Reviews (1)

just great
frankie lee didn't get the recognition he deserves he is one of the texas' greatest, he sound a little bit harsh and distorted,but sound down home is what the blues it's all about.take a good listen and you can find the roots of rock and roll.Don't miss it,absolutly worthed ... Read more

Reviews (2)

a GREAT INTRODUCTION TO THIS BLUES LEGEND
MANY NELEIVE MAMIE'S HUGE HIT CRAZY BLUES, WAS THE 1ST BLUES EVER RECORDE, ALTHOUGH TAHT IS NOT TRUE, BECAUSE MARION HARRIS WAXED SOME BLUES IN THE TEENS, THIS ARTIST STILL DESERVES CREDIT FOR PUTTING BLUES ON THE MAP AND STARTING A NATIONAL BLUES CRAZE.AFTER MAMIE'S RECORDING, EVERYONE EVEN VAUDEVILE ENTERTAINERS LIKE EDDIE CANTOR BEGAB RECORDING BLUES.

ACTUALLY THE STORY GOES, THAT A PRODUCER WANTED MISS SOPHIE TUCKER TO SING SOEM BLUES SESSIONS AND MISS TUCKER RECOMENDED TAHT MAMIE RECORD THEM INSTEAD.THANSK SOPHIE, BECAUSE WE NOW CAN CELEBRATE THSI LEGENDARY BLUES ARTIST, ALTHOUGH SHE WAS MORE A CABARET SINGER, AND AS MUCH A "WHITE" SOUNDING SINGER AND AS MUCH A VAUDEVILLIAN AS SOPHIE TUCKER, SHE SINGS THE BLUES WITH CLASS AND ELEGANCEAND PERFECT DICTION(ACTUALLY SOPHIE TUCKER SOUNDS MORE BLACK THEN MAMIE SMITH, AND TUCKERS RECORDINGS FROM THSI ERS SHOUDL NOT BE OVERLOOKED EITHER).

THIS CD IS A GOOD SAMPLER, BUT SERIOUS FANS ALREADY OWN ALL HER CD'S ON DOCUMENT RECORDINGS IN THIER COMPLETE ENTIRETY, HOWEVER THE SOUDN ON THSI DISC IS MUCH BETETR THEN THE CLASSICS, BUT TRUE FANS WILL WANT ALL THAT 78 HISSING NOICE, AND WON'T LIEK THSI CD AS MUCH AS THE DOCUMENT CD'S. NONETHELESS CASUAL BLUES FANS SHOUDL LOVE THIS GREAT RE-ISSUE, IT'S ABOUT TIME WE SEE SOME MAMIE IN STORES ON MAJOR US RELEASES!

bUY IT

aLSO BUY:SOPHIE TUCKER: LAST OF TEH RED HOT MAMAS(TAKE TWO RECORDS)

The First Lady Of The Blues Returns To The Scene!
It is time for Mamie Smith fans and collectors to rejoice. Columbia Legacy has released a set of the best of her performances for the label and it is perfection! The remastering makes Mamie Smith's singing totally accessable for the first time and she was a powerful and expressive singer. This lady was the first vaudeville blues singer to record and she set the stage and standard for all who would follow her. These would include Bessie, Clara, Trixie, and Laura Smith (none related) as well as Rosa Henderson, Hazel Meyers, Ethel Waters, and many others.Mamie was a great entertainer and her recordings tend to feature "showstoppers" rather than strictly mournful blues. Buy this CD for the wonderful photographs of Mamie as well as the ads, some seen for the first time since original publication.If you have the four volume complete Mamie Smith released on Document, you will still need this set for the first rate booklet notes and superior sound.
Buy it and Mamie will help you "Keep A Song In Your Soul"! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great piece of history, and an awesome listen, to boot.
Wow. This is quite possibly the most fun, most raucous collection of field recordings I've heard in my life. Sure, I love the (usually) more somber works of folks like Leadbelly and Mississippi John Hurt, but the Memphis Jug Band rock out! The jug is used to great effect... its limitations as a pseudo-instrument are constantly transcended on this set. It sounds awesome, as does the frequent use of kazoo.
The Memphis Jug Band is totally punk rock! Check out "Cocaine Habit Blues"... any ignorant pop dork who thinks that the Velvet Underground invented "dark" drug songs needs to listen to this song (not to mention a million others from this era) and get schooled. I've never done drugs in my life, but that doesn't make this song any less awesome. It's the most rock and roll thing I've heard in a long time. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Reverend Gary Davis's other two early-1960s Prestige/Bluesville titles--Harlem Street Singer and Say No to the Devil--were released on CD years ago, but this middle title finally makes its first digital appearance in 1999. All three of his Prestige albums are absolutely riveting, although you could say that about anything he cut except for his very last recordings. Along with his original 1930s work and his late-1950s Folkways cuts, these three sets were touchstones of the burgeoning folk revival and a major influence on countless blues, folk, and rock performers. Davis had not yet returned to secular music in 1961, and so these 12 cuts all fall on sacred ground. His blend of ragtime, gospel, and Piedmont country blues remains one of the most potent forces in 20th-century music; nobody ever immersed himself in the moment of performance as completely. Your only challenge will be deciding what is more remarkable: his magical guitar runs or his passionate preaching voice. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A jewel of of picking style,and a terrific voice.A must.
It's a pity that many of Blind Gary Davis' very great records aren't available here.His 1935-1949 recordings,first; his two magnificent Biograph LPs,which may not have been reissued until now;but you can buy other masterpieces,like the great "demons and angels" set.Gary Davis was born April 30,1896,Laurens County,South Carolina.He lost sight as a little baby,and learned to play harmonica,banjo and guitar before he was ten.He recorded a few sides with Blind Boy Fuller in the thirties,then did a few sides under his name in 1935 and 1949.After that,he worked in New York as a street singer and preacher,until he was rediscovered and had the opportunity of making records and playing concerts.He died May 5,1972,of a heart attack,while he was going to Newtonville,NJ,for a concert date.He was mainly influenced by Blind Blake,and he influenced dozens of great players: Blind Boy Fuller,Brownie McGhee,Josh White,Roy Bookbinder,Ry Cooder,Larry JOhnson,Bob Dylan,Stefan Grossman,Taj Mahal,Tarheel Slim,and Alec Seward.His extremely difficult finger picking style,full of ragtime figures,is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard.But he was not only one of the most gifted guitar players (maybe the most gifted one with the magnificent,amazing,overwhelming,etc,Blind Blake),he also had one of the most expressive and powerful voices in the history of blues and gospel.These tunes,recorded August 10,1961,are perfect examples of this.Of course,the Reverend only plays and sings sacred songs;he very rarely played blues after the war (a few ones on his Biograph LPs,and a complete LP of ragtimes in the sixties).I've often dreamed I was in Harlem,meeting him in a street,where he was playing,and listening to him for hours.Maybe you're a lucky owner of one of the video tapes issued by Stefan Grossman;then,if you ever had the chance of seeing the Reverend,even on TV,you know what I mean.Hearing him is great,seeing him is terrific.There's a tape where he plays a long and dramatic version of "death don't have no mercy",which can resume everything.Some minutes (five? seven? I don't know) of perfect beauty,and outstanding emotion.And some chords you've never think to play,too.Because of his blindness,Gary Davis had invented his own playing.If you try to copy him,you'll have nights and nights of pain and troubles.
Even if this record is not his greatest one,it's already miles and miles away from most of his peers.It could be a perfect introduction to the Singing Reverend's art,so don't miss it.And look for a reissue of his two Biograph LPs,or his pre-war recordings: you'll discover the Reverend playing and singing the blues,in the same style than Blind Boy Fuller;but remember he was Fuller's main influence,not the contrary.

