Album Description

Dressed To Kill release featuring the best by the King of Mississippi Delta Blues, including 'Boom Boom', 'Dimples' & 'Crawlin' King Snake'. 64 tracks. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Awesome rare Hooker at a bargain price.
This is a great CD. The first CD alone is worth the purchase price. It consists of rare sides transcribed from old 78's from obscure labels like Chance, Staff, Acorn, Regent and others (1948-1950). Plus 5 live tracks w/backing by Muddy's band circa 1960. The sound quality is reasonable considering the source but some of the performances are blood curdlingly awesome. If you don't have any Hooker the other CD's have a lot of his best Vee-Jay sides. There is absolutely no documentation with the CD's except for a track list but it's all killer stuff.

Rambling unfocused selection, but good stuff at a good price
Basically this is a lot of stuff tossed into one big pot and stewed together. There's no apparent logic to the selection, and some of the sources are a bit dubious; on the first CD in particular I hear vinyl noise, and the recording quality varies, sometimes from song to song.

BUT...there is some awful good stuff on here, and at a very hard-to-beat price for three CD's that are around an hour each. There's no way to tell when this stuff was recorded; I suspect it was from the 50's and 60s, when John Lee would basically record for anybody who fronted him some cash. As a result some of these recordings have a real guerilla blues, down-home sound.

The first CD mostly consists of John Lee by himself, his big ole foot slamming into the floor, his distorted, honking, blaring guitar, and him growling, singing, mumbling and sometimes shouting over the ensuing racket. This is John Lee at his most primitive. The sound is raw, but if you aren't used to raw-sounding blues recordings by now you shouldn't even be listening to the blues. The recordings are generally clear; it just sounds rude, crude, and vicious. About 3/4 of the way through the first disc a band consisting of snare drum, bass and piano begins to accompany him. Some of these recordings are pretty trashy, but for the most part they work.

The second disc is John Lee with a band. John Lee is not easy to play music with because he tends to turn a 12-bar blues into a 13, 16, or 9-bar blues at will. The unnamed band accompanying him doesn't sound bad at all, but occasionally they have to scramble to keep up with John. Still, they connect with John more often than not and rock out. There are some strong songs and performances on this disc, and some lesser-known songs that will be interesting to blues scholars.

The third disc is definitely from the early 60s and features John Lee with a band again. It seems like the band is a little bit better connected with him than on the 2nd disc. It almost sounds like most of the material is from the same session as the second disc. No way to tell, because there are no liner notes. On the inside of the box is a small 2-page insert which basically gives you the names of the songs on each disc and a couple of pictures of John Lee from the late 50s or early 60s wielding an Epiphone electric.

Overall I would say this CD is worth having. It's not expensive and there's a ton of material on here, and most of it is of good quality. More importantly, the performances from John are strong throughout.

Fans of cleaned-up, sanitized, digitized blues will not be happy with this, but for people who regularly listen to imitators like Jon Spencer, here is the real, rough, crude, barfightin', low down dirty article. The two missing stars are for the absolute lack of sequencing and the total absence of liner notes/musician credits. The three stars are for the fact that it's a big fat hunk of John Lee Hooker's music at a dirt cheap price, and the performances are definitely worth buying this for. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Perhaps if Robert Belfour had been born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or Madison, Wisconsin, he would be still playing the exact same music. But somehow, it just seems impossible. Born and raised in the hill country of north Mississippi, Belfour plays the pulsing, insistent style of blues boogie that is a birthright of all those born in and around his Holly Springs hometown. Because this droning style leaves out well-developed melodies and chord changes, it is reliant on two primal factors: rhythmic drive and deep emotional investment. Belfour's music has both qualities, and his supple, lively guitar work is the perfect foil for his intensely passionate, moaning vocals. Now, a 60-year-old veteran of Memphis's Beale Street blues scene, Belfour releases this head-turning debut, which brings to mind the unflappable groove of fellow Mississippian John Lee Hooker and the intensity of Texan Lightnin' Hopkins. While Belfour may have digested the music, culture, and collective soul of his native soil, his blues, like that of any bluesman worth a damn, is uniquely his own. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Give this man some Viagra
When Robert Belfour wails "done got old / done got old baby / can't do the things I used to do", you somehow know he's not talking about running laps or programming a VCR. It's one of the neatest moments on "What's Wrong With You", a CD of confession and energetic but rabid pessimism that never gets tiring or unexciting. I literally could put this CD on at any time, in any mood, and be as into it as I was the first time I heard it. Although the songs are basically in the same key (sounds like a Fat Possum release to me), they never crumble under the undue weight of bad musicianship or irrelevant and trite lyrics. Belfour's guitar picking is sometimes lively, but occasionally forlorn and soulful. And when he laments a lost love or champions a newfound feeling of rebirth from sadness, he does what the best bluesmen can do: he makes you feel his pain. Deeply. And that's all you can ask from a man like this.

