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According to legend, it was Son House's blistering bottleneck guitar that prompted Robert Johnson to pick up a six string. House's potent early recordings from 1930 and 1941 to 1942 showcased his raw, emotionally powerful style, but never received the acclaim of Johnson's. When he was rediscovered during the '60s blues revivalist movement, House's voice still possessed wall-shaking intensity and his idiosyncratic slide guitar still had bite. These 21 recordings (including five alternate takes) offer superior fidelity and significant room for House to stretch out. The first disc features his classic "Preachin' Blues," a stirring a capella "Grinning in Your Face," and a nine-minute "Levee Camp Moan," with Canned Heat's Al Wilson on harp. Disc two (outtakes and alternates) includes an odd homage to President Kennedy and a riveting version of the spiritual "Motherless Children." --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Better Son House Exists
These 1965 recordings by Blues elder Son House are decent. This powerful and compelling singer is aged, but still at the top of his form. The song selection is great, and the sound quality is also good, but better recordings exist. Fans should specifically look at the 1941 Library of Congress recordings capture a younger Son House, and Masters of the Delta Blues, for even earlier Son House songs.

HoosierDaddy
When it comes to the delta blues,this is it!Son House(Eddie James House Jr.)These recordings are a major plus for your collection.I'm trying too find the words to express this review but I can't, just buy it and injoy!

Son House is the real deal. Listen and learn
Son House taught Robert Johnson the slide blues. Son House taught Muddy Waters. When Son House started performing at Blues festivals again in the mid 1960s, some of Muddy's younger band members would start to go off for a smoke or whatever when the old man came on stage. Muddy wouldn't let them. Muddy Waters would tell all his band members to be quiet and pay attention when the man played because even compared with Muddy, this was the real deal.

Rediscovered in Rochester, New York, relearning to play the guitar, (how this country abuses the masters that come from its people, particularly its Black people), put back on the stage by the folk revival's blues section.

People outside of the blues life focus on the guitar playing or the rhythm of the singing, but where the power comes from is the feeling and the words that are put together, the life and the meaning of the blues. Son House in his youth and his old age, on this and his other sides, always gave it.

So Like Muddy Waters, I would like you to know that
Son House is the real deal.
Listen and learn

Essential listening of the highest order
First of all, this is not a pop record. I give it five stars, not because it makes you want to dance and party all night long, but because these recordings are so incredibly intense and so essential to anyone who want to learn about the origins of modern popular music.
Son House was an elderly gentleman in his sixties when these recordings were made, in the spring of 1965 in New York City. Some of these songs were first recorded in 1930, and most people claim that these "rediscovery" recordings do not quite match the power and ferocity of House's earlier sides.
Maybe they don't, quite, and maybe Son House's guitar playing has slowed down a bit, although his health was still quite good when these songs were comitted to tape.
But to me this is still the best place to start. The sound is clean an clear, unlike House's 1941-42 recordings and very much unlike his original 1930 Paramount masters. Son's voice is clear and strong, without the slur that marrs some of his 60s and 70s recordings. And his guitar playing is solid and powerful.

Most of these tracks features just Son House and his large steel-bodied National guitar, played usually with a metal slide, but on a few cuts, House is accompanied by Alan Wilson (later of Canned Heat) on either guitar or harmonica. This pairing works especially well on the 9½-minute "Levee Camp Moan" where Wilson plays harmonica fills which bolster the sound without ever becoming obtrusive.

This man is without a doubt the most intense performer I have ever heard, overshadowing even the might of the Howlin' Wolf. Son House's voice cuts through the air like a knife, belying his age, and he plays his guitar like a stringed drum, snapping the strings and coaxing mornful wails from the copper slide.

The nine tracks on disc 1 were the ones originally issued. They feature the incredible intensity of "Death Letter" and "Grinnin' In Your Face", the powerful call-and-response slide guitar workout "Pearline", and of course "Preachin' Blues", "John The Revelator" and the epic "Levee Camp Moan".
Disc 2 contains alternate takes of all of these tracks, plus several previously unissued recordings such as House's rendition of Charley Patton's "Shake It And Break It" and the tracitionals "Motherless Children" and "Yonder Comes My Mother (when the roll is called up yonder)", as well as a re-recording of "Pony Blues" and Son House originals "Downhearted Blues" and "'A' Down The Staff".

The fact that this two-disc set features several alternate takes, and a total of 21 songs, should deter no-one. This is one of the very few totally essential albums for anyone with even the remotest interest in traditional Delta blues, and this is the very best place to start appreciating the power and glory of the great Son House.

Skip the single disk version. Get the whole thing.
The problem is after listening to Son House everything else seems decidedly low-wattage. Look at how Death Letter Blues bludgeons your psyche:

I got a letter this morning
How do you think it read?
It said the gal you love is dead.

I got up my suitcase,
took off down the road.
When I got there she's layin'
On a cooling board.

I walked up right close,
looked down in her face.
Said "Farewell honey,
I'll see you Judgement Day."

After that sort of thing, Dave Matthews and his "angst" isn't really something for a reasonable person to get worked up about.

His lyrics always obey the "show 'em, don't tell 'em" aesthetic. When he sings "Late in the evening, I went out on the outskirts of town; I choose me a seat, and watch the evening sun go down" you know exactly how he's feeling. And the guitar playing? Good Lord.

So Son House is a must. The only question is what to buy first. House recorded three times: seven sides for Paramount in the 1930's, nineteen songs for Alan Lomax in the 1940's, and then this session in the 1960's. I'd say that this two disk version of the Vanguard stuff is essential. (I bought the single disk version and regretted it.) The complete Alan Lomax field recordings are on a disk called "Complete Library of Congress Recordings 1941-1942". The Paramount stuff is best heard on the Document CD "Complete Recorded Works". There are some other compilations (Delta Blues, Preachin' The Blues, etc.) but they don't give you the complete picture.

I'd say buy this Vanguard stuff first. As you move back in time the performances get more fiery, but the sound quality gets much, much worse. So start here until you get yourself acclimatized.

(Also check out his buddy Charley Patton.) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Folklore Man, Alan Lomax Does It Again!
The Land Where Blues Began is Alan Lomax's master ensemble of the music that shaped American music. It is the music that influenced the works of Miles Davis, Tom Waits, Ewan McColl and most recent Norah Jones. Take the tour of the Mississippi Delta of the 1930s and 1940s and listen to the story who gave birth to the Blues with such legends as Muddy Waters, Leadbelly and Fred McDowell.

We need more music hunters like Lomax to record our music heritage for future generations. Lomax cross many towns and landscapes to get these first time field recordings of the now Blues greats. Lomax 'cornbread-and-poteen odyssey' across the American heartland is well documented in his candid conversations with the bluesmen and the story of how the blues became daddy of all modern-day music. It's told through those legends and through work songs, hymns, ballads, sermons, stories and smoky bars. The album captures the vivid sounds and the impossible to hold back energy and soul of the Blues fathers that changed American history.

NOTE: The CD is chronicled in the book of the same name by Alan Lomax as an addition to adding to your Blues collection. The book also includes a 4 track CD sampler as well. It won the 1993 National Book Critics Award for nonfiction. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Cut 8. 'O' Berta' not the one I thought it was
I heard a great arraingement of "Berta" during the movie "The Piano" which stared Charles Dutton. I thought that arraingement or at least some approximation was on this CD but it turns out that track 8 'O' Berta' is a disapointing version of that great tune. Otherwise if you like to hear these types of songs you might like this cd.