Stunning guitar
I agree with previous reviewers about the quality of this album, but I'd just add one point. The first two tracks of this album are among the finest that Davis ever recorded. "You Got to Move" is a tour de force of joyous driving ragtime, and as ever with Davis, the interplay if voice and guitar is flawless. The second track, "Crucifixion", combines a gruff spoken sermon with a hypnotically swinging ragtime guitar counterpoint.

I don't think that the rest of the album maintains this standard, but it is an essential purchase for the first two tracks alone.

The Rev. at the top of his game
Rev. Gary Davis,blind street preacher and gospel-blues legend,cut this album in 1961.I have found his anonyimity somewhat mystifying. Here is a blues singer with heart and soul,and a voice of a hardbitten angel to match. among musicians, he is celebrated, but th general public would have their blues from others. odd. This album inessentila in the davis canon. From the fist cut{you got to move},Rev. davis is is full command. this is simply him and his guitar,though there is magic here{or grace, if you would prefer.} He ends this sessions with When I die I'll live again, a perfect coda to this excellent collection

Electrifying!
Blind Gary Davis is up to his best work in this 1961 recording of the finger-pickin' giant's own special brand of Piedmont blues Christian standards. If you dig this man, you'll dig this disk! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Wolf's last hurrah
Finished in August, 1973, "The Back Door Wolf" comprises Howlin' Wolf's very last recordings for MCA/Chess. His last recordings for anybody, actually, since Wolf was a very sick man at the time, and he passed away less than 2½ years later at the age of 65.

But it is by no means the last, barely audible gasp of a dying legend. Even at 63, plagued by kidney failure and serious heart problems, Wolf could rock the house, and this album, while not quite the equal of his output during the 50s and early 60s, is more than worth a listen.
It opens with the tough, pulsating "Killing Floor"-like "Moving", an autobiographical song penned by Wolf himself, and containing references to many of his old hits, and ends on a high note as well, with bassist Andrew McMahon's swaggering shuffle "Can't Stay Here".
Other highlights include the piano-driven "Stop Using Me", the swinging "Leave Here Walkin'", and Wolf Gang saxist and bandleader Eddie Shaw's wonderful "Coon On The Moon", an easy, loping blues tune set to Shaw's proud lyrics about the misfortunes and triumphs of the blacks of America, and delivered with power, dignity and conviction by the Wolf:
"You know they call us coons / Say we don't have no sense / You know you gonna wake up one morning / And the old coon gon' be the president - things have changed!"

The band, anchored by drummer S.P. Leary, is great as always, although I could easily have done without Detroit Junior's harpsichord which pops up here and there. But guitarists Hubert Sumlin and Willie Harris are excellent, with Sumlin getting off some fiery solos, and Wolf's harmonica playing is sparse but just right as always.

Not the place to start your Howlin' Wolf collection, perhaps, but a great place to end up.
Highly recommended.

