Reviews (7)

Awesome raw blues
Hooker doesn't play by the rules, and that distinguishes him from most other blues players. His style is raw and gritty, with his right foot stomping. I was only getting to know Hooker when I got this CD, and I was seruiously surprised by the songs where it's just his guitar and his voice: "I'm Bad Like Jesse James", "Sugar Mama", "Hittin' the Bottle Again", and "Thought I Heard". He's clearly not afraid of the imperfections, and that makes these raw guitar-only blues so real. The first time I heard a track like "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" or "Sugar Mama", I was shocked. I listened to it many more times, and the more I listened, the more I loved there blues.

The only problem with some of Hooker's recordings is that there's not enough Hooker on them. His vocals are always there, but I am real hungry for his unmistakable guitar. More often than not on his most recent recordings, he lets his collaborators take the front seat with their guitar (i.e., Robert Cray, Jimmy Vaughan, Carlos Santana, Morrison, etc). I thought that Healer, which a seriously excellent Hooker disk, was more main-stream, for the masses, which made Hooker more popular. But THIS disk, Boom Boom, is about as real and raw as Hooker gets on his recent recordings. That being said, if you are a Hooker novice, Healer or Don't Look Back are the best CDs to start with. After that, you should be more ready for this disk. For fans, this disk is a must.

I like many tracks on this CD, so it's tough to choose a favorite. I'd have to pick from two different styles used on this CD. One style - with a several-piece band, more "blues-as-you-know-it" style. Other style - just Hooker and his guitar. As the song with the band, I'd choose "I Ain't Gonna Suffer No More" because, while with the band, it's got the most of Hooker on it. His vocals got fire in them, his guitar is rough and raw and right by his side. As the song alone, I'd choose "Thought I Heard". The only other person playing on this song is Charlie Musselwhile on harmonica, which only adds to the strange wild-west mystery of this song. Excellent track. Sugar Mama is also an excellent, excellent alone track. Same Old Blues Again is very appropriated named - it's just about same old blues. The casual, rolling blues as you know them. The highlight of that song is Cray's nice long solo.

This disk isn't main-stream, as I said above. It's somewhat of an acquired taste if you are new to Hooker. If you already know Hooker, you'll love it. If you don't know much of his work yet, start with "Don't Look Back" or "Healer". The former is mostly a collaboration with Van Morrison and is an excellent piece of work - Hooker's last CD before his passing. The latter has a host of different guests on it.

Disappointing
John Lee Hooker provided some early memorable historic cuts but this album does not include any. The Healer was a milestone in his revival, Mr Lucky less so and this followup album loses even more of that impact. The album has guests: Robert Cray, Albert Collins, Charlie Musselwhite and John Hammond among others. The only tracks which approach being memorable are 'Same old blues' and 'Boogie at Russian hill'. This album is not often played from my collection.

More than one Boom Boom
There is a Pointblank/Charisma CD titled Boom Boom. Its tracklist differs from the K-Tel CD by the same name. Some of the other reviews refer to it instead of the K-Tel release based on the references to song titles. It includes 1.Boom Boom 2. I'm Bad Like Jesse James 3. Same Old Blues Again 4. Sugar Mama 5. Trick Bag (Shoppin' For My Tombstone) 6. Boogie at Russian Hill 7. Hittin' The Bottle Again 8. Bottle Up and Go 9. Thought I Heard 10. I Ain't Gonna Suffer No More. Don't be misled by those reviews into thinking the K-Tel release is better than it is.

Mediocre modern Hooker
Anyone who knows Hooker only from his mid-'80s and '90s albums knows absolutely nothing about him. While this is one of the better "modern" Hooker albums, minus most of the annoying guest appearances, this is not even remotely close to being prime Hooker. Everyone knows that (don't they?) Get the real thing. With few exceptions, the earlier the Hooker, the better; and the fewer musicians, the better.