Best Blues Release for 2000?
So far this new disc from Robert Belfour, and the outstanding Fat Possum label, has my vote for the best blues release of the year 2000. I recently caught Robert Belfour and a couple other Fat Possum acts (T-Model Ford and Paul Jones) as they rolled through town. These acts have to be among the best living blues artists around these days. Robert Belfour tackles a couple of Junior Kimbrough tunes, and Junior was an obvious influence to Robert.

I have nothing but praise for Robert Belfour and his first record release. His originals and the Kimbrough covers are top notch Delta blues variations, and this disc is excellent from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Dark & Deep Delta Blues
One of the best things abt this release is the digipak cover which is a perfect visual analogue to the music - wolfmans face is barely framed & like a francis bacon portrait seeps & bleeds into the viewer. The music is gorgeous - rich rumbling guitar & voice (with occasional rudimentary drums) - so deep it sounds like it's coming from the bowels of the earth. It's difficult to believe that one man can produce so much from so little. The world he inhabits seems limited & restricted (as any one mans world ultimately will be) but the music is so fluid & sensual & unified (so much 'one thing') that it bleeds out of its confines & affects on the deep level of our humanity. Basically this is music that instructs you on how to be a better human being. The man was born 1940 & this is his first release. Thanks to fatpossum for 'discovering' him.

Truely great
The reviews below say it all; except for the one 3 star review. Apparently Belfour was relunctant to record and spent most of years working construction.

His work is original, inspiring, haunting and beautiful. His acoustic guitar is clear and sharp; while his vocals are deeply felt and soulful without being depressing.

This guy is an American original; there's no overproduction here but pure, original talent. The other reviewers are correct, this could be one of the great contemporary blues CDs in the last 20 years.

Done got a good job Fat Possum!!!
The courage of this label to record all of this kind of Delta Blues musicians almost unknown by the most bluesfans from everywhere must, be recognized as an excellent work to promote and improve our taste by this kind of music.This is a music that seems to be the same,no matter what North Mississippi Delta musician is playing.And they are many,such Jr. Kimbrough,R.L. Burnside;Jesse Mae;Bud Spires;and many others who experienced that difficult kind of living in poor and poverty conditions,and transformed that feelings in this original way to play blues.I really recomend a view of Robert Palmer's DVD "Deep Blues" to a perfectly vision of the conditions of the environment,around that people.They were playing at that Jook Joints,and perhaps that was the only way to express all of the laments,the suffered conditions they lived.There were two extremes at that time .To go to the churches,or in contradition,to that ugly Jook Joints.
And many of them,choosed this second way.That richness blues was only begining and what we are listening now,is a small view of that fertile cultural movement,restricted to that Mississippi Hills!!Some tracks in this cd,sounds like have influenced Bob Dylan in his way to play and to sing!!!!Another Fat Possum's great contribution to the history of the Blues!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Lesser work of a great artist
James' 1960s recordings are inferior to his 1930 sides, and yet they're still some of the best recordings of the 60s blues revival. His guitar and especially his piano skills had diminished, and so had his musical imagination. His voice, often an eerie falsetto, is remarkably changed from the earlier recordings and is the most fascinating and compelling aspect of this record. The music here is chilling, the songs are worth hearing, and they don't undermine James' status as one of the greatest musical artists of the century, but to the James neophyte, I maintain that the early recordings availbale on Yazoo are unequivocally the place to start.