Chester's New Harpsichord
On this 1973 effort you can hear some guy feeding Howlin' Wolf his lyrics on the opening cut "Moving." Wolf also flubs a line in the song. We must thank the guardians of blues authenticity for leaving in mistakes and off-mike cues. Nonetheless, this is a fine blues album and Howlin' Wolf is everybody's favorite artist. Bluesniks all over Sweden, London and El Cerrito still debate whether Hubert Sumlin or Buddy Guy played the classic guitar licks on Wolf's '50s and '60s Chess records. On this one Sumlin is credited so I guess it's him. Someone got Detroit Jr. a harpsichord to play on this album. Another example of that restless experimentation that characterized the Chess label. Howlin' Wolf was a master of throwaway phrasing just like Frank Sinatra but I don't believe Mr. Burnett ever got to hang out with any presidents, and if there was ever any chance of that happening his "Watergate Blues" queered that deal. But Wolf is easily as good as Sinatra or anybody else, he takes a back seat to no one, and in the ongoing debate over whether Francis Albert or Howlin' Wolf was better, I say Wolf. This was Howlin' Wolf's last album before dying in 1976. If you don't know his music, get the early stuff he cut in the Memphis area in the early 1950s, as it remains perhaps his best work. I can hear that guy off-mike right now, feeding Wolf the words, and if I could find out who it was, I'd write a letter to someone who cared.

still moanin'
I enjoy listening to the music on this CD very much. This is the last album recorded by the legendary blues giant Chester Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf. The CD notes provide a brief history of the man, the myth, the mighty, moanin' Wolf. I learned from them that, although he had been performing since the 1930s, he started his recording career at the age of 40 in 1951. It was in Memphis where he was discovered by Sam Phillips, as in Elvis. His first recording session resulted in a hit, "MOANIN' AT MIDNIGHT", a personal favourite, and landed him a contract with Leonard Chess. For twenty years begining in 1953, the Wolf made records with Chess. Although, success was late in arriving for him in the US, if you were at the Crawdaddy Club in London in the 1960's, you would have known who he was. He was one of the influences for the under-rated British group the YARDBIRDS which was a revolving door for legendary guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and finally, Jimmy Page. In the songs of this CD, Howlin' Wolf and Hubert Sumlin, who was his guitarist since 1954, look back over their recording career update and summarize it. As much as this is a Howlin' Wolf album, it is also a Hubert Sumlin album. If you are learning to play guitar and have yet to master one of Sumlin's leads, this is a good CD to listen closely to. He balances Wolf's low growl with treble notes which bend, slide, jab and smoothly grace a pentatonic scale. Sumlin's style depends on a solid rhythm section to keep things steady, and he is working with a fine one here. CAN'T STAY HERE, SPEAK NOW WOMAN(ALT.) and TRYING TO FORGET YOU are standouts as Sumlin showpieces. The last one is a retrospective tour through Wolf's songs as that woman who is still "trying to wreck" his life has him "moanin' at midnight". If you are interested in the Chicago Blues, or would like to learn the classic guitar solos of Hubert Sumlin, this CD will be interesting to you

Wolf went out swinging.
Wolf's last album is an astonishing display of pure guts and deep, deep blues. Tracks like "Coon On The Moon" and "Watergate Blues" updated the form itself, and he re-invents the past in songs like "Moving", "Trying To Forget You", and the utterly amazing "Can't Stay Here". Some so-called purists were put out by the keyboard-simulated harpsichord on a few cuts, but it only adds to the effect of killer tunes like "Speak Now Woman". The great Hubert Sumlin is here as well, and if you're a guitar player, clean your ears and listen up. While many people point out "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" as the highlight of Wolf's last years, this album is an even deeper, purer document of maybe the greatest of them all. He's been gone twenty-two years, but I don't think that voice will ever be entirely dead. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Essential for harp players
This cd is essential for all acoustic harp players, and even for electric harp players. These are the dudes that influenced Sonny Boy Willaimson II, Junior Wells, Little Walter, Big Walter, Kid Thomas, and other great electric blues harp players from the 50's on. This cd concentrates on the 20's and 30's, which is essentially the pre war blues period. Not all the songs are strictly blues there's some hillbilly, and jug style tunes too. However the main stars here are the harp players, and thier amazing solos. Jaybird Coleman might very well be the most well known of the harp players here, but they are all great and so is the sound quality. I am a harp player myself, and I recomend this to all harp players as well as anything by the logn forgotten Harmonica Fats.

Essential for Harmonicists
This is a very good collection of prewar (WW2, that is) harmonica blues. "The Train" was once essential for anyone who was serious about learning the harmonica, and Freeman Stowers gives a classic example of this in "Railroad Blues." Chuck Darling's "Blowing the Blues" is a rather sweet and whimsicla little tune that is no less enjoyable than it would have been back in 1930 when it was first released. Excellent Harp-guitar interplay. Jaybird Coleman, known today only to harcore blues fans, gets a few licks in. But the real treat for harmonicists is the legendary DeFord Bailey, who was probably the first harmonicist who was a bonafide recording star (via his appearances on the Grand Ole Opry). His "Davidson County Blues" (from 1928) shows the standard that was set for the likes of the Sonny Boy Williamsons, Stevie Wonder, Little Walter Jacobs, and all that were to follow. In either case, if you think you're hot stuff with the harmonica, listen to these masters and go back to your room and practice.

