Reviews (1)

The best solo Texas Blues performance I have ever heard!
Whether you like hard-driving rock-n-roll or down-and-dirty blues, you will thoroughly enjoy this live performance from 1964 featuring Lightnin' and his pulsating acoustic guitar. Lightnin's unique skill with the true Texas style of blues guitar playing proves that it does not take a three or four piece band to either rock the blues or get soulfully low-down on a blues ballad. This CD has it all: rockin' rhythms, great melodies, soulful moanings, great lyrics, and Lightnin's quick country wit and interaction with the audience. After listening to Lightnin' play the opening guitar solo to "Baby,Please Don't Go" it is apparent that he has an understanding of how to play some incredibly deep sounding blues with the guitar that few, if any, modern artists are capable of recapturing today. "My Black Cadillac" and "Come Go Home With Me" are perfect illustrations of how Texas Blues have been a heavy influence on modern day rock-n-roll. On these two songs Lightnin' lays down a heavy Texas Blues beat with his acoustic guitar that is at the very foundation of rock-n-roll. In a slight contrast, "The Twister" is a ballad that also moves and grooves, but with more of a true blues than rock-n-roll feel. "It's Crazy" and "Mojo Hand" are classic examples of how the lyrics of a song can thoroughly entertain an audience while at the same time being powered by the classic Texas blues beat. "My Babe" and '"Mean Old Frisco" are medium-tempo songs with memorable melodies that you swear you know you have heard somewhere else and you know you will always remember. "Sun Goin'Down and "I'm A Stranger" are slow, mournful blues played and sang the way you always thought blues should be rendered. After listening to this CD it is obvious that Lightnin's voice and his guitar playing perfectly complement each other and blend together to produce some of the deepest, most powerful blues ever performed. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Getting his start in the same coffeehouse scene as Dylan, Andersen is the rare '60s folkie whose work can match Dylan for lyrical and vocal complexity.If that seems like an overstatement, a close listen to this album--recorded shortly after 1972's eloquent Blue River but which was lost and not released until 1991--is in order.Andersen sings every line with emotional consequence, and rather than rely on the quaint or precious impressions of most confessional writers, he mines a harder poetry of human choice and fate."Time Runs Like a Freight Train" is simply beyond summary.And the whole velvety sound of his record--featuring backup from Leon Russel and Dan Fogelberg--is as sensuous and spiritual as Andersen's songs.--Roy Francis Kasten ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Here Is The Fabled "Lost Album" Rediscovered After 20 Years!
The master tapes of this classic album originally recorded in the early 1970s was actually lost by the record company for over twenty years before finally being released in the early 1990s. It shows with stunning brilliance just how powerful a poet, song writer, and performer legendary folk stalwart Eric Andersen really is. Like his fabled best-selling album "Blue River", the picture portrayed here is one of a folk artist at the peak of his creative powers, with wondrously complex, perverse, and intimate lyrics that reveal the depths of Andersen's interior vision. Also as with the former album, this "lost album " provides the listener a glimpse at a number of thoughtful, poignant, and philosophic views into both Andersen himself and the world as he saw it during a period of personal difficulty and inner turmoil. Eric Andersen is nothing if not a consummate writer, performer, and interpreter of classic folk melodies and subjects, and he delivers on his considerable promise. Certainly both earlier and later professional efforts by Andersen indicate just how talented and durable his abilities as a writer and performer he is.

Here he is in superb form, with original songs ranging from the stunning "Moonchild River Song" to the evocative and mysterious "Time Runs Like A Freight Train". The whole song cycle is wonderful, but the listener needs to be take the time to begin to appreciate it in its full complexity and subtle qualities. My personal favorites are "Lie With Me", one of the most lovely and unforgettable love songs I have yet heard, and also "Woman, She Was Gentle". I also like the final cut, "Soul of My Song" a haunting and evocative song about Andersen's ideas of a life well lived. One often hears albums described as a collection of songs, but this is truly a song cycle that has a special mood, atmosphere, and timbre of its own. This is a special album by a monumental talent who has never gotten the wide acclaim and popular recognition his unusually gifted abilities seem to deserve. Buy this CD and I guarantee you will soon find yourself referring to Andersen's "lost album" reverently, as most "folkies" do