One Of His Best
Clear, crisp modern recordings of the spooky, mysterious style of Blues Skip James developed early last century. His guitar playing is perfect. His high haunting voice floats and then holds and makes the hair on the back of your neck crawl. His piano playing is unpredictable yet concise. His unique style, which recorded earlier in his life (1930) sounded almost archaic (positively so), now sounds strangely modern due to the increased fidelity of the magnetic tape used for the recording. An unusual and original talent, Skip James was one of the best. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Shining Addition to Any Collection
The consolidation of record companies is generally bad, but this 3-CD box set was only possible because MCA acquired the rights to some outstanding early "race" record labels (Vocalion, Decca) and classy early R&B (e.g. Chess). The result is an intelligent, sequenced collection that is much more than a jarring, random assortment of songs by blues masters. Starting with the Delta blues, the mix seems subtly slanted in favor of bawdy, roadhouse-style blues performances--why it's the devil's music and you can't stay away from it. Whether it's Peetie Wheatstraw, Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker or Etta James, these performances will seduce you. Good quality sound throughout (even the old stuff), with a handsome booklet.

An excellent blues collection
I own tons of blues CD's and records but I find myself going back to this collection over and over again. The songs represent some of the strongest recordings by the masters of the blues. Whether your interest is delta blues, piano blues, jump blues, Chicago blues or smooth urban blues; you'll find plenty to peak your ear. If you're lucky as I was, you'll find some unfamiliar and great artists to lead you down new musical roads. Some of my personal favorites are: That's No Way to Get Along - Robert Wilkins, What's the Matter with the Mill? - Kansas Joe McCoy, Floating Bridge - Sleepy John Estes, Mother Earth - Memphis Slim, It Serves You Right to Suffer - John Lee Hooker- just to name a few. Since I've got a 1,000 word limit in this review it prevents me from listing every great track on the collection and all the reasons you should purchase it. Suffice to say, buy it now and you won't be sorry!

Best Collection of Classic Blues!
I have purchased a lot of Blues recordings recently, but for a single purchase, this collection would be the best. It has the one or two most recognized songs from the most prominent Blues artists from 1927 to 1969, without the "scratches" of the old '78's!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Made in recording sessions by Alan Lomaz and Seamus Ennis in 1951, this was one of the first comprehensive surveys of the folk music of Ireland. Lomax and Ennis went from village to town in western Ireland, recording professional and amateur singers and musicians in their homes and community places. The songs are familiar, since so many of them have been learned by more generations via these recordings, and include classics like "I'll Go No More A' Rovin," "Whiskey in the Jar," "The Lark in the Morning," and dozens of others. Aside from Ennis, who contributes a fair number of songs himself, the names of the performers will not be too familiar. It's a straightforward, honest brand of Irish music (not "Celtic") that focuses on the tunes and stories, delivered with quiet grace or raucous joy, untouched by fad. Accordions, fiddles, and piano are the instruments most likely heard here, but the real gems are the solo singers and storytellers, whose voices still ring true because they were so real, so personal. The booklet includes Ennis's original recording notes, a new introduction to put the music in contemporary perspective, and Lomax's original effusive and overromanticized commentary. --Louis Gibson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wonderful Singing
Fantastic traditional unaccompanied singing from Johnny McDonagh, Colm Keane and Sean Jeaic McDonagh. Johnny McDonagh's version of "Morrissey and the Russian Sailor" is the finest "come all ye" I have ever heard recorded and Colm Keane singing "Soldier, Soldier" is amazing. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One and one is two. Two and two is four.
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup is probably best known today as the writer and original singer of Elvis Presley's first record, "That's All Right". But during his heyday, Crudup was a fairly popular blues singer in his own right. He rarely performed live, because he suffered from stage fright, but he did make a lot of records that sold pretty well. He played the country blues in a hard-driving style that was quite appealing. Most of his best known songs are included here. I would recommend this CD to all fans of old time blues.

More Than All Right
Worth buying if it was just "So Glad You're Mine" 22 times. As it is, the other 21 cuts are the icing on this cake, including the remarkable "I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole," the original version of the famous "That's All Right, Mama," and the first popular recording of the standard "Mean Old Frisco." Although occasionally briefly profound, as in "Cool Disposition," Crudup's music is mainly rockin' fun with a beat that will make you bounce and bop, as it did for the people who made these records juke box hits in their day. The tone of his groundbreaking electric guitar achieves what for many is the ideal blues sound, especially effective when accompanied by just drums. Although not considered essential in blues history terms, Arthur Crudup could easily become any blues fan's favorite singer. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Classic blues sides
Split about equally between Robert Nighthawk and his former neighbor Houston Stackhouse, this is another fine entry in the "Blues Masters" series.