Great
This collection has real feeling and that's what music is supposed to be about. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In case anyone missed the individual releases of these CDs earlier in 1999, House of Blues conveniently presents all five in one handy package. Though the albums do fit the definition of a tribute, despite this box set's title, they're often decidedly odd; Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan certainly never sounded like this before. In general, it works. Zep's "When the Levee Breaks" was always a blues tune; Magic Slim just returns it to its Delta roots. Eric Clapton is firmly rooted in the blues, so it's fitting that some of the artists who influenced him--including Buddy Guy and Bo Diddley--turn out to try their hand at his material, and that younger musicians who've been undeniably shaped by his music take their turns as well. Janis Joplin was a blues singer first, a rock & roll star second, and Blues Down Deep includes appearances from Etta James, Lou Ann Barton, and Koko Taylor. What makes this set more interesting than your average tribute is that the performers involved have the skill and confidence to rework familiar songs in new ways. Just listen to what Gatemouth Brown does to "Rock n' Roll." --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Outstanding....
I bought this box set at the end of a relationship that went sour, and it has sustained me through many hours of both feeling bad and feeling fabulous. I keep all five CDs on my changer, and friends are always asking "Who is that?" and commenting on how terrific the music is -- even people who don't consider themselves to be "blues fans". What's best about this collection is the new renditions of some really old and obscure songs. For example, I had never been fond of Bob Dylan as a perfomer, but I always thought of him as an extraordinary song writer. Isaac Hayes' rendition of "Lay Lady Lay" proves that, as do all the other covers for every CD in the set (with the possible exception of a lukewarm cover of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven"). Especially unique are some of the treatments of the early Led Zepplin stuff. An absolute must for anyone wanting to call themselves a true fan of the blues! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

***½
MCA's "The Best Of John Lee Hooker 1965 - 1974" opens with the best-ever rendition of "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer", a swinging, piano-driven boogie version, followed by superb songs like "Think Twice Before You Go","House Rent Boogie", the slow shuffle "I'm In The Mood", and "Back Biters And Syndicators", which features Louis Myers on harmonica.
The gritty live recording of "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" is from the "Live At The Café Au Go Go" album, which you may already have. If not, get it...it is by far the best live recordings of John Lee Hooker playing with a band.

But there are also a handful of lesser songs here, and I'm not sure the world really needs a ten-minute version of "I'll Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive" with Van Morrison sharing lead vocals with the Hook (the song was originally recorded by Hooker for Vee-Jay), but it's actually better than you might think, and since MCA doesn't have the rights to the original, I guess I can't complain too much.

The lean solo version of "I Cover The Waterfront" found here is not the same as the organ-driven one on Rhino's John Lee Hooker anthology, "The Ultimate Collection (1948-1990)". Which one you prefer is a matter of taste, I guess, since they're both pretty good. But if you already have "The Ultimate Collection", you really don't need this CD, since all the best songs from Hooker's ABC years can also be found on the Rhino compilation.

Hooker's ABC records, from which these songs are taken, weren't as consistent as his earlier output, so this compilation is pretty much all most people will need from this period of his career.

Good, not essential selection of Hooker's ABC recordings
A nice sampling of Hooker's recordings for a variety of ABC labels that are sometimes overlooked. Calling these recordings essential is nonsense as it includes none of the stark, compelling solo or duet Detroit recordings nor as strong as the finest of the Vee-Jay recordings (The original Boom Boom or Dimples for example), but still these are better than many of Hooker's later recordings and no offense to the superstars who helped elevate Hooker's profile and made some of his last recordings so enjoyable, but I would as soon hear these recordings which include the late Eddie Taylor on second guitar and the late Louis Myers on harmonica on some tracks. Motor City is Burning, his reaction to the Detroit riots is perhaps the most compelling single track here. Unfortunately these recordings and the wonderful colloboration with Canned Heat, Hoioker and Heat were followed by over a decade of Endless Boogie before a bit of musical healing. This is a solid collection recommended to Hooker fans, but not one that is essential

Johnny Lee
Funny how expressive he was with so few notes. he inspired more with just a twang and a moan, than a legion of educated guitar wizards could do because he and was the cornerstone of American music. This collection does a great justice to his years when he played with larger groups and was full of howl and understood what the younger guys were doign on the scene. He made so many recordings in those years too. If you have no other of his stuff and are looking for a GREAT intro then this is a good un" I could hear him say "get your moneys worth" I especailly like the "I cover the waterfront with its eerie feel. You cant help but identify with the words and the reality of a sense of loss and hope. There is some rocking tunes as well that let you understand that rock and roll of the sixties rallied around the stuff that his soul shared.

Hooker's Best
Some "Best of" CDs really are not. This CD really is! This CD covers 16 of John Lee Hooker's greatest hits from 1965 to 1974, over 70 minutes of music. All of these songs were recoded in the '60s and '70s too, long before his gold and platinum album days. These are the same songs that would make Hooker famous 25 years later. Most of his better-known songs can be found on this disk. Throughout it all, Hooker's music remained unchanged. His rich and sonorous voice, full of ancient hurt, and his brooding and savage style remained hypnotic but unpredictable. To the strains of his own guitar, he sang of loneliness and confusion. Neither polished nor urbane, his music was raw, primal emotion. His one-chord boogie compositions and rhythmic guitar work were a distinctive sound that influenced rock 'n' rollers as well as rhythm and blues musicians. According to John shortly before his death, "I been doing the same things as in my younger days, when I was coming up, and now here I am, an old man, up there in the charts."

During a career more than six decades long, the veteran blues singer from the Mississippi Delta estimated he recorded more than 100 albums. To have a "best of" CD with that much material to pick from is a hard task, but the producers have done well.

If you only own one John Lee Hooker CD (if that is possible) this is the one to own.

Johnny Lee at his best
Never have I heard such a collection of blues masters. This album is burning with soul and emotion. Key tracks such as, "Never get out of these blues alive," "Bluebird," and "House Rent Boogie," feature superior bluse musicians such as: Van Morrison, Jim Kahr, Hollywood Fats, and Steve Miller, before their claim to fame. A tear fell from my eye when I first heard John Lee's story of his passing wife, Sadie Mae, in "Decoration Day." This album is a true tribute to all those who lost their lives in the terrible flood of Tupelo, Mississippi so long ago. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

99.44% pure raunch
It was the fall of '97 and I was minding my business, scarfing some bargains from a local new & used music store, when over the shop stereo came blaring what I can only rather lamely describe as a 'skronk stomp' punctuated by sporadic, though authoritative, vocals and frenzied (and occasionally wah-wah'ed) slide guitar -- all ending with an appropriate "Well, well!" Thus my introduction to the song "Snake Drive", and the man -- R.L. Burnside. Thankfully I have never been much of a purist in regard to anything, and the blues is certainly no exception to my personal rule. This is gutbucket blues with some splattered brains and a couple displaced eyeballs added to the (un)savory mess. Believe the other reviewers when they tell you how raw and nasty -- and doggone satisfying -- this CD is. As a fringe benefit the Jon Spencer & Co. emissions are kept to a minimum on this release (I know it's hard ,Jon, but keep it in your pants...you and your boys already popped your cork all over 'A Ass Pocket of Whiskey'). As for you folks who count yourself in the purist camp...not to worry...Burnside has released a bit of good acoustic material as well as a great CD of more traditional electric blues 'Too Bad Jim'. Fanciers of 'Mr. Wizard may want to give R.L.'s 2001 live release 'Burnside on Burnside a spin. To me it's all good as long as it hasn't been copiously spewed upon by wannabes or overtly tweaked by Fat Possum executives. Enjoy this drunk or sober it's 99.44% raunch...and, in terms of the blues, you can't get much purer than that.