Hooker delivers basic blues-raw
This CD is raw basic blues delivered with John Lee's complicated guitar strokes and rythms. His use of silence leaves you hanging on the edge of your foot tap. The raw gritty sound of the revisited Jesse James cut gives this song an additional dark side. Bottle Up and Go has you dancing in your seat from the snappy acoustic begining. Boogie on Russian Hill inspires a house party. I highly recommend this album to anyone interested in getting to know Hooker's music and it is a must for a fan. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Hubert Sumlin
Hubert was one the great electric lead players, an influence on all after him, but somewhere along the line he started BS'ing, and never found the need to -really- PLAY again, as the audience doesn't seem to notice the difference. Too bad for all of us. Blues fans: It's ok to love someone and still be critical; it'll improve the music.

Essential
If you buy one record combing the talents of the vastly neglected Sunnyland Slim, the prodigous Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf's back-up man, Hubert Sumlin, this would be it. Stripped down blues with a feeling. More real soul than a crate of SRV CDs. Dah real thing.

Sumlin's amazing talking blues...
Sumlin's amazing talking blues. Sunnyland's valuable blue piano. Great CD. Buy it!!

Legend of blues...
This is a historical recording in a blues festival. Artists named in this CD are not only the blues masters but also the artists who did not release many records as a primary artist. Great blues after great blues. Awesome CD.

Masterful Blues From Some Blues Masters
This LP was cut in East Germany while the gang was over in Europe for the American Folk Blues Festival in 1964. The musician names on this CD ought to give you a clue as to how great it is. This is some awesome blues. Check out the amazing power on the Sumlin cuts "I Love" and "Hubert's Blues"...unbelievable stuff. ... Read more

Album Description

A retrospective of Delta blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill'swork for High Water recording Company at the University ofMemphis. Remastered recordings by legendary Frank Zappaengineer Bob Stone. Plus 3 previously unissued tracks 'AllNight Boogie (Jessie's Boogie)', 'Shake It, Baby' & 'Baby,Please Don't Go'. Hightone Records. 2003. ... 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

Reviews (3)

The Real Deal of Delta Blues
The first thing you'll notice is the quality of the recording. What a tremendous job the Smithsonian Institution has done in capturing the emotion of Dave 'HoneyBoy' Edwards. This master of the Delta Blues is the real-deal, schooled with Robert Johnson, at times shadowed by his image, living testimony to the origins of country blues. Take a listen to the 'Dust My Broom / Sweet Home Chicago' medley and you'll be sure to purchase this CD.

Delta Blues with lots of feeling!
Honeyboy delivers the real deal from someone who has spent time with the originators like Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. Makes you feel like you are in a back porch some where in the south! Play him often on The Crazy Coyote Blues and Jazz Power Show at 1490 KOTY in southcentral Wa. state.

Real Delta Blues
Being a country blues artist myself; this is one of the classic delta blues albums that I was listening to when I was developing my style in the early eighties; classic country blues guitar styles delivered in the varieties of the delta blues styles of Charlie Patton,Tommy Johnson,Robert Johnson & Big Joe Williams. For listeners & guitar players new to the real delta blues; this album is a great introduction. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

HILL COUNTRY BLUES AT ITS FINEST
Jessie Mae Hemphill hails from the North Missisipi hill country and grew up in a famous musical family that no doubt nurtured her great talents. Her grandfather was none other than Sid Hemphill, the "drum and fife" master who was recorded by the Library of Congress half a century ago.

This album (Jessie's second) is strictly hill country blues, although Jessie's "drum and fife" playing can be enjoyed in the "Deep Blues" documentary. Her soulful and often melancholic voice rides above tight, rhythmic and skillful guitar playing, with clever use of percussion and bottleneck guitar. The pace varies from the frenetic "tell me you love me" to the mule-plodding "go back to your used to be". Other North Missisipians such as Fred MacDowell and R. L. Burnside may have gone on to become more famous blues musicians than this lady, but none have a voice as sweet as Jessie Mae's. But it is frustrating that Jessie Mae has recorded so little material, with only two full albums, some live cuts on blues compilations and a recent "greatest hits" package to her name. Following a stroke, Jessie no longer plays the guitar, although I understand she can still be heard singing gospel songs in North Missisipi and in nearby Memphis, Tennessee.