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This.
There's a reason for the enormous amount of stars for Eric Andersen's albums: each album reflects the passion, intelligence and integrity of this gifted artist. Stages: The Lost Album is a true masterpiece, and I would rank it with Blue River as the best representation of Eric's earlier work. It is a great starting place if you are unfamiliar with his work (it was the first album I heard of his, and got me hooked), as the two sets of tracks (early 70s and late 80s/early 90s) span a good section of his career. The story behind the album is riveting, too...the liner notes alone are almost worth the price. Any fan of folk or rock will connect intimately with the songs on this album.

Perhaps his most interesting collection of eloquent songs
"Stages" is not only for the most avid Eric Andersen fan, but for those not very acquantied with his work. The newer tracks, written in early 90's, are wonderful... very lyrical and reminescent of his work from "Blue River". The other tracks, recorded in the early 70's and incredibly were lost until located a few years ago, include the original production of "Time Run Like A Freight Train". Kudo's for Eric, whose music remains fresh and provided me with a CD a really treasure.

So glad they found it in the vaults!
I believe it is also worth noting that the last four tracks on the disc were recorded in 1990 with help from Rick Danko and Shawn Colvin, and are among the standout tracks on the album! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Best!
Anson and Sam are fantastic together. They bring the absolutely best of the old time blues to the live stage where the kids can literally get up and boogie woogie. I have seen them 6-8 times in different places and the band is very tight each time. They should NOT BE MISSED! Sam is a true treasure and entertainer and there aren't many left like him. Anson plays the guitar(s) with such feeling and soul that it just brings tears to your eyes hearing him play the real soft stuff. And when he wants to let it rip in an upbeat number, look out, cause he is unmatched!

Go See em!

Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets "live at the Emporium"
After having the pleasure of hearing this truly original Blues Band for myself at the old "Loafers" club in Raleigh, NC. I can only say that the Blues does'nt get any better than this. My complimentory copy of this CD was signed and given to me by Carl"Sonny"Leyland, who is without question one of the greatest piano players I've ever heard. As it turns out we are both fond of the cactus worm. If you're a fan of rockin'boogie woogie piano music, you really should look him up. He has three new albums available now at Amazon.com "Boogie & Blues" has my favorite piano version of "The House of Blue Light" It's Number 18 on the list. You gotta here this man play this song. The hair on your neck will stand stright up! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Seldom has a title for any album been so literal: Live on Maxwell Street was recorded, for the most part, live on an actual street--background noise includes cheers from bystanders, people passing by, and cars driving past. The informal setting and necessarily unideal recording circumstances don't detract one bit from the material here, which represents some of the elusive Robert Nighthawk's best material. Recorded in 1964, with sparse instrumentation--rhythm guitar, drums, and some excellent harmonica from Carey Bell--the recording includes some great guitar soloing on "The Time Have Come" and the "Maxwell Street Medley," which combines "Anna Lee" and "Sweet Black Angel." Other highlights include the smooth, active "Take It Easy Baby" and the slow moaner "I Need Love So Bad." Despite the highly unofficial nature of this recording, what's on here is more than worth hearing--including a 13-minute interview with the musician. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (8)

The original unauthorized version....
This is the original CD version of the first unauthorized release of this music. Rounder--with unbelievable audacity--has just reissued this disc with bonus tracks that sound to this writer like they were lifted from Rooster's recent 3-CD release "And This Is Maxwell Street," which was the first and only authorized release of this music--and much, much more.

My advice to anyone interested in Robert Nighthawk and in hearing the raw, unedited, electric blues of Chicago played by some of the masters that molded the style is to forget this and go get "And This Is Maxwell Street." "And This Is Maxwell Street" includes all the music on this disk but mastered from the original tapes made for Mike Shea's documentary film "And This Is Free," the original source of these recordnigs, plus all the band chatter and street ambience that was edited out of the compilation reviewed here. The new Rooster release also includes tracks by Johnny Young, Big John Wrencher, Carey Bell, James Brewer's gospel group, Arvella Grey, and Michael Bloomfield. The full Bloomfield interview of Robert Nighthawk (44 minutes!) appears on that three-CD deluxe set, which also has a 60-page booklet lavishly illustrated with new, rare photos, and includes a full explanation of how these recordings came to be.