Raw and incredibly rocking blues.
When I say rocking I mean that sometimes Burnside and his accomplices sound as though they'd just as soon burn the place to the ground. RL Burnside specializes in extremely raw, loud Mississippi Delta blues. If you are interested in this type of music you should buy one of his records immediately. You will be amazed that such a brilliant and original old style Delta blues musician has come to prominance so recently (all of his records are from the late 80s and 90s).

While other records of his, particularly the brilliant "Too Bad Jim" are more emotionally affecting, this one rocks like crazy, as Burnside's deep John Lee Hooker-style vocals are joined by clattering drums, distorted guitars, wah-wah pedals and theramin, couresy of his grandson, his stepson, and various members of the John Spencer Blues Explosion.

Kicks
What can I say this Cd kicks. Paked full raw unadulterated electric slide guitar just dripping with distortion. The first song is alittle weak compared to the rest of the disk, but the second song is so great it more than makes up for it. The slide guitar on the fourth track "Snake Drive" is amazing, listen how Kenny brown realy gets into it. Buy it!!

Get Up and Move
R.L. Burnside is a god among fans of dirty Delta Blues. His music makes you wanna get up and move, and if you don't, your listening to the wrong music. One of my favorite tracks has to be "Rollin' & Tumblin'," which is the base song of the remix "It's Bad You Know" from the album "Come on In." You can't help but smile when you listen to the fast paced and loud "Snake Drive" as his entire band goes to town. He is undoubtedly one of the best artists under Fat Possum Records (or anywhere for that matter), just about every album of his kicks out that nitty-gritty Delta vibe, but this one of Burnside's albums that does it the best. His soulful music is what real blues fans should be looking for. Buy it.

Like The Record Company Says:
This CD is raw & electric - and one of my all time favorites. I agree with one reviewer who said that he keeps trying to find another R.L. CD with this much energy, but can't. I doubt we ever will. If you like the "quieter", more traditional style of "Too Bad Jim", you may not find this to your taste. But for raw power and emotion, you won't find anything else like it. I think that's why I've played it so much over the past 5 years - it's just different. First you get lulled by "Over The Hill" and then crashed into with "Alice Mae". Also, check out the often overlooked gem on this collection - "Tribute To Fred". The range on this CD is about as big as the style allows. You'll reach for this whenever you don't want to hear the same old sounds. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Evidence of the strange genius of Mississippi bluesman Tommy Johnson is limited to 17 recordings from two late-1920s sessions. It is the first of these, for the Victor Company, that produced the recordings upon which Johnson's lofty reputation rests. Sung in a husky falsetto, somewhere between an African field holler and an Alpine yodel, "Cool Drink of Water Blues" stands atop a pinnacle in the richly inventive Delta blues tradition with younger cousin Robert Johnson's "Hellhound on My Trail" and Skip James's "Devil Got My Woman." "Canned Heat Blues" is a bittersweet paean to the older Johnson's penchant for imbibing tins of jellied kerosene, and was a modest hit in that era's "race record" market. Also notable from his 1928 session were the influential "Maggie Campbell Blues," "Big Road Blues," and "Big Fat Mama Blues," while the recently discovered Paramount session was remarkable for "Slidin' Delta" and "I Wonder to Myself." --Alan Greenberg ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Essential!
Before Robert Johnson came along, and long before Son House started spreading the rumour that he (Johnson) had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his abilities on the guitar, a man fifteen years Robert Johnson's senior ever so often implied that his immense talent came as the result of a midnight deal with Old Scracth.

Thomas Johnson was born in 1896 down in the Mississippi Delta, and though his name is not as well known as those of Charlie Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson (no relation), he was one of the most important prewar bluesmen, and certainly one of the most talented.
He was also an uncontrolled alcoholic, and the fact that he lived to see sixty is something of a miracle. His "Canned Heat Blues" is certainly autobiographical, and his contemporaries have told about Johnson straining shoe polish through a slice of white bread in order to extract the alcohol.

But his music is something to behold. Johnson sounds totally immersed in it, his voice possessing an eerie quality enhanched by his occational falsetto moans, and this disc includes the original versions of "Maggie Campbell Blues", "Big Road Blues", and "Cool Drink Of Water Blues" (later recorded by Howlin' Wolf as "I Asked For Water (she gave me gasoline)").

Johnson plays alone on a few songs, but on most of these seventeen sides (which comprise his entire recorded legacy) he is backed by one or more additional musicians, most often a second guitarist. The first eight sides, Tommy Johnson's Victor sides from 1928, boast amazing sound quality...much (much!) better than Charlie Patton's or Son House's contemporary recordings, they're clean and crisp with just a little static, and every phrase and every instrument is clearly heard. Johnson was a talented and quite original guitar player, and it is a delight to be able to hear him so well.

The Paramount sides, on the other hand, are...well, Paramount sides. Much inferior in sound quality to the Victor sides, they are nevertheless well worth a listen, particularly "Alcohol And Jake Blues" and the battered "Lonesome House Blues".
On the best of these songs, Johnson's voice is positively frightening, and his "Cool Drink Of Water" is the sound of pure despair. This is some of the starkest, most powerful music you'll ever hear.

One of the Most Unique of the Early Blues Players
Tommy Johnson and Charlie Patton are perhaps two of the most unique and innovative rural blues players to have ever lived. As where Patton's style is coarse and rough, Johnson's style (at least when he is at his best) is incredibly smooth. Also Johnson's unique falsetto (which is yodel like at times) is amazing. These recordings bare witness to his talent even after nearly a century. It is a shame that these recordings are all that there is.

The Victor tracks are worth the price of the CD
I agree with the other reviewers, this is a must for any serious fan of the blues, but be prepared for the songs recorded by Paramount, which I found, at first listen, to border on inaudible (which is why I am docking this CD a star). This morning, however, I was listening to them again, and got into them more. That being said, the Victor tracks are unforgettable and worth the price of the CD all by themselves. ... I suspect that when Tommy sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, the Devil said, "Fine. I'll make you a great guitarplayer BUT half of the music you lay down is going to sound like you were playing outside in a hailstorm." Tommy probably smiled and said, "That's OK because I won't be around long. Just keep me stocked in 'canned heat,' brother." All joking aside, I urge you to check it this seminal music.

An Intimate Glimpe at the Artistry of Tommy Johson
The stories surrounding Tommy Johnson have made him, in my humble opion, one of the most intriguing recording artists from the late 1920's. The term 'canned heat', of course, refers to the alcohol contained in shoe polish, cooking fuel, hair tonic, etc. History (in addition to Tommy himself) tells us that Tommy Johnson strained the aforementioned products (alcorub) through bread and consumed them (one would assume) orally. He was severely addicted to the stuff. Then there is the Faustian story about Tommy Johnson selling his soul at the crossroads. Robert Johnson's name will be forever connected with this story, though it was told about Tommy a decade earlier.