Harmonica Blues: the Original Masters
This is a "must-have" CD for those interested in early harmonica technique. It begins with a mind-blowing harmonica "train" by Freeman Stowers. This is unlike anything commonly found on post-war recordings. What follows is a wide-ranging sampling of virtuostic harmonica playing by artists both obscure, Chuck Darling, and famous, De Ford Bailey. This CD highlights harmonica techniques might otherwise have been lost. This would make a fine addition to the collection of any serious blues harmonica player. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Something of a missing link between Delta and Chicago blues, Robert Nighthawk never garnered as much attention as his followers, who included Earl Hooker and Muddy Waters. That's a shame, partly rectified by this reissue from Delmark Records, though the guitarist's rambling way of life meant that his sessions were few and far between. That makes the material on this collection all the more precious; the tracks on Bricks in My Pillow include some of the best slide guitar ever recorded. Listen to Nighthawk's guitar wailing on "Crying Won't Help You" or" The Moon Is Rising" (two takes, one previously unissued, are included here), coupled with a rich, resonant voice that sounds equally at home on ballads and uptempo rockers. Though Nighthawk's name isn't often uttered in the same sentence as those of other blues greats, it indubitably should be. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Amazing sound, great songs. Why wasn't Nighthawk a star?
Well, I suppose to some he was. A star that is. But for some reason, Robert Lee McCoy (AKA "Nighthawk") never made it to the really big leagues. Sure, he didn't have Willie Dixon to supply him with catchy, instantly memorable songs like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf did, but he had the voice and the skill, and his recorded output is generally of very high quality.

Perhaps the main reason is that Nighthawk didn't really care all that much about recording. Even so, United Records in Chicago (where else?) did manage to record him on two occations (July 1951 and October 1952), and the cuts on this fine album was the results. Nighthawk plays some mean slide guitar and even a few single-string leads, and sounds very much like a man who could have given Muddy Waters a run for his money.

The sound is amazingly good - full, clear and rich. Highlights include the slow, ominous "Crying Won't Help You", the jazzy "The Moon Is Rising" and "You Missed A Good Man", and the traditional Bricks In My Pillow", but there are really no weak tracks on this album. Robert Nighthawk's brand of blues is somewhere in between Elmore James and early amplified Muddy Waters, and this CD, along with the fabulous "Live on Maxwell Street", would serve as a fine introduction to this underrated, but influential and hugely talented, bluesman.

AMAZING
AMAZING GUITAR WORK---SWINGING JAZZ BLUES TO SLOW BLUES IN D--->

WHAT A PLEASURE TO LISTEN TO AND GREAT TO HAVE IN MY COLLECTION!

DEFINEATELY ONE OF MY TOP 5 DESERT ISLAND DISCS

Great to have the United and States masters available again
In a flurry of recent releases a clearer picture of Night Hawk's artistry is emerging (he himself spelled his name as two words). This disc re-releases the recordings made by Night Hawk in 1951 for the United label and in 1952 for its subsidiary States. It adds two takes that were not on the original LP release of 1977 (Pearl 11). Highlights include "The Moon is Rising" and "Maggie Campbell," which is interesting to hear in different verisons here. With this disc, two recent Testament discs that include Night Hawk material ("Down Home Slide" and "Down Home Harp" both of which include performances that are a bit stilted--they were probably bootlegged from the May 1964 blues festival at Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago which had blues artists performing in an auditorium before a polite audience unused to the blues), and, most important, the new "And This Is Maxwell Street" 2CD set from P-Vine in Japan PCD 5527/28 (and let us hope soon on a U.S. label!), we begin to see that Night Hawk was a far more versatile guitarist than many probably have realized. On the "Bricks In My Pillow" release reviewed here, the pace is usually fast. The disc has a rather different feel from the lush but mournful playing we know from Chess recordings such as Anna Lee. Perhaps most interesting of all, however, is the extraordinary range of styles Night Hawk plays on the P-Vine "And This Is Maxwell Street" discs, but perhaps that should not be surprising given Night Hawk's remarks in the interview with Michael Bloomfield that was made in conjuction with the filming of Mike Shea's Maxwell Street documentary "And This is Free." There he mentions that he used to play swing, Spanish numbers, popular numbers.... The P-Vine discs release all of the recordings made for "And This Is Free." It is great to have the United and States masters available again here on this disc. Recommended. Just wish I knew who the drummer in the cover photo was!

One of the few genuinely perfect records.
Possibly the best example of electrified Delta blues ever to come out of Chicago. Every detail is perfect, from Nighthawk's liquid extrapolations on themes established by Tampa Red and others, to Jump Jackson's swinging hi-hat, to Ransom Knowling's astounding slapped upright bass. The songs, too, are every bit as good as the performances. Do yourself a favor and own this record. ... Read more

Album Description

Full title - Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues. From thePBS series produced by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, thiscollection features 14 tracks including 'Preachin' Blues' & 'John The Revelator'. Sony. 2003. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

You can't go wrong with Son
This Cd is actually really good. however a good chunk of it is from his Father of the Delta Blues Cd set, and the recording quality of the other tracks is extreamly poor, so you would probable be a little better off with The Father of the Delta Blues. Even though some of the tracks are really badly recorded, it is entirly worth buying and is my favorite out of all the Martin scorsese individual artist Cds.