Rockin' Fun
Great blues party music to which you you can't help pat your feet and shake your hips. The first six tracks feature complementary second guitar by musicologist David Evans, who once taught a University Of Memphis course on Merle Haggard, and drums by R.L. Boyce. Among those, "Tell Me You Love Me" is a wonderful rendering of soul music coated in traditional delta blues. Playing guitar and percussion one-person band style, Jessie Me rocks out on the other ten tunes with some of the most rhythmically hypnotic blues you're likely to ever hear.

Dem dirty blues
Jesse Mae Hemphill ain't no wannabe she's the real deal, the kind of blues singer you hear in the joints with dried blood on the floor. The place yOU go too hear authentic gut-bucket blues, no cross over pap from Ms Hemphill. This and other Jesse Mae recordings are a must for anyone SERIOUS about the blues. ... Read more

Amazon.com

While the likes of Chess and Delmark were wellsprings of '60s electric blues, Vanguard carved out a concurrent niche as a harbor for aging country bluesmen. It was a natural match since the gentler likes of Sleepy John Estes and Mississippi John Hurt went over well with the label's core folk audience. The coalition extended to the Newport Folk Festival, which was much more receptive to acoustic blues than their amplified Chicago offspring. Great Bluesmen/Newport (originally a two-LP set) presents 21 tracks culled from late '50s and mid-'60s performances at the Newport Folk Festival. A consistently rewarding collection, Great Bluesmen nevertheless has its highlights, foremost being John Lee Hooker's brooding "Tupelo." But with Son House, Skip James, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Lightnin' Hopkins in evidence, how can a folk-blues fan go wrong? --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (2)

THIS is the blues!
Anyone looking for the real thing, the delta blues done by the real delta bluesmen, this compilation of acoustic performances at the Newport Folk Festival in the late 50's to early 60's is it. The old guys had their mothballs dusted off and were trotted out for the new, pre-rock 'n' roll folkies of the time, and a revival was born. Now, in the new millennium, this stuff sounds as fresh and hot (or cool, as the case may be) as it did in the decades before it was recorded. These guys aren't around anymore, but you can still listen to the REAL blues, as it was, as it is, as it should be.

Tremendous anthology
What an outstanding album. Give this to your great friends. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The ragged-but-righteous slide-guitar work of Arkansas eccentric CeDell Davis gets some star-studded accompaniment on When Lightnin' Struck the Pine, but it's the man's primal power and undeniable authenticity that shine brightest. The 76-year-old Davis, who creates a unique blues hue by using a knife blade as a slide, is the most idiosyncratic of veteran bluesmen. His metallic-toned guitar lines explode in all manner of unpredictable directions, while his vocals are raw, gritty, and well-seasoned. A diverse supporting cast, including R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, former Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, and Brave Combo hornman Jeffrey Barnes, embellishes the rudimentary rhythmic foundation of Davis's working band without getting in the leader's way. Yes, it's a concerted effort to attract some rock attention to Davis in the manner of similar R.L. Burnside projects, though the result is good work for a very good cause. Davis, seemingly oblivious to all the sonic assistance, just rolls on as usual, slashing out angular solos and singing the blues like he invented them. When Lightnin' Struck the Pine expands Davis's sound, and, let's hope, his audience, but make no mistake, Davis is the real deal--a pure and potent bluesman who effortlessly transcends trends as he creatively carries the classic tradition into a new century. --Michael Point ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Wish I Was At These Sessions!
This CD is fantastic. The music is passionate, with a fun, loose "back porch" sound and ambience (a few songs remind me strongly of the infamous Basement Tapes sessions by The Band & Bob Dylan, which I adore as well). It's saying something when Mathus' new originals rival the great blues standards on this disc...I would even say I prefer the new songs. Don't Make Me Wait, Turkey Buzzard, Who'll Sop My Gravy and others are fun and truly infectious. Any blues fan or Zippers fan or fan of any kind of high-energy music will love this one...don't pass it by.