This cd is perhaps the finest collection of recorded works (featuring a single artist) that I have ever heard. The first 8 songs are Victor Recordings. They are well documented (date, location of recording session, performers involved, etc.) and preserved very nicely. Songs 9-17 were recorded by Paramount, and the sound quality suggests that the masters were used at one time to line chicken coops. The Paramount Company did good for recording Johnson, but the surviving masters and documentation on the recording sessions are disappointing to say the least. The sound flaws can't diminish the spirit of Johnson's music though, and should do little to deter the serious listener from enjoying them immensely.

I consider this Document Record an abolute must listen, as well as an indispensible piece in the cd collection of any serious blues fan and/or musician. In 17 tracks (roughly three minutes long each), the listener is not only treated to sincere and spontaneous performances (each one a classic), he/she is also given an intimate glimpse into the life of an absolutely incredible songwriter, guitarist, and performer.

The way a blues voice should be
Len Here!
I don't have this record but have many of the song's.
He's one of my favorite pre-war blues singer's.When it
come's to true raw blues he is the man. For me T.JOHNSON
E.JAMES do it the way it should be done.
Bless the Blues! Len ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Awesome
"Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers" isn't entirely devoted to Son House. There are cuts by several other musicians, including Rube Lacy, Joe Calicott, and House's onetime playing partner Willie Brown, but this disc, which contains Son House's complete 1930 session, is the best place to get his earliest songs.
The sound quality is not excactly stellar, mainly due to the inferior quality of Columbia Records' original masters and horrible quality pressings, yet the power and intensity of Son House's huge voice and slashing slide guitar playing cuts through the pops and hisses like...well, a cutting thing. Knife and butter, brick and window, you make the choice.
Also, this CD is one of the very few which features both the previously unreleased test acetate of "Walking Blues" (the basis for Robert Johnson's song, not the other way around), and the second parts of House's three two-part singles. Listen to "My Black Mama part II", and you'll recognize it as the original version of "Death Letter Blues", complete with House's magnificent, wailing slide guitar riff.

House's seven songs are the highlights of this collection, but there is a lot of other stuff here which is certainly of interest to fans of classic Delta blues. The gruff-voiced Willie Brown's two cuts are almost as powerful as Son House's, particularly the great "Future Blues" (listen to Brown snapping the bass strings).
And fine waxings by Kid Bailey and Joe Reynolds in particular makes this a great collection of Delta blues as recorded by Paramount Records in 1929-30.

A COLLECTION OF SOME OF THE FINEST DELTA BLUES
I absolutely love this CD and find myself listening to it over-and-over again. I ordered it for the Son House material but have found the Willie Brown and the Garfield Akers songs to be every bit as fantastic! Although I especially like the three musicians already mentioned, there is not a dud in any of the remaining tracks. If you like delta blues and don't have this CD you are missing one of the greatest musical treats you're liable to find.

The Greatest
In my opinion, Son House was the greatest of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen, whether you are listening to his astounding Library of Congress tracks from the 1940s, his historic studio album with Columbia in 1965, or his frightening live performances during the blues revival. The songs on this collection, however, are from his first and only session for Paramount way back in 1930--there are seven tracks in all.

Son House's playing was phenomenal. He was ferocious on the slide guitar and his growling and moaning vocals can--and will--make your skin crawl. "My Black Mama" (which was later reworked into his most famous song, "Death Letter Blues"), is Son at his best. "Preachin' the Blues", unfortunately, doesn't exist in a highly listenable format (the only known copy is a damaged 78) and is clouded by white noise, but much of it has been digitally cleaned. This is such a powerful song--and one of Son's signature tunes--that it has wisely been included on this collection.

Document has also included songs from Son House's contemporaries, namely Willie Brown, Rube Lacy, Kid Baily, Garfield Akers, and Blind Joe Reynolds. While shadowed by the geniuses of Son House, Skip James, Tommy Johnson, and Charley Patton, these 'lesser' artists should not be overlooked. Each had his own style and the tracks included here are great. Standouts include Willie Brown's "Future Blues", Garfield Akers' "Cottonfield Blues", and Rube Lacy's "Mississippi Jailhouse Groan".

This collection is valuable to any fan of the Delta blues--those who are fans of the great Robert Johnson (who isn't?) will learn that he found much of his inspiration in these recordings. While Johnson has surpassed House in fame and recognition, it's arguable that he held the highest talent. Only Son House can make your hair stand on end with his wrenching weeps and groans.

A collection with the roots of the great american music
Son House is certainly the king here. But all the other performers here were also top-notch delta blues performers of the 20's-40's. Son House is leading of this collection with his classic Grafton, Wisconsin 1930 recordings. Incredibly powerful, magic and enduring music that set the stage for things to come. That voice is just stupendous! His slide guitar is a killer too. Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters were avid followers of this man and incorporated some of Mr. House's songs, and way of playing in their music. The first 6 songs is from 3 officially released 78's in 1930. 'Walking blues' was a test recording, that ironically was not recorded for official release, though being one of Son House's theme songs. A great song anyway, and you can hear the inspiration that influenced a lot of blues artists up to this day. Another seminal figure here is Willie Brown. He used to travel around with Charley Patton and Son House in the delta, being a superb accompanist and guitar player. His two only recordings are masterpieces of the genre, powerful and classic stuff with strong lyrics. The other performers on this CD collection are all great performers in their own right. Blind Joe Reynolds was a more engimatic figure of whom little details are known, but his songs are great with fine guitar playing. Ruby Lacy was an influence on Son House and his two songs here are typical of classic delta blues. He became a Reverend some years later. You won't find much better blues than this anywhere.

Really THE BLUES!! (Can your heart stand it??)
This remarkable CD features the work of performers from the Mississippi Delta region that later spawned Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters and so on;it was a pretty tight-knit community with the musicians often knowing one another;such were the case here - Son House and Willie Brown knew Charley Patton (they all traveled to Grafton Wisconsin to cut records for the Paramount label)and House is of course the pivotal figurehead on this CD,-if youre faint-hearted this music is not for you,unfortunately,-no,this is the Holiest-God honest BLUES if ever there were such a sound.House rips his guts out in a flurry of white heat and intense passion,whether he grapples with the flesh vs, the spirit in "Preaching the Blues" or with the disasterous drought and crop failure in "Dry Spell Blues" AND his unfettered lusty despair on "My Black Mama" ;Willie Brown cut only two sides at his session but they cleary equal anything else in the Delta. I Fully agree with the gentleman from Jerusalem,naday haber,there IS a powerful African folk song influence all over this CD,-if anything it forces us to revise how we think about the Blues and its great history.The Roots of the Delta Blues emanate straight from the African villages,and if you like the low-fat Eric Clapton sort of 'Blues' then DONT buy this CD! BUT if youre not afraid to be exposed to raw naked human emotion then BUY THIS CD. If anything it'll cause you to rethink Robert Johnson's place in the historic pantheon,yes,he deserves his acclaim,but This community of artists made him possible to begin with.Mr.Naday Haber you are a most perceptive critic!Thank You!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Voices from a pastoral past
While you can certainly buy music with better production (these songs were produced "on the spot" in sometimes less than ideal conditions),better musicianship and more competent vocals, you would be hard pressed to find a contemporary collection that is more heartfelt and stirring as the one offered here. This music embodies our past ~ the roots from which grew blues and bluegrass. The "artists" represented on this CD are just plain folks that learned their instruments and songs from family and friends,passed down from the preceding generations. When taken within the context of the collection each selection is a gem on its own. Among these gems, many have a rare and haunting beauty. You should buy this CD if you have even a passing interest in American roots music