****½
A really fine attempt at making a career-spanning compilation, this installment in the "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues"-series is a bit too short to be truly magnificent, but the song selection is very, very good, virtually perfect.

Son House was one of the most important figures ever in popular music, a frighteningly intense performer and an awesome slide guitarist, and the main source of inspiration to men like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson.
This CD includes songs from his 1930 session for Columbia Records, songs from his 1941-42 Library of Congress recordings, and songs from his mid-sixties comeback.
The fidelity on the three 1930 cuts is less than stellar, but the power of those old and scratchy recordings is incredible, and the Library of Congress recordings are the only known waxings of Son House playing with a band, although he is backed (subtly and very sympathetically) by a harp-playing Alan Wilson on the 1965 recording of the epic, 9½-minute "Levee Camp Moan".

Also included is the awesome "Death Letter Blues", the a capella numbers "John The Revelator" and "Grinnin' In Your Face", and one of the most impressive acoustic slide guitar-numbers I've ever heard, the slashing "Pearline".
These fourteen songs are not the definitive word on Son House, of course, but if you just want one disc in your collection, or if you're looking for a sampler, this CD is a great choice, and probably the best installment in the "Martin Scorsese Presents"-series.

The definitive Son House
This is it, if you have to buy one Son House record, stop looking. This is the ONLY recording available, that puts the best of Son House career in one CD. From his first recording to the last, spannng different labels for the first time. Some of the early tracks are not easy to listen, lots of surface noise, but its not that bad in perspective.

Great Overview
Very interesting CD. This is the only disc I know that includes tracks from all three recording periods of Son House's career. There are 3 songs from 1930, 4 from the 1941-42 Library of Congress recordings, and the remainer from the 1965 Columbia recordings. The 1930 recordings are a little rough, but the sound quality on the later ones is fine. The two versions of Preachin" Blues and Levee Camp Blues make for interesting comparison. Buy this disc if you want a full sample of Son House. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The idea that recordings exist of bluesy, intense gospel fueled by and starring the electric steel guitar might strike one as strange. But that very thing has transpired for decades in the Jewel and Keith Dominions of the Church of the Living God, and, as this mid-'90s recording demonstrates, the results are brilliant. Sonny Treadway displays the agile virtuosity of Chet Atkins on "At the Cross" and Glenn Lee's mournful, nimble, dulcet licks on "Call Him by His Name" recall B.B. King at his fiercest. However, such facile comparisons really do a disservice to this vital sound; none of this music really resembles anything else. Particular highlights of this satisfying set's 20 tracks are the 3 sublime contributions by Willie Eason. The elderly Eason may not display the liquid bravado of others here, but his songs possess unbounded soul. His original composition "Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Poor Man's Friend" is a wonderful example of both topical material and eulogy in gospel music. His songs are sung in a baritone, preach-singing style and the playing juxtaposes strummed chords with eerie, long, looping notes that seem to hang in the air forever. The section of live religious services by Treadway, Henry Nelson, and Aubrey Ghent are stomping fun at its most sanctified. Treadway's "This Is a Holy Church" even approaches the unbridled Holy Ghost stomp of street musician Rev. Louis Overstreet. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Truth Shall Set You Free!
Mention the steel guitar and most likely you will get images of the Hapa Haole music of Hawaii in the 30s, or the twangy sounds of hard country. But there's another side of the steel guitar, one that is not as well known, but is perhaps one of the most amazing roots traditions still alive in this country, the black Pentecostal tradition of the pedal and laptop steel guitar.

The sacred tradition of steel guitar playing reaches back to the late 20s and early 30s and is tied to the history of the Holiness churches, particularly the Keith and Jewel Dominions of the Church of the Living God, headquartered in Northern Florida. Holiness churches are deeply Pentecostal churches, taking as their primary spiritual tradition the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" which they trace to the second chapter of Acts. Music in this tradition is more than just a pretty decoration for the service. It is a sacrament in itself, serving to open congregants to the power of the Holy Spirit. True Pentecostal music, whether in traditionally white or traditionally black churches is characterized by an infectious rhythmic quality and an ecstatic lyricism based on the spirituals of the south.

In the Church of the Living God, the steel guitar is the primary instrument of the worship service, replacing the more common electronic organ of most gospel music. This disc presents music from some of the Church's finest musicians. The first 9 selections are mostly instrumentals. Each practitioner approaches his instrument differently, from the almost vocal inflections of Sonny Treadway, to the more modern, jazzy improvisations of Glenn Lee, the youngest musician on this disc. Particularly amazing are the three cuts by Willie Eason, the granddaddy of the steel tradition. He uses his guitar as a backup choir to his own folksy vocals, but intersperse them with tasty fills and blues licks. Most interesting is his original composition, Franklin D. Roosevelt, which is a latterday example of the historical ballad, a form of traditional song which interprets current events through the prism of faith.

The second part of the disc is the real killer, the live services. Recorded in churches throughout Florida, these cuts offer generous selections of congregational singing, lead by the steel guitar. Many of the selections represent "praise" music, songs of increasingly fast tempo that are meant to raise the spirits...and boy do they ever. Sonny Treadway's This is a Holy Church and Aubrey Ghent's Praise Music are so sanctified that you almost levitate listening to them. The music isn't polished, but that's essential to it's spirit. The music flows without restraint. This music is as wild and free as any that I've ever heard. It is truly spirit-filled!