I personally see no need to bother with the CD reviewed here at all when the far superior "And This Is Maxwell Street" is available. It is no surprise that "And This Is Maxwell Street" was nominated for a W.C. Handy award. It is no surprise that it has won three Living Blues Awards--best historical blues recording in the critics poll, best historical blues recording in the readers poll, and best liner notes of ANY blues recording in its year of release.

Blues "vérité"
High production values are great, but they have never made a great record. This is the real deal, noisy, recorded live, on the street, in what has to be, along with the gritty, hole-in-the-wall clubs that once dotted Chicago, one of the most natural venues for urban blues. A case of blues "vérité", I guess. The natural essence of the thing. The main ingredient is, for want of a better word, feel. Never mind that the playing is up there in terms of blues chops. What this is all about is believing that as long as you are playing and singing, or listening to someone else play and sing, the blues (which speaks of the frustration, hurt and yes, sometimes, despair of life, hard in and of itself, but made even harder by those who, in fact if not spirit, control you and your fate), you know you are still alive and that there is hope. Blues is sort of like exorcism: speak the name of what bedevils you, so that you may be set free. I have little to add as comments on the music on this record, which I would urge anyone to listen to, but what provides added insight is the interview to be found on it. I was intrigued by Robert Nighthawk's tone throughout this interview which, to my mind, is the tone of a man expressing both a desire to share across the divide of age and culture his experience of the blues and, maybe more tellingly, a certain reluctance at giving away too much, a certain modesty in not bearing without reservation his soul to what he may have perceived as an outsider, and a sort of world-weariness, if not outright scepticism, in the face of the interest afforded him. If the blues is a great spotlight on the human condition of a marginalized and abused people, Robert Nighthawk's music is as bright and cutting a light as any I have found. This music is as unadulterated as you can get: both in its form and its content. It is the truth, only as the real blues can be.

Right There
This is no studio album -- it was recorded on in about 1963 on Maxwell Street in Chicago, sort of a gathering place for blues musicians then, and you can hear the crowd that happened by, you can hear the screw-ups that always accompany a live performance, and you can hear some tough, gritty blues that puts you as close as you'll ever get to sitting there in the crowd and listening to these guys in their element. Nighthawk was a wandering man -- he travelled up adn down the Mississippi from teh Deep South to St. Louis and Chicago and back again over and over again. This album was recorded during a stop in Chicago, and it's a gem. If you were to buy this album and "Bricks in my pillow" from Delmark you would have in your hands two albums by Nighthawk that are among the best ever recorded. He hasn't been nearly as popular as some of his contemporaries, but that may have had as much to do with teh fact that he was quiet, pretty shy and itinerant as anything else. Listen to these albums and you'll have found a great artist.

Gritty, honest and raw
This kind of blues is like the record of a lost civilization - gone so long that we've almost forgotten how much it accomplished in its prime. In the 36 years since this album was recorded, electric-guitar blues has been buffed and polished to a high shine but we've lost too much in the process. The rough edges that got sanded away took with them the very texture of the blues - leaving the listener with nothing to hold on to.

If that strikes a chord with you, grab this CD - and let it grab you right back. It's rough, raw and gritty - a musical snapshot of the streets on which it was recorded. As I listen to it again and again, I find myself listening *through* it, hoping to to catch the sounds of the city and the very moment in which it was recorded. This is the blues stained with sweat, nicotine and cheap beer on a hot summer afternoon - and it's intoxicating.

adding to Mr.CTalcroft reveiw
Mr. Alcroft is exactly right this disc the double version is already avaible as a Japanise import its a little pricy but worth double or triple the asking price as I said before its down and dirty blues that you can feel down to your bones its sends shivers up your spine and transports you to a place called Maxwell street I give this 6 stars ... Read more