Southern Journey, Vol. 5: Bad Man Ballads
Alan Lomax recorded these folk songs during the late 1950's in people's houses and in prisons. Incredible to have recordings of prisoners singing to the beat of their axe strokes as they work. Housework seems less mundane when doing it with this music on. Wide range of music represented here, but many of the songs in this volume are concerned with crime, especially murder, and prison life. Two (actually three) great versions of Po' Lazarus, and an interesting John Henry. I would have given it 5 stars except there's 1 track I hate and two others I don't care for. That leaves 14 great tracks. ... Read more

Reviews (84)

Invaluable document of a great talent
The irony of Robert Johnson's superstar status is hard to miss. He was almost completely ignored by the music-buying public of his day, even in the market his records were aimed at. Yet in the present day, he's practically the only country blues artist most people know about. On one level, this is because of relentless championing by other blues artists, not least Eric Clapton. On another level, Johnson's fame rests on the fact that he was able to write, or more properly pull together from his various mentors and influences, his songs and make them complete unto themselves. His songs have made an impact, and have been covered time and again by countless artists. That counts for something.

Part of who Robert Johnson was as a singer and songwriter is obscured by his legend, which has been retold so often it borders on cliche. But even after the hype has been dismissed, this box set shows Johnson as a powerful, innovative, soulful blues man, a great performer and a great songwriter (in the context of blues songwriting) with his own unique sound.

Johnson was not without his influences, and if he had lived he would have told you that himself. However, the interesting thing was that he managed to transform his influences and personalize them into his own vision of the blues, a blues that was one of the first steps away from country blues toward city blues - a vision that would eventually become Chicago blues.

It has been fashionable in blues circles to put Robert Johnson down recently, and to gripe about how Johnson's influences should be as well known as he is. This is a valid point. However, Johnson became an influence himself, and as such, he still deserves a good deal of respect. This box set, which contains every recording he is known for, is a just tribute to a brilliant singer, songwriter and performer.

The remastering is surprisingly good, considering the sources. Johnson's voice and guitar playing come through vividly and illustrate his wealth of talent. The only possible drawback to this box set, for the casual listener, is the number of alternate takes included. They show that Johnson was an adept performer, because a lot of the alternates are similar to the "released" versions. This showed that he was no closet bluesman or flash-in-the-pan, but was adept at entertaining an audience. And to this day his guitar playing is astonishingly fluid and innovative. However, the repetitiveness of the alternate takes can become trying to people who are not students of the blues, and for the casual listener a single-disc set would probably be sufficient.

This box set, is, and remains, a worthy overview of a talent that received its due far too late. I would advise the listener not to be put off by people who would place Johnson's influences over him, but to listen to Johnson on his own merits. My guess is that he'll win you over, as he has generations of listeners.

Perhaps the 29 most influential songs of the 20th century
Robert Johnson is most emulated of the Mississippi bluesmen and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. His inovative guitar style was extensively copied by the early rock stars and and has continued to influence modern musicians. When a country hick named Elvis Presley was auditioning for Sun Records in the early 50s he played several Robert Johnson tunes. Other musicians deeply influenced by Johnson include Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Johnson had very large hands so his songs are almost impossible to immitate due to the incredible difficulty of fretting them. Keith Richards said "I was hearing two guitars, and it took me a long time to realize he was actually doing it all by himself." According to legend Johnson got his amazing guitar skills by selling his soul to the Devil at a Mississippi crossroads one evening in 1930. People say the evidence is in songs like Crossroad Blues, Up Jumped the Devil, Me and the Devil Blues, and Hell Hound on My Trail. Johnson had only recorded these 29 songs before he was poisoned by a jealous husband in 1938 when he was only 26 years old.

Johnson's songs are characterized by an intensity of raw emotion and incredible creativity. The lyrics are haunted and really stick in your mind. My favorites are Crossroad Blues, Last Fair Deal Gone Down and of course, Love in Vain, one of the most beutiful blues songs ever written. No true blues fan would deny that Robert Johnson was the greatest bluesman of all time.

Best blues I have ever heard!
This is one of the first blues C.D.s I ever bought, and it is the best. I have since perchaced C.D.s by Muddy Waters, Charley Patton, Son House, Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson and several others, and while they are all very good none of them are as good as Robert Johnson. I definitely recomend this to anyone even slightly interested in the bles.

I would like to point out that the reviewer calling himself Tony Thomas is RACIST. I have read several of his reviews and he uses the term "bleus lovers" derisively put into quotes to refer to whites. When he says real blues people he obviously is talking about blacks. These slightly hidden racist slurs and his general tone is elitist and offensive. I would have thought that amazon would be ethical enough not to post this sort of RACIST PROPAGANDA!

The Greatest Music Ever!
In ''Robert Johnson : The Complete Recordings'', you will hear the most powerful blues there is. Robert Johnson's music is more than great, it's magic, it's indefinable. I've never heard anything like that and I know I never will find anything similar. He creates a blues world of his own where everything is possible. He brings you in his visions, his fears, his joys, his hopes, his loves, his travels... Also, his guitar skills are fantastic, his emotion is truely unique and his lyrics really define the everyday life of a traveling black blues musician in the 30's and also visions (or not) he had (Me And The Devil Blues, Hell Hound On My Trail, Cross Road Blues), inspiring incredibly dark and superb lyrics of an artist who died way too young.

Most people know Robert Johnson's story, so I'm not going to write it A G A I N, but I would just like to say to people who think Robert Johnson's music sucks because 'his singing is bad, he plays acoustic, he sings stupidities and the sound quality is awful' that they prove their lack of musical culture. Robert Johnson is without a doubt an icon in blues music, and music in general. He's - to me - the greatest musician ever (whatever the time period or the style). This Complete Recordings is definitely an item you should own, but we aware that the sound quality isn't as good as modern CDs (that box set was issued in 1990, and the tracks come from 78's of the 30's), but the music inside is extremelly powerful. Also be aware that this box set, who's said to contain each Robert Johnson's takes, actually doesn't contain 'Traveling Riverside Blues (take 2), which does appear on a more recent compilation called 'I'm A Steady Rollin' Man' (who also has the 41 other tracks available here). But that's a very small complaint, since they haden't yet realized - back in 1990 - that the second take of that song was on the 1961 LP : King Of The Delta Blues Singers.

However, this item is great and is one you should have in your collection. Whatever the kind of music you listen to, you will find yourself in admiration before the legacy a certain Robert Johnson left more than sixty-five years ago...

Statistics for statistics buffs, not music
Look: There are forty-one tracks on this album, but only twenty-nine songs. How to account for the discrepancy? Well, I can't. All I can say is that someone who wants to listen to multiple takes IN A ROW of the same songs EVERY TIME he listens to an album is NOT interested in music. Next time, if we really have to have alternate takes, let's confine them to a separate disc, please. Thank you very much. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Classic performances by the true masters of the genre
"A rare collection of performances by America's premier bluesmen at the peak of their artistry" proclaims the cover of this disc, and that's no idle boast. Culled from 33 tracks on the two simultaneously released and similarly titled DVDs, these 16 tunes were performed live in German TV studios between 1962 and 1966, and thought lost until recently discovered.
Although the audio is mono, it's immaculately clean, and each instrument is clearly audible, an amazing feat for TV sound during these years.