So if you are a fan of real down-home Gospel, or a fan of roots music, this CD is a must have. But it is also recommended to adventurous people into edgy jazz or other forms of alternative music. Certainly music like this goes a long way toward helping people understand the spirituality of movements like the avant-garde jazz movement. This is music of the Spirit and as any Pentecostal will tell you...the Spirit frees!

Fascinating, unique music
A thoroughly captivating collection of one of the most obscure offshoots of the blues/gospel music axis, this disc collects 20 tracks of African-American gospel music as performed on electric steel guitars. The liner notes trace the style back to the 1930s, when steel guitars came into vogue; the performances are by a handful of contemporary performers who come from a Pentecostal church in Florida, where the tradition is still very much alive. Blues, R&B and gospel have always had an interesting Saturday night/Sunday morning interrelationship, and these recordings inject a distinctive "white" country flavor into that mix. This is one of Arhoolie's biggest-selling and best received releases in recent years and when you check it out, you'll understand why. Cool stuff. (There have also been several follow-ups and solo albums featuring the same artists on here, but this is the disc that, to me, seems most magical.)

Spiritual Sincerity
I grew up in North Florida and the sounds and faith behind the words of this beautiful album are a revelation and a confirmation both. NPR uses bits of it as bridge music on their "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." I think it is because of the essential purity and sweetness of the music. "Little Church on the Hill" is something celestial. It evokes heaven, a place that exists only in time, not on a map. I don't listen to this every day, it is too good for that. I just listen to it in moments, and those moments, like this collection, are too lovely to convey.

FANTASTIC !
Being raised in the pentecostal church (Mt.Calvary and House of God keith Dominion). This cd is a reminder of the church services in Mt.Airy, NC. with my uncle on the steele and sweet sounds of the steele, giving direction and inspiration to the church service. GLenn Lee is remarkable,the way he blends country and blues with tradional steele playing. His interpretation of "Pass me not. oh gentle savior" is without comparison, an old gospel favorite, with a country twist. Totally original! Also his own "Joyful sounds" has the uncanny imprint of his uncle bishop Harisson, with a nice twist. Nothing can compare to the old favorite "Franklin D Roosevelt,A poor man's friend", by Willie Eason. Let's not forget the foot stomping "Live religious services on the cd. IF you don't get uplifted by these selections from both Jewel and Kieth Dominions check your pulse 'cause something is definitely wrong. Believe me you will love this cd and be uplifted. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

Othar Turner is the living master of the cane fife, a short piece of hollowed-out sugar cane with holes. The simplistic, tranced-out party music known as fife and drum--the most clearly African-sounding of all traditional blues--remained all but hidden to most listeners until 1959, when Alan Lomax first encountered and recorded it in Mississippi. There are but a handful of records of real fife and drum music, and this clear-sounding document, with multiple versions of the classic "Shimmy She Wobble," might be the best record yet made of this intoxicating sound. --Mike McGonigal ... Read more

Reviews (4)

one great hypnotic groove
Othar Turner, if you were lucky to ever seem him perform, was an amazing performer and a gentleman to boot. The full energy of one of his famous annual summer goat fryups at his home in Senatobia, Missisipi is captured here. The nearest muscial form to "drum and fife" comes from the west coast of Africa, that's how old this musical form is, although there is some blues guitar mixed in on some of the tracks. The fife gives a very primordial, birdcalling edge to the drums. "Drum and fife" is an acquired taste, but like eating spices, once you've acquired that taste, you cannot get enough. Although Othar died last year, apparantly his granddaughter will keep the tradition alive.

Otha Rules!
This isn't for everyone, but if you're into deep blues roots, it is a must have. Blues, soul, funk, mother Africa, barbequed goat, cold beer and hot sweaty bodies: you can feel it all on this one!

Wellsprings of music is right here
If you are looking for the wellsprings of music, this CD might be a good place to start. This is as close to Africa as American music gets. The Mississippi fife-and-drum tradition has been explored on record by Alan Lomax and others, and it is always surprising to people unfamiliar with this music that such things exist. This CD is a powerful addition to the recorded heritage of Mississippi and the United States. Since 1923 or so, 90-year-old Othar Turner has been playing cane fifes of his own making, and family and friends accompany him down on his farm with drums--bass and snare. He holds 2-day picnics filled with fife-and-drum music, traditional blues jams, barbecued pig and goat, moonshine whiskey, beer and pop. Fife playing is an art in the oral tradition, passed on from generation to generation. Turner learned it from R.E. Williams, and taught it to his children and grandchildren. You might want to start with track five, one of three versions of "Shimmy She Wobble" on the CD. Turn up the volume and lose yourself in the sounds of hypnotic drumming, shouts, chants and screams, and fife. Then listen to the cricket-saturated "Roll and Tumble," one of several slide-guitar blues on the CD. Then roam freely and take it all in. If you really want to know the roots of music--all music--this is a place to start. Turner and friends make music from someplace deeper than we experience most of the time; but you can find it in yourself if you allow yourself to get lost in this stuff. Especially recommended for those who want to know blues and rock's beginnings.