Amazon.com

Robert Nighthawk's slide guitar was revered by the likes of Muddy Waters and B.B. King. It's easy to hear why on this raw, lively, and relaxed recording of Nighthawk and a few of his cronies, including harmonica ace Carey Bell, playing outdoors at Chicago's famed Maxwell Street Market. It's the kind of setting Nighthawk loved (for more of the music recorded there, also check out the three-CD set And This Is Maxwell Street, featuring Nighthawk and other great artists). Surely, he would have been more famous if he hadn't preferred the wandering minstrel's life, juke joints, and the streets over studios. Nonetheless, Nighthawk, who split his time between Chicago and Mississippi, took slide guitar uptown. He polished the jagged phrases of the Delta bluesmen into flowing, elaborate melodies he sometimes conceived as complete 12-bar solos, as in the elegant medley of his signatures "Anna Lee" and "Sweet Black Angel." But the bottom line is that Nighthawk was killer on any blues. He sings with rugged intensity on the murderous "Cheating and Lying Blues," and his dirty chords and deft single-note licks pile a mountain of gravel over 13 numbers (plus a brief interview). This reissue features 5 tunes not on the original, including a vocal turn by another undervalued giant, J.B. Lenoir, on "Mama, Talk to Your Daughter." --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (4)

One of the all-time classic blues records
Robert Lee McCoy, or "Nighthawk" as he called himself, was one of the major innovators of electric blues. He was a stylish and versatile slide guitarist, and the man behind blues classics such as "Anna Lee" and "Sweet Black Angel" (which is usually associated with B.B. King, who re-named it "Sweet Little Angel").
Nighthawk was a source of inspiration to both Muddy Waters and Elmore James, and it is easy to understand why once you have listened to this album.

Producer Norman Dayron (who also worked with Mike Bloomfield, among others) recorded "Live on Maxwell Street" on the corner of Peoria and 14th Street in Chicago, Illinois, on September 24th 1964.
Nighthawk is backed by just drums and a rhythm guitar on most of the tracks, although on three or four of them, harpist Carey Bell lends a hand.
The sound is surprisingly good, considering the circumstances (you can sometimes hear people talking, applauding and yelling in the background, and even a car driving by!), and the songs are simply excellent. Nighthawk does a raw, powerful cover of Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush", a slow, menacing "Cheating And Lying Blues", a mournful "I Need Your Love So Bad", and a terrific medley of "Anna Lee" and "Sweet Black Angel" which will make you look quite silly as you move your upper body back and forth to the rhythm!

Nighthawk's amplified slide guitar playing is every bit as powerful as anything ever recorded by Muddy Waters or slide specialist Earl Hooker, and since he usually played in standart tuning (an unusual choice), he was able to suddenly crank out a fiery, twelve-bar single-string solo (evident on "The Time Have Come", which should be a blueprint for everyone who wishes to play electric blues).

On the CD reissue of this album, four bonus cuts and an interview segment with Nighthawk is added. One of the bonus tracks is an exuberant live version of "Mama Talk To Your Daughter", the J.B. Lenoir classic, and even though it's really impossible to be sure, the credits list Lenoir himself as the singer.

Robert Nighthawk has never achieved the blues icon status of his Chicago contemporaries Waters, Earl Hooker and Elmore James, partly because of his seeming lack of interest in recording, but he was one of the first to effortlessly bridge the gap between country blues and urban blues, and he should be recognized as one of the true greats of the Chicago blues scene.

This album is one of the essentials of any collection of electric Chicago blues (along with "Muddy Waters at Newport", "Down And Out Blues" by Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf's first two LPs, and pretty much anything by Elmore James!).

Sad attempt to squeeze yet more out of this release
In my view, anyone interested in hearing this music would be best advised to leave this page and go directly to "And This Is Maxwell Street" (see link above) for information.