Nighthawk's sides, which include his classic "Black Angel Blues", were cut in October 1964 (with the exception of one song, "Kansas City", which was comitted to tape five months earlier, and features Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica). He is backed only by guitarist Johnny Young and harpist Big John Wrencher, but Young plays some fine slap-back acoustic rhythm guitar, keeping the beat going behind Robert Nighthawk's subtle picking and searing slide playing, and John Wrencher's fluid harmonica bolsters the sound nicely.

Nighthawk was a severely underrated performer, a brilliant slide guitarist who influenced men like Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and supposedly even Elmore James, and who played some of the smoothest and most original slide guitar you'll ever hear.
Nighthawk's version of Lucille Bogan's "Black Angel Blues" is one of his best (and most frequently covered) songs, and that song, along with "Crying Won't Help You" and "I'm Gettin' Tired", show off his superb slide playing (he seemingly plays without the bottleneck on most or all of the remaining numbers, churning out some delightful single-string fills).

Johnny Young, a featured performer in his own right, takes a lead vocal on "Kidman blues", before the second half of the original LP is relinquished to the big, burly Houston Stackhouse and his August, 1967 session (which has Robert Nighthawk on electric guitar, his last recordings before his death little more than a month later).

If you own Arhoolie's 2000 reissue of Sonny Boy Williamson's album "King Biscuit Time", you can see the only picture I've ever come across of Houston Stackhouse - he is playing the guitar, standing to Rice Miller's right.
Obviously inspired by Delta legend Tommy Johnson (he even covers Johnson's "Cool Drink Of Water Blues"), Stackhouse lays down some fine slow blues tunes, backed by Nighthawk and drummer James Curtis. His style is classic Delta blues, somewhat down-home (which isn't a bad thing), and even though these songs aren't as instantly memorable as prime cuts by Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf or Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse's eight contributions are certainly worth a listen.

Great album
Nighthawks recordings are hard to come by , and I really enjoyed this collection . He plays on all selections but is in the background on the Stackhouse tracks .Needless to say , the entire album is very good and Houston Stackhouse is far from overshadowed by his better known student . A very good album deserving a good look at.

Excellent slide Guitar from Night Hawk!
This is an excellent CD for anyone with any interest in the slide guitar. It features Robert Night Hawk (he himself spelled his name as two words) in some extraordinarily fine slide performances. Night Hawk was recorded doing Sweet Black Angel five times. This version, with the notes delicately shimmering off the strings, is perhaps his best, along with the classic Chess recording of 1949 and the live version, which is among the greatest of raw blues slide performances ever captured. The live performance has just seen its first authorized released (unedited for the first time!) on the new "And This Is Maxwell Street" 2CD set from P-Vine in Japan--PCD 5527/28 (and I hope soon on a U.S. Label). The CD reviewed here is also of interest for the Houston Stackhouse material. Stackhouse taught Night Hawk to play the guitar in 1931. They often performed together. Both come straight out of the tradition of Tommy Johnson and his brothers, which makes him of interest also as a link between Johnson's style and the style of later performers influenced by it. Johnson was known for his use of falsetto. Howling Wolf, of the same tradition, developed this into the howl that gave him his stage name. Stackhouse is an under-rated performer who deserves more attention. Recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Beautiful blues performances
Sweet acoustic blues, from sessions recorded back in 1972-74... It honestly doesn't get much better than this! Plenty of familiar old songs, but all presented in a distinctive, captivating personal style. Highly recommended.

Delta Blues From A Master
This is one Johnny Shines' finest recordings. His masterful guitar work and vocals bring out the raw emotional power and poetry of the Delta Blues. Unfortunately because the recordings of other legendary Delta Bluesmen like Son House, Blind Wille Johnson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson are often of poor quality their work, and the genre itself, are often viewed as primitive and crude when nothing could be farther from the truth. Fortunately works like this exist where the sound quality is excellent, the material well selected, and the performer a master.

I highly recommend this recording. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Wonderful!
Wow, it is amazing what people find in storerooms! This is a great compilation of Skip James music that supposedly has never been released until now. I enjoy the album very much, Skip is a master of the Delta Blues. The music is soulfull and presented in a way that can only be acheived by Skip. My one dissappointment was that I didn't hear much of his wonderful guitar work on this release. It is primarily a piano album. The recording quality is pretty good for that era, though not up to todays standards.
That said, I recommend newcomers get his Complete Recorded Works first for the best intro into Skip James' music. However, if you have that and other recordings already, get this to complete your collection and satiate that Skip fix.