T-Bone Walker does a mellow, jazzy "Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong", laying down one of his finest ever vocals performances. Veterans Lonnie Johnson and Sippie Wallace (both of whom were born at the tail end of the 19th century, and had risen to stardom way back in the twenties) turn out great, soulful performances of "Another Night To Cry" and "Women Be Wise".
In fact, Delta legend Robert Johnson much admired the older Lonnie Johnson, and even took to telling people that his middle initial, L, stood for "Lonnie". (It stood for Leroy, and Lonnie Johnson's first name was actually Alonzo.)

Other highlights include Howlin' wolf's two songs, Memphis Slim's "Everyday I Have The Blues" (a superior performance which he tosses off seemingly with the greatest of ease), Victoria Spivey's "Black Snake Blues", a slow, stately "Five Long Years" by pianist Eddie Boyd, and "Mississippi" Fred McDowell's howling slide guitar workout "Going Down To The River".

This CD is a little bit short, and some of the performances (such as Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working") are unusually tame, but it is still a real goldmine for folk and Chicago blues fans. Never before were such historic performances so easily available in pristine sound, and as an added bonus, the booklet features complete recording information, rare photos, and an excellent, insightful essay by Rob Bowman.
4 1/2 stars - highly recommended.

Lost Gold!
Some of the greatest and most influential music this country has ever created was the blues- but the artists were just not given the apreciation in this country they deserved. It took the interest in Blues music by young musicians in Europe- especially in Britain- from the Rolling Stones to Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix (who actually played with B. B. King at one point) to bring them back to America. Kids hearing this music then began to search out the originators of this music and finally these Blues pioneers started to gain recognition in their own country. This DVD (and the others in the series) captures where it all got started in Europe.
Since they couldn't find places to play in the US aside form bars and honkey-tonks, they launched a tour in Europe of some of the best Bluesmen (and ladies) of the time in 1962. It was hugely successful and more tours followed. Unfortunately, little to nothing was believed to have survived of the music of that period until a German televison station was going through some old things and found several video tapes of studio programs recorded at that time. Tapes were costly and often were re-recorded over- so the fact of their mere survival is a miracle. The quality is outstanding for the time. So is the sound quality (mono, but what did you expect from a TV show?). You get eighteen amazing performances. There is no announcer- the artists introduce each other and sometimes tell you about the song. Although the tracks may list one performer, you will notice others playing "backup". You get Muddy Waters with his "Mojo Working" and Willie Dixon's "Weak Brain and Narrow Mind", Sippie Wallace (there for the Lady Bluesmakers) telling "Women Be Wise" and Memphis Slim letting us know that "the Blues is Everywhere". The list goes on. Check out the rest of the series too- you won't be disappointed!

"America's premiere Bluesmen at their peak"
Some of the most celebrated "Blues Singers" perform on this one-of-a-kind release "The American folk Blues Festival 1962-1966". With an all-star cast of Eddie Boyd, Willie Dixon, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lonnie Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Memphis Slim, Otis Rush, Victoria Spivey, T-Bone Walker, Sippie Wallace, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin Wolf clearly having a ball sharing their God-given talent. This is one of the top blues rivals to come along in many a moon.

So all you blues collectors take care when you play this historic recording with some of the greats in fine fiddle and voice. Some of the artists are no longer with us, but with this recording you can relive those days when blues took hold of you and it was an all time high. Entire festival is a stand out with "I CAN'T QUIT YOU BABY", "HOODOO MAN BLUES", "MY YOUNGER DAYS" and "GOT MY MOJO WORKING" many performers at the peak of their careers giving the public an ear full ~ which is the roots of American music....gotta love it!

Rush out quickly and pick this one up, enjoy the blues as it was meant to be heard. A treasure of unheard blues in this country until this release. Rare photos and a descriptive 28 page booklet that is collectible. Also available on DVD "The American Folk Blues Festival Vol. 1" and "The American folk Blues Festival Vol. 2", which gives the fans sights and sounds we love...good ole American Blues!

Total Time: 59:15 on 16 Tracks ~ Hip-O Records 60670 ~ (8/26/2003) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Son House is the real deal. Listen and learn
Son House taught Robert Johnson the slide blues. Son House taught Muddy Waters. When Son House started performing at Blues festivals again in the mid 1960s, some of Muddy's younger band members would start to go off for a smoke or whatever when the old man came on stage. Muddy wouldn't let them. Muddy Waters would tell all his band members to be quiet and pay attention when the man played because even compared with Muddy, this was the real deal.

Rediscovered in Rochester, New York, relearning to play the guitar, (how this country abuses the masters that come from its people, particularly its Black people), put back on the stage by the folk revival's blues section.

People outside of the blues life focus on the guitar playing or the rhythm of the singing, but where the power comes from is the feeling and the words that are put together, the life and the meaning of the blues. Son House in his youth and his old age, on this and his other sides, always gave it.

So Like Muddy Waters, I would like you to know that
Son House is the real deal.
Listen and learn

Son House, King of the Delta
Son House is the most important and influential Delta Bluesman to ever live he was a major influence to Muddy Waters & Robert Johnson and every one else including me. Buy this C.D. it is very essential stuff this is hardcore Delta Blues there are some trks with Son House in a band setting with Willie Brown and others (perfect example of what a DeltaBlues jam session probally sounded like). These are field recordings and I mean they were actually recorded outside on trk.4 "Shetland Pony Blues" you actually hear a steam locomotive (train) go buy in the background. If your a aspiring blues guitar player get this if your a fan of the Blues your C.D. collection is seriously lacking if this is not part of it. also get "Masters of the Delta Blues, The Friends of Charlie Patton" all of Son Houses earliest recorings are on there (1930) with some other Delta Blues Legends

The Real Blues--Raw and Dirty
This collection is essential to any blues collection...you cannot truly appreciate the blues until you've heard these recordings.

Son House is my favorite blues performer. No one--not even his proteges Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters--could match him when it came to the raw emotion. Sure, Robert inspired later blues-rock giants like the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Stevie Ray Vaughn (to name a few...) and Muddy revolutionized the blues by 'inventing' electricity. But this collection, when coupled with the album "The Complete Recorded Works of Son House & the Great Delta Blues Singers" (ASIN: B000000J26--recorded in 1930; another essential disc), offers the listener a true glimpse into history.

The first few tracks include House singing and playing guitar with his band: Willie Brown (who has since attained legendary status as his name is mentioned in Robert Johnson's lyrics; he was also was the central character in the 1986 movie "Crossroads") on harmonica, and Fiddlin' Joe Martin on mandolin. These songs are amazing. The only word I can use to describe House's slide guitar technique is FEROCIOUS. His mixture of slams and slaps, when combined with the shouts, moans, and grunts of his vocals, is nothing short of frightening. "Walking Blues"--which, of course, was a hit for both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters but was written by House--is one particular standout. It is nearly seven minutes long (House is famous for his "epic" performances...in concert, his songs were known to exceed twenty minutes), a relentless barrage of blues. "Levee Camp Moan" is another strong point. The rhythms and shouts are incomparable.