The music is very fine, indeed, but, in my opinion, this is the least attractive presentation of it currently available. Everything on this disc is on the legitimately produced 3-CD "And This Is Maxwell Street" set (from Rooster Blues Records), and the sound seems better on that set too. The multiple CD "And This Is Maxwell Street" set includes many tracks not included here and even has a third bonus disc with Michael Bloomfield's complete 44-minute interview of Nighthawk made in 1964 as part of the documentary project that led to the creation of Mike Shea's film "And This Is Free," the ultimate source of this music. "And This Is Maxwell Street" also includes snippets of band chatter between numbers, street noise, preachers preaching, car horns--the atmosphere of the openair market where the music was recorded. The producers have succeeded in making you feel like you are there on Maxwell Street on a summer Sunday in 1964. All the mood is lost in the edited tracks that appear on the disc reviewed here.

The disc reviewed here is presented in an unattractive package. The liner notes are the same as those used when the music was first released many years ago (and, I suspect, re-used without their author's knowledge), completely ignoring the vast amount of new information about these recordings that has come to light and repeating attributions that were suspect long ago. In contrast, the 60-page booklet that accompanies "And This Is Maxwell Street" is lavishly illustrated and highly informative and makes a notable effort to be honest about uncertain attributions. It is in itself almost worth the price of the discs. Perhaps most notable among the mistaken attributions on the disc reviewed here is the attribution of "Mama, Talk To Your Daughter" as being performed by J.B. Lenoir.

The title of this disc claims that these tracks have been remastered, but it sounds identical to the old one to me. At least one record store manager has said to me he thinks even the LP sounded better than this.

In short, I see no reason to bother with this disc. Go straight to "And This Is Maxwell Street."

dirty and rough blues
yikes/this is rough and raw and hot--the first track gives me the chills and is worth the price of admission....

Slide Show!
Never before have I heard such a master of the slide guitar as Robert Nighthawk. The epitome of an old bluesman, Knighthawk is captured here in his eliment, the street performance. The recording is surprisingly clear, with nighthawk exchanging energy with the crowd regularly. He is an amazing slide guitarist, but not just technically, he has the tunes to back up his talent. This is raw, this is honest, this is not to miss! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Blues 101 for the entire band....
Want to learn some tunes for an "open mike" blues jam? THEN CHECK THIS DISC OUT!!! There is enough material here to keep the serious blues student busy for months. Drummers, harpists, bassists, and guitarists alike. Each one of these tunes are popular at all blues jams (Am I sounding like Jamey Abersold?) For the price it can't be beat!

Good album but...
I have a problem with how this product is advertised. Neither Junior nor Buddy play in any of the extra tracks, and they are not that good either. Buddy only sings the first 3 songs, the rest are Junior's. Buddy plays a killer version of Hideaway, and Junior's sings 'mojo working' almost as good as Muddy Waters. The extra tracks really spoil the fun.

Best blues CD I own
This may not be the best blues CD I will EVER own, but it is definitely the best blues CD I own NOW! Buddy Guy could play circles around Jimmy Page; his playing has speed, grace, and style. And Junior Wells is known as one of the greatest harmonica players who ever lived, but he was also a great singer, in fine form here. Listen to his usually low voice reach those high notes on "Come In This Old House". Wells and Guy were a great team; they do a version of "Messin' With the Kid" to bring the house down. I put this CD on more than any other blues CD I own -- including ones by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and other greats. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The best blues guitar solo ever recorded!
I confess that when I bought this CD I didn't know anything about Ronnie Earl. I bought it because I was (and I still am) a fan of the great Jimmy Rogers. The fist track impressed me lots; whaoo I thought this guy can play! However it was the second song "blues in D natural" that drove me nuts! I still believe that it is the finest blues guitar solo ever recorded! The only one in my collection that could compare it is SRV version of "Texas Flood" from the collection "Blues before sunrise". My music collection includes more than 500 blues CD and about 300 LP, I think you could trust me. Just for that second track alone you should buy this records. The rest of the CD will not disappoint any true Chicago blues fun. A great Chicago blues album, great guitar playing and as always Jimmy's great voice. 5 Stars!

The meeting of the old and new. An incredible performance.
There is little question Ronnie Earl is at the top of the blues guitar class and this CD combining the Chicago Blues stlye and passion of Jimmy Rogers and Mr Earl works very well. If you like Chicago Blues, buy it! Oh hell, buy it anyway, you'll learn to love it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A MUST HAVE FOR BLUES LOVER'S
Just another of many albums produced by this wonderful artist that I'm sure that you will enjoy. Check this one out and you will see what I'm talking about. Just Fantastic. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Nice live Luther
Something of an "elder statesman" of the blues, Luther Johnson played guitar in the Muddy Waters band for seven years, and his own band, the Magic Rockers, (almost) manages to produce the same tough, swinging groove that the great Chicago combos of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James laid down in their heyday.