Unexpected!!! One unissued hour by the Master !!!!
Vanguard gave us a magnificent gift this year,with this issue of a complete unknown session by the very great Nehemiah "Skip" James (1902-1969),the most original master of the country blues.
Born in Bentonia (like Jack Owens),Skip gave to the blues some of its greatest masterpieces: "Hard time killing floor blues","Cherry ball blues","Devil got my woman","Cypress grove blues".
At this time,a very long time ago,these guys,who were often born in the same area,used to play in a totally fifferent style from their neighbours.Skip James,Bukka White,Fred McDowell,Ishman Bracey,Rubin Lacey,Son House,Bo Carter,Charley Patton,John Hurt,Robert Pete Williams,just to name a few,they all play and sing the blues,but they all do it with their own style.Seems like the most important thing was to sound different from the others.Among these guys,Skip James certainly was the most original of them all.He played piano,and guitar,not in the usual tuning but always in his own minor tuning,and sang with a strange falsetto voice.
In this "new" record,you won't listen to Skip's well known tunes;he never recorded another version of most of these tunes.
You'll listen to James P.Johnson's "backwater blues",Brownie McGhee's "sportin' life blues",a milestone in the blues history,the traditionnal "bumble bee" or "Mary,don't you weep",some great blues by Skip,like "my last boogie" or "Omaha blues",a bunch of gospels,like the very great "walking the sea",in which Skip sings with his wife,Lorenzo,and even...an Hoagy Carmichael tune,"lazy bones",which was also recorded by Louis Armstrong.
And even if some of the most amazing blues tunes don't figure here (hard times,cherryball,cypress grove...),it's a real delight to hear one of the greatest blues artists playing and singing these unknown tunes.This session was recorded in 1967 for Vanguard;James commited two albums for this label,"Devil got my woman" and the fantastic "Skip James today",which is one of the most magnificent,amazing,incredible,superlative blues records ever done.Skip James' voice is just like Billie Holiday's or Jimmy Scott's: just like an octopus;when it takes you in its arms,you can't leave it.And Skip's guitar style is one of the most fascinating ones with Robert Pete Williams';he was a Master of the 20th century music.One of the most essential ones,like Duke,Coltrane,Monk,Robert Johnson or Charley Patton.You,american citizens,you ahve the privilege to belong to a country that gave to the world dozens of musicians who will always be among the absolute geniuses of music.Hope you won't forgive them.Among these geniuses was Nehemiah James;and this guy never recorded between 1931 and 1964.Neither did Mississippi John Hurt,or Bukka White,or Son House.
I hope you'll be fascinated by this incredible music;of course,Skip's blues aren't the easier to listen to;it's as astonishing as listening to Monk for the first time;nobody never played guitar that way ("bumble bee","Jack o'diamonds").Totally fascinating and hypnotyzing,incredibly beautiful.Jump into Skip James' musical world !!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

You might think a collection of bootlegs featuring R.L. Burnside is less than interesting, or maybe even a cynical way for Burnside and M.C. Records to cash in on his current popularity without having to release any new material. You might think that, but you'd be woefully mistaken. A fascinating, scattershot collection of tunes and interviews, recorded between 1986 and 1993, Well...Well...Well offers a uniquely personal window into one of blues music's most gifted performers. Many of the recordings are transferred directly from tapes made in sheds and out-of-the-way venues, with Burnside, often using only his voice and a rusty guitar, playing and telling stories detailing a bluesman's woes.

Check out the risqué, boom-box recording of "Staggolee," a traditional tune that Burnside lays into while boozing it up with fellow bluesmen Jon Morris and Curtis Salgado in an old New Orleans shotgun house. Or Muddy Waters's "Can't Be Satisfied," recorded in the same house by Burnside, this time sober and all by his lonesome. He's nursing a cold, and his voice is grainy, his guitar sublime as he entertains himself with a loose, lonely rendition. There are proper live venue recordings as well, like the slow chug of his own "Nightmare Blues," performed to an enthusiastic crowd at the Queen Street Playhouse in South Carolina. There are also recordings taken from performances in Holland ("Poor Boy" in a large theater at The Hague, and two others recorded in a shed just outside Gieterveen, near the house where his then-girlfriend lived) and Athens, Greece, where Burnside digs into Chester Burnette's "How Many More Years" and Willie Dixon's "My Babe." Taken as a whole, this odd assortment acts an illuminating document of Burnside's dusty Delta roots. --Matthew Cooke ... Read more

Reviews (3)

I love this CD
I love this CD. It took a couple of listenings to sink in, but then I was hooked. Not since the Smithsonian recordings has there been such a riveting collection of snapshots in time. Burnside is Robert Johnson 2001 -- entertainer, great musician and philospher of humanity.