Great Music
I listen to this CD over and over. They were great live. The turkey buzzard song is the best!

great cd,great band, SEE THEM LIVE!!
Man, I love this cd, especially Mississippi Moan, Memphis Bound, and Turkey Buzzard in a Pork Pie Hat. These are some of the coolest guys you could ever hope to meet, and they have some great music, too. Here's hoping they make it back to P-cola.

A BURNING HOT DELTA BLUES ALBUM FROM DOWN SOUTH!!!!
This is a great delta blues album in which all proceeds go to the daughter of the great Delta blues musician Charlie Patton, who is in bad health. Graced by members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Bowl Of Fire, North Mississippi All-stars, and many other fine musicians. One of the best albums of the year! Also, stay tuned for another Knockdown Society album coming soon. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good Compilation, Two by Tommy Johnson
Still one of the best intro CDs to the blues. I'm knocked out by Tommy Johnson; he's the first two selections here. Charley Patton, but hey - what about that pivotal Willie Brown doing "Future Blues"? The liner notes are not circumspect in describing Louise Johnson's "performance" on "On the Wall". Another treat is two by Elmore James - 'specially "Something Inside Me" which floats along like Jimi Hendrix.
I never tire of this compilation.

Weird and Wonderful
Any Mississippi Delta Blues fan would have an awful time picking just 15 representative entries. This album does a great job, falling just short by including too much new material - by new, I mean after 1940. Still, you can't argue with Robert Johnson's "Crossroad Blues" or even Robert Nighthawk's superlative "Going Down to Eli's." This captures the individuality, roughness, and anti-spritiuality of Delta Blues really well and a couple of non-obvious inclusions like Robert Petway's Catfish Blues make it a good catch. Of the Blues Master Series, this is one of my favorites. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great mix of new and old blues recordings
The House of Blues label has done it again with another incredible collection of blues essentials. From classics must-haves by Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and John Lee Hooker to more recent recordings by Taj Mahal and Luther Allison, this collection is calling to you.

Also have to mention that the album art and liner notes are beautifully designed and well-written.

Only reason not to give it a full five stars is too many tracks pulled from other HOB discs, but if you don't have them all yet, you won't mind. ... Read more

Amazon.com

By the time acoustic blues master Mississippi Fred McDowell finally plugged in for the first time, something this recording captures, his songs were already a major part of the emerging blues-rock scene of the late 1960s. The slide-guitar genius was a Delta blues purist of the first degree who ignored all else, even while serving as a significant influence on a new generation of blues players. His influence endures, and his music, in its original form, remains riveting. The best example is the timeless classic "You Got to Move," covered by the Rolling Stones in a surprisingly faithful rendition on 1971's Sticky Fingers and radically reconfigured by adventurous jazz diva Cassandra Wilson three decades later on Belly of the Sun. Both versions are excellent, but McDowell's original, saturated with searing sincerity and electrifying licks, is better. In similar style,McDowell demonstrates the inspiration behind "Kokomo Me Baby" (popularized by his protégé Bonnie Raitt), "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," and "Baby Please Don't Go," all core material of the modern blues-rock repertoire. All have since been done in different styles, but none have been done better. If you're looking for the real roots of modern blues and you haven't explored McDowell's ragged but righteous creations, you need to immediately redefine your search and hear his inspirational source music firsthand. --Michael Point ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Great, but not the author of "Kokomo"
Before I nitpick about Amazon's official review, I'd like to say this is one of the finest blues albums ever.

That said, Michael Point obviously hasn't listened to much of the early blues, or he'd have realized that Big Joe Williams sang "Baby Please Don't Go" in the 30's, Leroy Carr wrote "Kokomo Blues" (later "appropriated" by Robert Johnson and turned into "Sweet Home Chicago") and there's a very compelling argument that Gary Davis wrote "You Got to Move."