This is straight-ahead, unpretentious electric blues anchored by a good rhythm section and a great piano player, and if Luther's vocals lack the power of Muddy's, his rock-solid guitar playing goes a long way towards making up for it.
The songs are somewhat crudely edited (probably an attempt to give the impression that they all came from the same set when they obviously didn't), and the back-to-back slow blues which finish off the set rob it of some of its intensity.
Oh, and the liner notes are lousy, too.
But the music is really good, occationally even great, like Luther's rendition of "You Don't Have To Go" and "What You've Been Putting Down" (great solo), a fun, swinging cover of Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine", and the one-time Bobby Bland single "It's My Life Baby".
Not everything is equally remarkable, of course, but there is certainly no need to skip anything either, and even somewhat predictable numbers like "I Don't Know Why" and "Love Me Baby" sound great when set to a lively boogie beat and played by a band as competent as this. Love that piano!

If you've been listening to "Muddy Waters At Newport" or "Howlin' Wolf Live At Alice's Revisited" all week, this album may disappoint you just a little bit at first, but give it a chance. It's a really enjoyable slide of Chicago blues played by one of the genre's most reliable performers.

Blues at its best!!
I used to go and listen to Luther's every concert at Harper's Ferry in Boston. This CD captures the best of Luther's live performances. Listening to this CD is like bein' there, right in front of the stage, sipping JDstraight up, moving to the rythm and the soul of Luther's deep blues.Luther for ever! I only wish he'd come to Hong Kong sometime... In themeantime, this CD will keep the Blues alive!!

Solid concert from Muddy Waters band alumnus
Let us not take for granted the solid, no-frills, blues artistry of Chicago's Mr. Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson - he's the real thing in an era of teenage guitar "sensations." When Johnson (now thepride of New England) is "on," as he shows here, he's one of thetastiest guitar pickers around. Better still, he has developed into atop-flight singer.This is a welcome re-release of what had been ararity put out by the club itself. It also marks his first solo liverelease. His studio work with Rooster, Bullseye and Telarc labels isprobably the better place to start, but this is a decent live snapshot of afine performer. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Country blues just doesn't get much better, or any sweeter, than Hurt's performance here. When this concert recording was issued as a two-record set 35 years ago, it bore the misleading title The Best of Mississippi John Hurt. Misleading because it featured the rediscovered 70-something artist reviving material he'd originally recorded more than 35 years earlier. But age did nothing to diminish the sly sensuality of Hurt's songs or the gentle virtuosity of his guitar. The selection includes traditional spirituals, such as "I Shall Not Be Moved" and "Nearer My God to Thee"; signature standards, such as "Candy Man" and "My Creole Belle"; and surprises, such as the instrumental "Spanish Fandango" and the evergreen "You Are My Sunshine." Hurt's return from obscurity ranks with the more rewarding upshots of the 1960s folk revival, and his legacy (since his death in 1966) has continued to influence contemporary folk and blues musicians. In addition to the original recordings from a 1965 concert at Oberlin College, this reissue contains three previously unreleased tracks recorded at the same year's Newport Folk Festival workshop.--Don McLeese ... Read more