This stuff is amazing!
What a great collection! Super raw! I've seen Burnside live many times and this CD captures his personality and music in a nutshell -- unlike anything out there. Burnside is powerful with his group, but "Staggolee" shows just how frightening he can be on his own. Filled with classics: Boogie Chillen, How Many More Years, Mojo Hand, and even My Babe, which I never heard him do. All in a pared down, super raw setting. Beautiful vocals, great guitar. A must buy!

A patched together piece of junk not worthy of R.L.'s name.
Wow - Give a real bluesman some success, like R.L. Burnside, and suddenly every slimebucket with a dusty old bootleg of the man will come crawling out from under their rock to cash in on the man.

This record is ...not worth half the price. Sure, it's R.L. and his performance is pretty good (though not nearly as good as when I saw him play here a few months ago with Robert Belfour), but the qualilty is very weak, and this doesn't measure up to most of his best albums. Want good R.L.? Buy Too Bad Jim or his acoustic labum, Mississippi Hill Country Blues. Got those? Then get Robert Belfour's latest album, but don't touch this one with a 5 foot stick.

Hey - I've got a bootleg of R.L. also! Can I put out an album too? ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Full of emotion
This CD is great. I can't quit listening to it. Chris Thomas King's voice is haunting at times it is so good, and the guitar work is excellent as well. He is a great musician who is somewhat undiscovered. The tracks by Blind Mississppi add a different style, but are also very good. If you like blues or roots music, buy this CD!

"King & Morris take us to the Festivals ~ Blues is alive"
Every so often there is an album that just jumps out at you ~ "Along the Blues Highway", is a wonderful return to those days when our parents and grandparents enjoyed the music of times ~ BLUES! A CD that gives you the roots of America then, right up to the present time.

Chris Thomas King takes the listener into the 21st Century of Blues with "RED MUD", "I'M ON FIRE", "ME, MY GUITAR AND THE BLUES" and "O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU", all compositions penned by Mr. King reflecting his deep commitment in keeping blues right up there where we can see and hear it ~ remember King from the film "O Brother Where Art Thou", when he traded his soul for guitar lessons. Great film and wonderful performance by Chris.

Blind Mississippi Morris opens with a head banging blues cue "DUST MY BROOM" ~ followed by a rhythmic tune "YOU KNOW I LIKE THAT" ~ next we have a cha cha tempo "WILLIE" ~ now the joints jumping so put your dancin' shoes on with "BEALE STREET TONIGHT" ~ now why not try on some funky tunes as we listen "BAD TO WORSE" ~ get ready to board the bus as we're "GOING BACK TO LOUISIANA", this takes care of our mojo.

Great job by Varese Records featuring the rockin' bluesman King and funky bluesman Morris with total enjoyment of some rare performances sure to please all ages among our fans ~ Blues is alive and well...gotta love it!

Total Time: 58:13 on 14 Tracks ~ Varese 64912 ~ (7/29/2003) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

It just don't get better than this!
Recorded in 1962 in his home in Como, Mississippi, these songs were never meant for public "consumption." Children playing can even be heard in the background. And that is precisely what makes this an absolute must for blues purists. He just turned on an old reel-to-reel and laid down some of the best blues ever recorded. The honesty, rawness and cutting intensity of his acoustic slide work has simply never been surpassed. It is the genuine article: pure, undiluted, painful, longing, blues. As a side note, he learned slide from his uncle who made his slide from grinding and filing a bone from a steak, hence, Fred called his blues, "steak bone blues." If you love, I mean LOVE the blues, you must have this. If not, you'll never know how good blues can get.

This the best Fred Mcdowell CD ever
This cd is is the best sounding,delta blues cd I have ever heard. Fred's playing is in top form & this cd has most of his better known songs; A Must Have!!!

serious listeners only
Fred McDowell is a legend in time. This CD is one of my greatest finds. The clarity and background sounds make you feel that your right there. Its hard to believe one man could make much music and rythm. This is as real and as raw as it gets. I have some of his other CD's and this one is the best and I highly recommened it if you want to be impressed.