The blues, however, is an artform of cliche's, the forerunner of sampling, and Mississippi Fred does great justice to every song he covers. My favorite tracks are both of the ones he speaks on and "Red Cross Store," which is a jam and a half!

As real as it gets
I found this cd in the 'used' section of a local music store, and bought it 'cause I liked the cover. It has become one of my top 10 all-time favorite albums.

Fred McDowell was born in 1904 and left this world in 1979. The timeframe alone gives it away that he was one of the finest blues guitarists you'll ever hear, he wasnt following anyone, he was a leader. Straight from the gut, with no need to 'clean up' his sound, Fred puts out raw emotion, vocally, and musically, like no one else. If you have any interest at all in reaching back to hear real, raw, unfiltered blues, Mississippi Fred McDowell is the man.

Fiery slide guitar blues
No, "Mississippi" Fred McDowell of Rossville, Tennessee (!) doesn't play any rock 'n' roll, but he does play a mean, slashing slide guitar, some of the best, most muscular slide playing I have ever heard.

Fred McDowell is backed by drums and bass, although they are mixed quite far into the background, and he plays an electric slide guitar, which worried some blues purists, but the music is as stark and sparse as anything you'll ever hear. And his occational monologues, delivered in a rich country dialect, ony adds to the charm and the value of this fine document.
(The original liner notes warn that "unless you're from Mississippi", McDowell may be hard to understand, which is not the case at all, but his soliloquies are nevertheless fully transcribed. Why people from Mississippi would be the only ones able to understand a fully articulate elderly gentleman from Tennessee is a bit of a mystery.)

This reissue of Fred McDowell's original Capitol album from 1969 adds bonus five tracks totaling 20 minutes, and includes a great take on Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go", as well as powerful country blues originals like "61 Highway", "Jesus Is On The Mainline", "Red Cross Store" and "You Got To Move".
It falls a little short of the 1995 Capitol re-release "The Complete Sessions", which tacked on ten tunes, but "I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll" is still a very enjoyable collection, though, and a fine introduction to the Tennessee bluesman.

He may not play no rock n' roll, but he does play blues!
Mississippi Fred McDowell is one of the great delta bluesmen of all time. His down-home country blues and intense slide guitar work are an essential addition to any blues fans collection. The CD "I Don't Play No Rock n' Roll" is probably the best introduction to his work. This remastered version with the additional tracks sounds clean and clear, and offers most of Fred's best songs. Highly recommended to blues fans everywhere!

no rock n roll for me
Mississippi Fred knows whats up. With 5 bonus tracks on this CD, I really enjoyed listening to his blues jams. "Baby Please Dont Go" with Big Joe Williams is always a treat also. I dont know if anyone can play a better blues guitar. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Disappointing followup to The Healer
John Lee Hooker provided some very basic but important music in his time. The Healer was a landmark album bringing John back to the fore with some good cuts which made up for his musical deficiencies. This album attempts to go down the same road but in general fails to achieve the same heights. The best tracks are 'Stripped me naked' with Carlos Santana and 'This is hip' with Ry Cooder. I prefer the original JLH cuts of the track on the album.

If you must have everything
Hooker's second album on the Pointblank label is a guest-heavy homage that doesn't have a great deal to do with John Lee Hooker as an artist and only occasionally plays to his strengths. Some cuts, such as the opening "I Want to Hug You" are just plain odd in their selection. This album is for the completist; sporadically enjoyable but unnecessary. The title cut is much better in its original version on "Urban Blues" (a somewhat chaotic but quite good album from the late '60s), while "Backstabbers" (actually "Backbiters and Syndicators", another remake from the same album) meanders too. The later cuts are better and, as usual, the fewer musicians playing with Hooker the less his sound gets mucked up. "Highway 13", "Father Was a Jockey" and yet another remake of "Crawlin' Kingsnake" are all quite nice. One wishes Hooker's late '80s and '90s producers more often had had the sense to leave him by himself or with minimal accompaniment. So, like all of Hooker's work on Pointblank, this is less about making a good album than honoring a lifetime of work. Still and all, worth having. His June 21st passing is greatly mourned.