Amazon.com

Singer-guitarist Phillip Walker was part of the post-World War II musical migration to California that transplanted Gulf Coast blues styles to fertile new ground. His T-Bone Walker-influenced sound, captured in concert on this disc, combines the lessons learned from his early work with Louisiana zydeco legend Clifton Chenier with a hard-edged Texas blues attack, and he surrounds himself with the riffing horns of jump blues. Walker was well served by his participation on 1999's Lone Star Shootout session with Lonnie Brooks and Long John Hunter, but the true depth and diversity of his talents are on better display here. The set starts with a bright, horn-powered rendition of Walker's "Hello My Darling" breakout single from the late '50s before rolling through more modern material like the Robert Cray hit "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," a Walker original. But it is on Jimmy McCracklin's down and dirty "Think"--with Charlie Musselwhite adding some harmonica and a smoldering Angela Strehli trading vocal verses--that Walker hits his stride. An uptempo version of the Ann Peebles Stax standard "Breaking Up Somebody's Home" is an added treat, and the swinging and soulful rendition of Lowell Fulson's classic "Reconsider Baby," complete with some hot harp from Rick (Little Charlie and the Nightcats) Estrin, is nothing short of a masterpiece. Walker's tough Texas guitar tone deftly slices through the big-band accompaniment, and in the process he recaptures, personalizes, and updates the spirit of the quintessential West Coast blues sound. --Michael Point ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Real blues, and live
This disc is incredible- better than I expected- both Bishop and his teacher and friend Smothers wail on guitar- Travelling Shoes is a classic and Bishop's solo shows why he is better than Santana! One of my best blues albums- nice clean blues with technique, tone, and taste. Bishop was guitarist with Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the late 1960's, went country in the 1970's and is back to playing blues again- this disc was recorded live in San Francisco in 2000. Another blues guitarists I believe is very special is Joe "Guitar" Hughes from Texas.

non stop good time blues
recorded live in sf in january of this year elvin & little smokey combine to recorded a great live set of tunes covering both of the artists career except for a cover of "little red rooster". every song is high energy of great blues guitar with great horns fillimng in.

Partners Blasts
It seems that when some musicians get together, they both sound better than either sounds alone. The first track shows both guitarists in full flower. The sound on this live CD is the best. There is not quite as much banter as you might expect from Elvin, but as always the lyrics are a riot. And listening to Smokey, you can hear where Elvin got some of his best licks. ... Read more

Amazon.com

On Sunday mornings at Chicago's famous Maxwell Street open-air market, busking bluesmen would battle with hawkers, preachers, and dancers for coveted space. In 1964 filmmaker Mike Shea chronicled this bubbling scene for his landmark documentary And This is Free; in the process, he preserved stunning examples of raw, informal, gritty, undeniably urban blues, the best of which is included on these two revelatory CDs. Amazingly, legendary figures like Robert Nighthawk and Carey Bell were as likely to show up as any number of local gospel singers and blues pickers. Nighthawk's tenacious saw-toothed guitar work and Bell's swooping harp are well documented here, as is the work of lesser-known Chicago players like Johnny Young and Big John Wrencher. However, in this setting, the songs of obscure players like Arvella Gray, who performed solo with a Dobro, and the James Brewer gospel singers seem nearly as important. Rooster Blues's superb package includes incredibly detailed annotation, which does an admirable job in trying to sort out the correct players and songwriters, and crisp remastering--two things that the unauthorized Rounder single-disc issue lacks--plus a bonus third disc featuring young Mike Bloomfield's interview with Nighthawk. Like field recordings are to country blues, these street recordings are much more than mere music--they are compelling historical documents. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (3)

So, Arvella Gray,This IS Maxwell Street!!
I am grateful that, in my lifetime, fate has given me the opportunity to discover the pure talent and outstanding blues recordings in AND THIS IS MAXWELL STREET. In researching my family's history, I am overwhelmed by Arvella Gray 's (my father's only male sibling) significant contribution to this genre.

No suprise this was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award
At last! What a pleasure it is finally to see the original recordings from Mike Shea's 1964 Maxwell Street documentary "And this Is Free" available in the North American market (also now in Europe on the Catfish label as KAT3D1) with its in-depth liner notes in English for the first time-more than 60 pages! (these recordings first appeared in 1999 in Japan as P-Vine PCD 5527/28). Both this set from Rooster and the Catfish release are identical to the P-Vine release with the exception of the language of the liner notes and the addition of a third bonus disc, which contains the entirety of the 44-minute interview of Robert Nighthawk conducted by guitarist Michael Bloomfield as part of the "And This Is Free" documentary project.