Perhaps the best analogy is "a frontal assault on the soul".

The remaining songs are House's solo efforts, although the striking force has not deminished at all. In fact, they may be even more powerful--it's hard to believe that only ONE guy is singing...!

When House was rediscovered during the '60s blues revival, he recorded his first and only studio album in 1965 ("Father of the Delta Blues"--ASIN: B000002877) for the Columbia label. Most who have heard of Son House know him based on these recordings alone. There is no arguement that this is a magnificent album--the emotional quality has only increased with is age. But while the sound quality is definitely better than these early field recordings (mono recordings into a single microphone in the stockyard of a train depot--you can even hear railway sounds in the background!!), House's old age hindered the ferocity of his slide guitar playing, forcing his tempo to slow down. If you want to hear the true capabilities of the man who I think is the greatest bluesman who ever lived, you must listen to these Library of Congress recordings (and then check out "...and the Great Delta Blues Singers").

Son House -- Library of Congress sessions
Son House has, arguably, the best blues voice, ever. (His rivals are his pupil, Robert Johnson, and BB King). This is his best album, ever. Great voice, great words, great guitar, and (on one cut) a train in the background. Recorded sound quality is adequate -- better than most for the period. This is one of the five or ten indispensible blues recordings of the twentieth century--Changed how I thought about music.

- Blues ain't nothin'but a lowsown shakin' chill, - If you ain't had them, I hope you never will. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Mississippi hill country patriarch R.L. Burnside's two previous albums dabbled in remixes and trip-hop experimentation geared to the college-rock market. This is a restorative: pure slide 'n' drone blues caught live in January 2001 at Portland, Oregon's Crystal Ballroom. The 73-year-old is joined by his usual jukehouse band, his drummer and grandson Cedric Burnside and guitarist Kenny Brown, who blow sparks behind Burnside's rich honey-and-molasses voice and chunky six-string affirmations. Every time Burnside hits a note, it's a reminder of both how vital an interpreter of the hypnotic style developed by Fred McDowell he remains and how true electric country blues still sounds in its unvarnished state.

There's an emotional resonance that runs through this music like blood, especially when Burnside plays solo. His all-alone performances of "Walking Blues" and "Bad Luck and Trouble" reveal every nuance of his caw-to-keen singing and the sweet way his slide slices right to the emotional core of a lyric. Burnside's off-color jokes and song-ending punctuations (mostly buoyant "Well, well, wells") also give an inkling of the wild-ass grandpa charisma that makes him so appealing on stage. Burnside has, however, delivered better concerts. At times these tempos seem rushed, which sacrifices some of the subtleties of his vocalizing. But Brown unleashes a rabid slide solo on "Snakedrive" that shoots the tune skyward, and he and Cedric display relentless energy and thrust. All of which proves that, with John Lee Hooker now reclining upstairs, R.L. Burnside is the ruler of this music. --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (15)

The Real Deal!
What a great way to close out a rather dismal year of blues releases and who better to strike the high note than RL Bunside. This CD was recorded live in January 2001 on the West Coast and was not released until late October.

The CD itself does not contain any new material except for the joke told on "He Ain't Your Daddy" however, the performance and sound quality are simply outstanding. Like other reviewer's, I placed this CD in my changer and turned up the volume. It wasn't long after that I selected the single disc play feature and pushed the repeat button. The only thing disappointing about the CD is that it ends far too soon for me even though it is 52+ minutes long. If you have not experienced RL Burnside, I can think of no better place to start.

Welcome NEW YORKER readers to Fat Possum
For everyone who came here from reading the Feb 4 issue of the New Yorker, which had an amazing eleven page article about Fat Possum Records, RL Burnside, T-Model Ford, and others, this is a great CD to start with. Through all of R.L.'s permutations - Remixes on Come On In, the incredibly strong vocal album with modern effects on Wish I Was in Heaven, the very rough rock on Mr Wizard and the acoustic Mississippi Hill Country Blues - It is here - listening to RL play live in front of a crowd in Portland, that most perfectly displays his magic. This record brings RL back full circle to his ground-breaking debut album, Too Bad Jim - no remixes, guest stars or anything more than him and his band, jokes about drinking, and loud, droning blues, that is rarer on this planet than a wilderness born snow leopard. After this, check out Robert Belfour and Junior Kimbrough's first 2 masterpieces, All Night Long and Sad Days, Lonely Nights.
And if you already read the New Yorker article, you shouldn't need much prodding to listen to T-Model Ford's CDs. Welcome to the Deep Blues.

Best blues album... ever.
RL Burnside is making a case for the best bluesman that nobody knows. He's been around forever, but it's only been the last few years that his music has received the recognition that it deserves. He has several outstanding studio albums but the raw power of his music is at its best on this live recording. RL is the blues.

I've listened to all the great live blues recordings... BB, Buddy, Son House, Muddy, you name it. But there's something about Burnside that sets him apart from all of them. He is a truly great musician.

The measure of a great album is how quickly you listen to it a second time. With this one, I didn't take it out of my CD player for a week.

FIERCE BLUES
If music could give you the feeling of being pistol whipped, this album would do it. The guitar here is fierce, aggressive, and wicked. You can't help but to turn this album up really loud as Burnside charges through some very intense soloing on "Jumper on the Line." His voice is raw and perfect for the powerful blues force he brings on this disc. Walking Blues, done a million times by many folks, sounds really amped up, while maintaining the slow dragged out feel and emotion of the song. The album ends with a tremendous jam in "Snake Drive" which displays some fiersome smokin' guitar play and really displays the talent of this band. Great stuff, pure blues power.

Transcendent
First-rate live blues. R.L. Burnside is a true original, laying down a dense, intense, electric Mississippi drone with infinite variations woven through it. It is hard to believe that three performers could generate such a wall of sound (kudos to the engineers, by the way). In fact, on Burnside's mid-concert solos - "Walking Blues" and "Bad Luck and Trouble" - it takes a while to realize there is only one performer. The whole album is wonderful, but the last four cuts are transcendent, featuring Kenny Brown's slide guitar and, and (on the very last cut, by grandson Cedric Burnside) the best, and best-integrated, drum solo I've heard since Keith Moon was alive. A personal favorite is "Miss Maybelle" because of the quirky way Burnside varies tempos. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Don't Look Back is credited to John Lee Hooker and produced by Van Morrison, but effectively functions as a duet between the two, who have appeared and recorded together previously (Hooker's Never Get Out of These Blues Alive and Chill Out). Here, Morrison lends his hypnotic chanting--an intriguing complement to Hooker's spellbinding approach--to his own, "Healing Game," as well as contributing freely elsewhere, both vocally and on rhythm guitar. This set is more meditative than other recent Hooker discs, with the bluesman thoughtful and cogent on Morrison's "Don't Look Back," Hendrix's "Red House," and a number of originals.--Rickey Wright ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Another Great cd from the blues legend
I recommend this cd for all John Lee fans. It is full of energy that you would think he was younger. Love the songs with Van Morrison. I hope they continue doing songs together.

John Lee Hooker's last (real) CD
This CD recorded in 1997 by John Lee Hooker, was his last real recording. There was a CD released in 1998 called THE BEST OF FRIENDS, however it was just a re-release of classic tracks recorded by John Lee Hooker and friends. This CD, DON'T LOOK BACK, is the closest thing that you are going to find to the voice of this gritty blues man before his death four years later.