Absolutely cool!
Mr. Turner, a 91 year old former sharecropper from Senatobia, MS. is the last person playing a type of music called "African American Fife and Drum" music. It predates, and is one of the foundations for, the Blues. The music is a combination of African, Blues and march rhythms. You have to hear it to believe it and understand what I am talking about.

The recordings on this CD are primarily "field recordings" that capture the atmosphere in which this type of music is played, i.e., a picnic or party-type setting. To fully appreciate what a picnic is, go to Mr. Turner's home in Senatobia Mississippi on Labor Day weekend and attend his annual picnic, which has been a tradition at his home for over 25 years. You will never forget the experience and you will never forget the hospitality of Mr. Turner and his family.

Alan Lomax called African-American fife and drum music his most important discovery, and Mr. Turner has been honored by the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been featured in the Oxford American and on ABC's Good Morning America. Listen to this incredible and unique album and you will see why! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Among the most unsung of Delta blues greats is Robert Wilkins. A Mississippian who staked his claim to American musical history out of Memphis, Wilkins's plaintive voice and innovative songwriting produced a breadth of material unmatched by all but a few recorded bluesmen. This essential collection represents sessions from 1928 through 1935, when Wilkins enjoyed his greatest popularity, giving the world such finery as "I Do Blues," "Rollin' Stone (Parts 1 and 2)," "Jailhouse Blues," and "I'll Go with Her." His poignantly confessional "That's No Way to Get Along" from 1929 was recreated some 35 years later by the Reverend Robert Wilkins as "Prodigal Son," and covered by the Rolling Stones on Beggars Banquet. Another unusual number is the scandalous "Old Jim Canan's," the subject of which is a notorious Memphis barrelhouse run by bootlegger Jim Kinane, where blues-loving patrons were "drinkin' whiskey and sniffin' cocaine" until the cops came in 1916. --Alan Greenberg ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Blues and Gospel: Robert T. Wilkins, The Making of A Man
From the desk of: Mary E. 'Lane' Wilkins

As the granddaughter of Wilkins, I am offended when I read reviews that state his 1920s blues recordings are better than the gospel recordings of the 1960s. People who make these types of statements are simply looking for the pleasure that comes from listening to the old phraselogy that the original blues guitarists used.

Common sense tells a person that after 40 years of constantly playing and singing, my grandfather's voice matured and his guitar licks were acts of perfection. In the opinion of musicologists, worldwide, the gospel recordings are better than the blues ones because of 40 years of practice.

Not surprised, I am still disillusioned by the insensitivity of some blues fans who won't accept the evolution of the blues musician from cotton field singing about sex, women, drugs, and death to a higher level of consciousness.

My grandfather evolved, and not only is his work an example of that evolution, I, too, am a product of his remarkable ethnogenesis journey from a farm boy, to a blues guy, to a gospel man.

One of my All-Time Favorites!
I am a fan of good acoustic blues and this CD is still one of my favorites! This is the better Robert Wilkins material in my opinion (compared to the religious music he made later). Great guitar work and a great voice singing great lyrics. Some fun lyrics on the song -Old Jim Canan's- include the phrase "Drinkin' corn whiskey, sniffin' cocaine...". This was 1935! Most of the songs are not as wild as that one, but every one has a feel of it's own and is sure to please the acoustic blues fan.

Don't wait - you have to listen to this !
There is no question in my mind that Robert Wilkins is one of the very best in blues history. This CD has to rank as one of country blues' all time classics. Wilkins has the voice, the guitar playing, and the perfect sensitivity of a leading blues musician. The songs on this CD are all so good that it is hard to say which is better. 'A Rolling Stone' is filled which so much feeling it is makes you want to cry. 'Aint no way to get along' - later covered by The Rolling Stones - is original in its structure but still maintains the blues feeling. I recommand this CD to any music fan, not just any blues fan. You can't go wrong here. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Memphis Picking and English Mastering
Pros:
* 101 sides for $26
* The best mastering available given the limitations of current technology
* Complete prewar sides of Furry Lewis, the Beale Street Sheiks, Frank Stokes, and Robert Wilkins
* Superlative picking & crooning from some outrageously talented country blues acts
* Furry lewis' rendition of Billy Lyons and Stack O'Lee is amazing

Cons:
* Sides were recorded in the '20s and sound quality is still sketchy compared to the latest from Michael Bolton
* Minimal packing and notes

Bottom line: Impressive value ... Read more

Amazon.com

There's just something about slide guitar when it's done right, and it's definitely done right here. Streamline Special is something of a history lesson, as well; everyone from Robert Johnson ("Preachin' Blues") and Blind Boy Fuller ("Homesick & Lonesome Blues") to Muddy Waters ("I Feel Like Going Home") to Taj Mahal, whose "Country Blues" rendition is one of the highlights of this collection. There's the deceptively down-tempo "Two Timin' Woman" from Casey Bill Weldon, and Bukka White's "Special Streamline," where he does a train sound with his guitar that puts Aerosmith's "Train Kept a-Rollin'" to shame. Allen Shaw really does moan on "Moanin' the Blues," and Tampa Red and Georgia Tom's "No Matter How She Done It" is a smart, sassy, and frequently hilarious song. This isn't a definitive collection by a long shot, but it's an excellent introduction to the expressiveness and versatility of slide guitar. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (1)

This is a marvellous CD
I am afraid that any words used to express my fondness for this CD would be inadequate. Anyone who appreciates blues should pick this one up without question. And if ya don't love blues, pick this one up. You will certainly not regret it. All of the artists are shining examples of the best black blues, indeed the only blues. Simpley because there is no such thing as a worthy white blues man. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

2nd of 3 in Smithsonian's Lead Belly Legacy series
(72') This is the second of three volumes in the Smithsonian's Lead Belly series, probably the best set for just listening to Lead Belly play and sing. All three CDs are taken from Moses Asch's original studio masters (as opposed to most other available compilations on reprint labels, which are made from secondary sources); the other two are Vol. 1 "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" SF40044 (67'), and Vol. 3 "Shout On" SF40105 (70'). As usual, the Smithsonian provides extensive and authoritative notes.