All Star Cast
When one of the most revered blues guitarists asks for help on his album, there is no shortage of great talent to show up. The likes of Santana, Ry Cooder, Albert Collins, Johnny Winter, John Hammond, and Robert Cray (to name just a few) come out in support of "Mr. Lucky", the follow up guest album to "The Healing". But, John Lee Hooker doesn't need all of this talent to put out a great blues album.

Robert Cray shows up on the title cut of this album providing some great leads to Hooker's rhythm. A tune that makes Hooker "... feel a little better". Albert Collins steps in for "Backstabbers" providing a powerful presence that only he was capable of. All you have to hear is one note of Collins to know it's him. "I Cover the Waterfront" is a haunting tune with Van Morrison taking over the guitar work and Booker T. Jones on organ. Morrison's voice complements the low-boom of Hooker's. Another highlight is Santana's work on "Stripped Me Naked".

Hooker's Delta Blues sound is hypnotizing, and his deep voice is lazy and sweet. There are very few that have shaped the sound of music, especially the blues, as he has. This album, a tribute of sorts, is a must for blues lovers. To hear so much talent gathered in one place playing with a legend like Hooker gives me the chills.

Lucky Mr. Lucky!
Thank God for Amazon.Com! After misplacing our Mr. Lucky CD (Or perhaps it magically disappeared), and looking high and low, over the hills and through the woods (in our area,at least) I finally found this wonderful piece of music history! Its truly an icon by John Lee Hooker!

'Mr. Lucky' is John Lee Hooker's masterpiece!
John Lee Hooker should be proclaimed a National Treasure, and 'Mr. Lucky' is in my mind his masterpiece. It is not a 'greatest hits' collection, but a unified work of timeless music. 'Stripped Me Naked' is worth the price of the album alone. All-star supporting musicians! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

More Lomax Italia
Very interesting five part vocal groups . . from falsetto to basso . . .ever so vaguely reminiscent of doo-wop street type harmonies. It's nothing like I've heard from Italy, but that's what Alan Lomax did, document the most remote, grass-roots corners of the earth. It's the sort of thing to collect if you like eclectic world-music type stuff, not necessarily for someone looking for familiar Italian melodies delivered in a more rootsy style. ... Read more

Album Description

Following up R.L. Burnside's Grammy nominated Burnside onBurnside, this CD goes back to R.L.'s beginning. For thefirst time on CD, these are the complete George Mitchellrecordings from 1968. Digipak. Epitaph/Fat Possum Records.2003. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

The Source
Charley Patton was older than the younger Bluesmen (and Blueswomen) and he were more steeped in the medicine-show minstrel tradition as well;this goes to account for his (at times) unDelta sounding guitar work ('Delta' blues being a label spawned by the usual examples of Robert Johnson & Muddy Waters)and Patton is of historical importance as being a transitional artist bridging the barrelhouse ragtime tradition and the early Blues themselves.
Fine. Now about this set...it is an embarassment of riches musically (and it's music & not history that we buy records for is it not?)Pattons ragtimish contrapuntal finger style guitar meets Delta bottleneck slide guitar is nothing short of striking;his innate sense of percussive complexity enlightens numerous performances here.
The sound is very well mastered given that these all were Paramount 78s,and,while the Revenant Box set IS definitive it is also definitively EXPENSIVE...the Catfish box set here affords you the opportunity of taking in (almost) All of Patton's work at a VERY reasonable price....with excellent packaging and overall sequencing this set here I would urge every music lover to buy.Rap? Give me a Break! THIS is MUSIC!

A little-known diamond of a box set.
The massive and super-sexy box of Charley Patton on Revenant is getting plenty of raves, and perhaps rightly so -- but the real bargain is here on a compact, handsome, and highly economical package from Catfish, a UK label. The recordings sound as good as they probably ever could (take that as meaning they are fun to listen to), and the booklet is nicely done. No lyrics are provided, but otherwise everything is just about perfect. And Patton himself is a revelation, perhaps not as dramatic as Robert Johnson at his best but a terrific performer -- and a voice that's going to get stuck in your head forever.