This CD won two Grammy awards in 1997. The first for, Best Traditional Blues Album and the second for, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, on the song, "Don't Look Back" with Van Morrison. However, if you were to ask me, the first track, "Dimples," is the best track on this disk.

The last song on the CD, "Rainy Days" seems to sum up John Lee's long and difficult life: "Rainy day in my heart...ain't gonna rain no more in my heart...it's all over baby...the pain is gone...you can't hurt me no more...it use to rain both night and day...teardrops raining from my eyes...you can't hurt me no mor!e...the pain is gone...it don't hurt no more...it ain't gonna rain no more in my hurt...my eyes...it's all over..."

The back of the CD also shows a picture of John Lee walking down the sidewalk with his back to the viewer, waving his hand as if to say goodbye. The man is gone, but his music lives on, and this CD is the closest thing out there to how he sounded before he died.

Some Fine Blues...
This is Hooker's latest original recording and the last one before he died in 2001. I have to say it's quite different from most Hooker recordings I've heard. It is very important to note that this CD is one big collaboration with Van Morrison, and the blues you'll hear here (with the exception of the first track) are mellow, laid back, and smooth. It's an excellent recording, although more mainstream than the real raw Hooker that can be heard on earlier recordings. He's aged like fine wine, and at about 80 years old, I'd say he's holding his own with amazing class :)

If you're new to Hooker, start either with this CD or "Healer". Healer is also an excellent recording (it does, however, have a lot more guest musicians). On this disk, you hear a more diluted Hooker, but you need to hear this before you hear the real raw Hooker.

The first track with Los Lobos is excellent - makes you want to get up and dance. Second and Fourth track are duets with Morrison and are both excellent work. Red House is a take on a Hendrix classic, and while the guitar work can't compare to the Hendrix guitar, the vocals, I thought, are a lot better, grittier, more bluesy than Hendrix's own version.

Get it - you won't regret it.

GET IT DON'T REGRET IT
As a late convert to JLH's music, I like this a lot. More than the Healer actually.

To sound this good at his age is like sipping a fine vintage wine.

Long live Hooker!

doesn't get better
If you're a fan of Van Morrison and his mellow style then you'll love this blues album. Of all the distinctive voices out there, John Lee's has to be the most unique. His almost-mumble singing plays well with Van's high pitched repetative style. An excellent collaboration produced by Van. A must have by fans of both musicians. Standout : "Don't Look Back". ... Read more

Amazon.com

This 2 CD set represents the best introduction to Hooker's trademark sound: one- and two-chord vamps delivered with a hypnotic, perpetual boogie rhythm and accented by reverberating staccato runs and intense foot-stomping. With his deep, rich voice, Hooker electrified the blues of the Delta, bringing the stark, brooding sound to the city and influencing scores of rock musicians. Most of his highlights are here: from early Modern classics "Boogie Chillen," "Crawlin' King Snake," and "House Rent Boogie"; to Vee-Jay singles "Boom Boom" and "Dimples"; to 1966 Chess work with Chicagoans Lafayette Leake and Willie Dixon;to 1971 collaborations with rockers Canned Heat;to performances with modern blues stars Roy Rogers and Bonnie Raitt. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (9)

As Close as It Gets!
Let's get one thing straight: as of today 09/15/03, there is no "ultimate" John Lee Hooker collection. But with 31 of his best tracks, this Rhino mini-box comes the closest to Hooker nirvana. (There is a 10-CD set, Epitath, but since it would take a week to listen to it once, I'll pass.) The problem with compiling such a collection is implied in Boogie Man, Charles Shaar Murray's fine biography. Hooker recorded for a number of different labels, especially in his early days, and also under a variety of different names (John Lee Booker, John Lee Cooker, Little Pork Chop, etc.), so it takes a lot of legwork to figure out just which recordings were made by Hooker at all, much less obtain the rights to rerelease them. (Murray spends almost half the book on such detective work.) Therefore, such classic gems as "The Flood" and "Whiskey and Wimmen" are not included in this set. Still, it's a very good attempt. Rhino has chosen to start the collection with the track "Teachin' the Blues," which is an aural primer on how he created his unique sound. Thus educated, the listener can then move on to such primal tunes as "Boogie Chillun" (A live staple for virtually every major blues band from Canned Heat to Savoy Brown, this was the number Hooker chose to perform in a guest spot on the Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour in the eighties.), "Crawling King Snake" (covered wonderfully by the Doors), "Boom, Boom" (the Animals), and his reinterpretation of an Amos Milburn song, here entitled "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (which, when combined with John L's House Rent Boogie, was very well covered by George Thorogood). He recorded several such reinterpretations, most notably "Frisco Blues" (In this case, he reportedly didn't try to get the correct lyrics to Tony Bennett's famed "I Left My Heart in San Francisco;" he just sat down and recorded his own off-the-cuff rendition.). In conclusion, there is plenty of John Lee Hooker's best stuff here to warrant a recommendation; it's just not as "ultimate" as his most devoted fans would want it to be.

One of the best available overviews of the Hook's career
So why "only" four stars?
Well, the music is great, but Rhino could certainly have found room for more than 31 songs on two compact discs. And why include two versions of "In The Mood" when songs like "I'll Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive", "Onions" and "Old Time Shimmy" are missing?

The sad thing is that there are really no John Lee Hooker-compilations on the market that truly get it right. Either they're too short, or they're limited by the fact that the compilers were only able to chose from recordings made for one particular record company.
This one is the best of the lot in my view, though. It almost gets it right (although the missing "Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive" is a pretty big minus), and the sound quality is very, very good.

(If you're not against spending a little extra, you might want to look for the fine Vee-Jay compilation "The Early Years", which also spans 31 tracks, and MCA's "The Best Of John Lee Hooker 1965-1974" instead of this album. Those two will satisfy almost everyone. And if it doesn't, there's always the ten-CD "Epitaph" box set.)

Rhino Captures the Hooker.
This is such a nice set.

Almost a primer for the new fan, and a refresher course for seasoned vetrans...John Lee is well portrayed on these very nicely remastered cuts.

Disc 1 starts with his solo accoustic stuff...

"Teachin' the Blues" is a classic blues gem, and this is a great cut of it.

Disc 2 features gritty, rocking cuts of legendary blues tracks including Hooker staples like "Boom Boom," and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and one Beer."

If you think you like Hooker, this is your starter kit.

If you love him, this little portable collection completes the set.

There is also a 2CD set from Tomato Records that closely mirrors the titles on the Rhino collection but uses different cuts. It is grittier, and poorly produced, but makes a wonderful companion peice to the Rhino set.

Boogie, Chillun.

Good tunes, but compilers show lack of respect for music
This is the first John Lee Hooker album I've ever bought. I love the music, but as a product, it's not worth the price. Originally, I couldn't decide between this and a couple other compilations. I went for this one because it had good reviews and seemed the most complete. I was dismayed to find out that, although there are lots of tunes, many of them fade out right in the middle of the song for no good reason. There was plenty of room left on the disc to have the songs in their entirety (less than 50 minutes of music out of a possible 75?). Personally, I think that fading out tunes like that shows a complete lack of respect for soloing and arrangement. In addition to this, the liner notes are are less than thorough and not too interesting. I would recommend finding another recording of this fine artist.