And what extraordinary music it is. This disc contains the first known recordings of Carey Bell (who was about 28 in 1964). It contains one of the very few glimpses we have of Robert Nighthawk on the street. Highlights include his growling guitar work on "Cheating and Lying Blues;" some of the most extraordinary electric blues guitar playing ever recorded on "I Need Love So Bad;" Nighthawk doing the two songs that brought him his first real fame--"Annie Lee" and "Sweet Black Angel;" and a lively rendition of "Take It Easy, Baby." Not to be overlooked is fine harp work by Carey Bell, and perhaps the most dynamic and moving performances by one-armed harpist Big John Wrencher that were ever recorded. Here we also get gospel performances by James Brewer, a fine "John Henry" from Arvella Gray (so much livelier than the stiff version on the Swedish Radio tapes also recently issued), and rousing, raw gospel shouting from Carrie Robinson and other performers. Another highlight is two fine songs from Johnny Young. In short, this music captures the excitement of raw, live blues on Chicago's Maxwell Street in its heyday.

Interspersed between the songs are snippets of street preachers, hawkers, hucksters, and the voices of the musicians between numbers. We also hear car horns, conversations, street noise, and the enthusiastic shouting and clapping of the audience on tracks such as "Dust my Broom" and two jams that are perhaps the wildest, most spirited live blues performances ever captured on tape. The producers have attempted (and succeeded, in my view) to recreate the experience of a Sunday on Maxwell Street in the 1960s. Revel in it.

(...) "And This Is Maxwell Street" is the real thing. Don't confuse it with the Rounder disc. My advice is to take your Rounder version to the used record store and replace it with this one.

While this raw, raucous, record of the blues in the streets of Chicago will not appeal to casual listeners who want to turn on some easy background music and relax, it should make any serious blues fan sit up straight and listen hard. This is a slice of what the blues was really about during this period. The interview disc is icing on a very fine cake.

Highly recommended. Nominated this year for a W.C. Handy Award and surely the right choice for best historical release.

Maxwell Street Blues Box a Must
While efforts continue (bluesman Jimmie Lee Robinson has been on a hunger strike) to preserve the remaining portions of the historic Maxwell Street market area, Rooster Blues has released a three disc compilation, And This is Maxwell Street that presents music that was recorded as part of the making of the film, And This is Free. Some of the music from here was issued on Rounder on lp and cd as Robert Nighthawk, Live on Maxwell Street, which has been repackaged and reconfigured with a some previously unissued selections and including tracks attributed to J.B. Lenoir, Carey Bell and Johnny Young, The Rooster Blues has a full two hours of music and includes also selections from Little Arthur (Red Top/Ornithology which is deleted from the latest version of the Rounder); Big John Wrencher; Arvella Gray, Carrie Robinson; and James and Fannie Brewer. Additionally, Mama Talk To Your Daughter, credited to JB Lenoir on the Rounder is credited to Big Mojo Elem here. And there are several Nighthawk performances here that are not on the Rounder including a Dust My Broom that includes Mike Bloomfield on guitar (possibly being Bloomfield's earliest recordings). The full range of music here is quite powerful and entertaining including such selections as Nighthawk's updating of Dr. Clayton's Cheatin' and Lyin' Blues, the fervent gospel singing of Carrie Robinson as well as James and Fannie Brewer, street singer Arvella Gray's vigorous renditions of Corinna, Corinna and John Henry, and one armed harp wizard Big John Wrencher's Lucille. Several tracks spotlight Carey Bell, with I'm Ready perhaps being his first recorded vocal. Portions of vendors' sales pitches and street preachers' sermons are heard here as well. Providing some context to the recording. The Rounder has a portion of Mike Bloomfield's interview with Robert Nighthawk which is heard in its entirety (nearly 50 minutes) on the third disc of the Rooster Blues. My advance copy of the Rooster Blues lacks the booklet that should be accompanying it so I cannot comment on this aspect of the package, but because of the more complete reissue of this historic material, clearly is preferable, and a contender for vintage reissue of the year. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

YES!!!
I love Otis and this is just a fine recording of him live. He's famously erratic, but there's some great playing and an even greater vibe on this. He hasn't been recorded anywhere near enough and half of the stuff out there proves it. This is from that half. Buy it! ... Read more