Want a nice box set of one of the greatest blues artists ever and don't have $150 for the Revenant set? Check this out. You won't be disappointed.

Charlie On The Cheap
Revenant's $150 box set has ten times the value of this $30 offering, but if you can find this trio of CDs well under list price, just ignore the "Definitive" marketing hyperbole and acquire the bulk of Charlie's magnificent career. Patton, of course, comes closer than anyone we know to having "invented" the blues. (W.C. Handy heard someone much like Patton in 1903 and immediately franchised the term for a fast-food version.)

"Definitive" indeed
Mr Patton was one of the first black musicians to achieve real star status. He was probably born in Edwards, Mississippi in 1887, and could neither read nor write, yet he spelled his own name out loud : Not "Charley" but "C-H-A-R-L-I-E".

He was a source of inspiration to many blues singers and guitar players, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Bukka White, John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson among them, and they in turn inspired countless others.

Patton's voice was deep and hoarse, yet immensely powerful - it was said that when he performed outside, his voice would carry for hundreds of yards without any kind of amplification.
He played a mean slide guitar, and is generally regarded as one of the first blues players to use the now-classic rhythmic twelve-bar pattern.
Patton's music was strongly rhythmic; he slapped his guitar to accentuate the rhythm, he stomped his feet, and snapped his E string (the deepest bass note) like a 70s funk bassist, and when you hear Charlie Patton, you can imagine what Howlin' Wolf must have sounded like when he started rocking up the juke joints in the late thirties.

This triple CD from Catfish records compiles nearly everything Patton ever recorded, and the remastering has worked wonders on the 70-year old 78s (none of Patton's original Paramount masters exist). Charlie Patton has finally escaped the hailstorm of surface noice which for decades greeted anyone who tried to listen to his songs, and the power and authority of his voice and guitar playing is amazing, at times even matching that of his contemporary, the great Son House. And that is saying something!

This is an essential document in the canon of the blues; indeed in that of modern popular music in general. One of the most important blues releases since the complete recordings of Robert Johnson twelve years ago.

Musical Faulkner
I have to say, I normally hate box sets. You shell out an exorbitant amount of cash only to be saturated rather than illuminated.

Due to the diversity of it's roster, THE HARRY SMITH FOLK ANOTHOLOGY is an exception in my book. It also gave me my 1st introduction to Charley Patton. Though listed as "The Masked Marvel" his ragged growl really stood out. Which is saying alot, considering there's over 80 tracks to choose from. Needless to say, since acquiring this formidible collection, I've been compelled to eavesdrop on every disc.

The Blues may not be everyone's cup of tea & I have to confess at the risk of sounding too "purist", I have very selective tastes. Robert Johnson, Son House & Skip James to name a few. Patton is certainly at the top of the list. First off there's that voice. The sound of dragging a mill stone down a gravel road. Rumbling thunder before the flood hits. Tom Waits and latter day Dylan being the heirs to the crown. Though I wouldn't recommend Patton's method for attaining that razor on a rusty can quality. Cigarettes & whiskey seem far more pleasant than having your throat slit over a woman.

Then there's the lyrics. Sprawling & baffling. Like musical Faulkner. The fact that you can barely make out what he's saying half the time only adds to the mystery. In the end, for what's lacking in sound quality & diction, it's Patton's hands that really do all the talking. Unlike so many who came after, his versitility is nothing short of staggering. The rag/shuffle of "Spoonful Blues" is a far cry from the manic gospel ramble of "You're Gonna Need Somebody When You Die". Despite being illiterate, Patton's repetoire was vast to say the least. According to the liner notes the 58 sides represented here were only the tip of the iceberg.

Putting it all in modern perspective, if you were thrilled by Dylan's "High Water" off of LOVE & THEFT, here's your chance to hear the original, parts 1 & 2. ... Read more