box. John Lee
Hooker's "I'm In The Mood" is a strong and welcome selection
from his vast catalog. It's not one of his (usually featured)
signature songs, and you need to hear it.

The sound on this CD is very clear and full, even when played through my less expensive boom box.

Play it loud and often.

Greg

The Inspiration for Moby's Play Album
Natural Blues contains most of the songs sampled by Moby for his award-winning "Play" CD. I have only found this Natural Blues CD available in music stores in Great Britain. The album contains a number of rare blues-gospel numbers as well as some Blues favorites and classics such as "Wang-Dang Doodle", "I'm in the Mood", and "Mannish Boy". If you like Moby's CD and the Blues, this is an interesting and fun compilation album. It contains over 20 tracks, so you get your money's worth, too! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good for any kind of preferences
Blues music it's not just for blue people, it's for any kind of people. This album has a really beatufull combination of artists, rythms, feelings, and inspirations, thath you can enjoy it any time, in any place. ... Read more