The Real Deal
Real country Blues that moves crisply forward with a rhythm that is indistinguishable from the music itself. Tight, succinct guitar playing. Slide guitar playing. The treble rings sharp and clear against the hollow depth of wood. The vocal delivery, almost dry and terse, somehow couldn't express more. You sense this music is coming from a very rich place. This aint Chicago. This is real. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A very fine single-disc overview
If you're not up for one of the numerous Charlie Patton box sets, this is a really excellent alternative.
Yazoo's "The Best Of Charley Patton" gathers 23 cuts, 70 minutes of music, including "Down The Dirt Road Blues", "Pony Blues", "Shake It And Break It", "Banty Rooster Blues", and numerous others. The sound quality is a good as any disc you'll ever come across, and while these sides certainly aren't as clean as Robert Johnson's or Blind Willie McTell's prewar singles, Yazoo has done a really fine job remastering the songs.

There are other excellent Charlie Patton discs, like Wolf Records' "Pony Blues: His 23 Greatest Songs", Recall's very reasonably priced double-disc overview "Screamin' & Hollerin' The Blues", and Snapper's brand new "Hand It On The Wall", but as far as single disc compilations go, none are better than this one, and few are quite as good.
A very fine purchase. And kudos to Yazoo Records for actually spelling Patton's name the way he spelled it himself!

much better
I had gotten some Chralie Patton cd's in the early 90's but was put off my the surface noise. Yazoo has done an incredible job of cleaning these tracks up, they are the best sounding Charlie Patton imaginable. they really have done a stellar job; these sound as good as Columbia's Robert Johnson masters, and those (considering their age) sounded great. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Sends chills down to your soul!!!!
This is my personal favorite of the Southern Journey series, which is saying something. So much of the music in the Southern tradition (and particularly in the mountain tradition - which is what this music is really a sampling of) is overtly religious and this disc features a broad sampling of various spiritual styles found in the Appalachians. There are shape note hymns, gospel songs, religious ballads, and lined-out hymns in the Old Regular Baptist style.

Mixed with the recordings of the songs are various testimonies of the performers during religious services. These provide insights into how these men and women viewed their religious tradition and its music, as well as the history of their people. These are among the most enjoyable tracks on the recording.

It would be hard to pick the best songs on the album, but my personal favorites are those which have less representation on other commerically available recordings. The lined-out style of hymn singing among the Old Regular Baptists is just chilling, and the samples presented here are fantastic. To my mind, "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah" is worth the price of the CD - raw, unpolished, and lonesome - this is the soul music of the mountains. The shaped-note hymns are almost as moving to me. Interestingly, Lomax includes their first readings during the meetings, while the singers solfege thru the hymn before singing the text. My favorite among these is "Northport" which is fairly well shouted - you cannot doubt the faith of these folks when they sing "Glory! Hallelujah!"

Among the other tracks, one of the most interesting is "The Little Family," an old religious ballad on the family of Lazarus. I had not heard this one before.

For anyone curious about the religious music heritage of the Appalachians, this disc presents an excellent cross-section. Highly recommended.

fantastic
This stuff really moves me. I think the southern journey series is just about the greatest! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Noted folklorist Alan Lomax first encountered St. Simons Island, Georgia, in 1935 while in the company of revered author Zora Neale Hurston. Twenty-five years later he returned and was welcomed as friend and field recorder--volume 13 of Lomax's Southern Journey series is a document of that 1959-60 visit, wherein he found the Sea Islands much changed by modern progress. Nonetheless, this recording is an essential marker of the vibrant old-time African American rural folk tradition: the islands were (and still are, to a lesser extent) a veritable gumbo of Creole and Indian (Gullah), West African and antebellum plantation influences--an outgrowth of slavery. Differing from earlier releases of the core material, this reissue contains previously unreleased songs that Lomax had deemed too co-opted into the white modern world. Such songs, like the barbershop-quartet-inspired "You Better Mind" and "Union," are now added for the listener's benefit, to stand in contrast to the traditional island sound. At the very heart of these work, play, and worship songs are the singers--most spectacularly colorful group leader John Davis and the heavily sweet-voiced Bessie Jones, who with Bess Lomax Hawes wrote Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs & Stories from the Afro-American Heritage. --Paige La Grone ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fantastic
Fantastic and that's all there really is to say. kumbyah my lord kumbyah. ... Read more