Essential Blues, Essential Lead Belly
I picked this up because I was looking for a nice cheap CD with alot of tracks. I had one Lead Belly CD already, but I wanted more. This won't disappoint. Traditional songs like Midnight Special and Gallis Pole are wonderful. Lead Belly's style is revolutionary, and his voice thunders like the trains immortalized by blues artists all over the Delta. It's so full of soul and feeling it stirs emotions. Muddy Waters said you have to have the blues to play the blues, and this recording shows that to be true, but Lead Belly also has a softer, playful side to his music, shown in the tracks Skip to My Lou and Red Bird. I once read something that all the kids would dance when a Lead Belly record was put on, and the question is, how could you not? ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A LIVE laid back musical experience!
After years of listening to Muddy's blues classics,countless recordings,with raw blues energy,(which Muddy is the master),I must say this is one "LIVE" cd I keep coming back to for it's pure laid back feeling. Outstanding recording quality adds to the enjoyment of this "live" small setting. A great,-late night- audio listening experience. A -must have- for Muddy fans and all real blues fans alike! Get this cd!

A fine, underexposed live album with excellent sound
Horst Lippman and Fritz Rau, the organizers behind the American Folk Blues Festivals of the 1960s, seem to be the source of this 1964 live recording which features Muddy Waters in his prime, backed by a lean, tight combo which apparently includes Sammy Lawhorn, Francis Clay, and star piano player Otis Spann.
(I say "apparently", because I don't really trust the credits, which list Luther Johnson as the bass player, even though he was a guitarist and only joined the Muddy Waters band in 1972, and George "Harmonica" Smith, who supposedly plays a non-existent saxophone. It does sound like Otis Spann, though, and there is a harmonica player present on some songs, who may very well be George Smith.)

Opening with a slow, slide guitar-driven "Country Boy", "Hoochie Coochie Man" features excellent renditions of "County Jail", "Rock Me Baby", "Trouble No More", "Rollin' And Tumblin'", Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go", and a sizzling "Tiger In Your Tank" (the track list on the cover is flawed, wrongly listing "Sittin' And Thinkin'", "All Night Long", "Sweet Little Angel", and "Early Morning Blues" instead of "Tiger", "Rollin'", "Trouble No More", and Muddy Waters' version of "Walking Blues", which is called "I Feel Like Going Home", if I remember correctly).

The sound is very, very good for a mid-sixties live album, Muddy Waters plays great slide guitar all the way through, and the presence of Otis Spann is always a bonus.
Some listeners may feel that the relatively slow and mellow versions of songs like "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man", "Long Distance Call" and "19 Years Old" rob them of some of their intensity, but that's a matter of taste, I suppose. To me, "Hoochie Coochie Man" is a very fine addition to anybody's blues collection, and one of the best live Muddy Waters-albums.
4 1/2 stars - highly recommended.

The Hoochie Coochie Man has his mojo working
I'll be the first one to admit that I don't know much at all about the blues, but Muddy Waters is arguably the best blues great with which to begin one's education in the subject. This revolutionary talent has influenced countless singers and songwriters ever since the day he first came to Chicago in the 1940s. It was Jimi Hendrix's electrifying performance of the song Hoochie Coochie Man that led me to Muddy Waters, an artist I had frankly never heard of before. After enjoying his music and reading a little bit about him, I was pretty surprised to know just how influential he was, is, and always will be. By way of an example or two, Led Zeppelin's song Whole Lotta Love is a reworking of a 1962 Muddy Waters number called You Need Love written by the great Willie Dixon, and the Rolling Stones actually named their band after Waters' 1950 recording Rollin' Stone. Suffice it to say that far more than merely blues artists have been influenced by this legendary performer. Waters was born McKinley Morganfield, the son of a sharecropper, in the Mississippi delta. His discovery is a terrific story in and of itself, but the real story of Muddy Waters played out in Chicago, where he revolutionized Chicago blues with his revolutionary slide guitar playing and impassioned vocals.

This particular album is a live recording of Muddy Waters made in 1964. As another reviewer has pointed out, there are an unbelievable total of four mistakes on the track listing; the fact that such an important album from 1964 can still be released with one-third of its tracks listed incorrectly frankly boggles my mind. If you're keeping score, replace Sittin' and Thinkin', Sweet Little Angel, All Night Long, and Early Mornin' Blues with Tiger in Your Tank, Trouble No More, Rollin' and Tumblin', and I Feel Like Going Home, respectively. When you are talking about Muddy Waters, though, individual song titles aren't that important - that's how impressive all of the music on this CD really is. Backing him up are the remarkable Otis Spann on piano, George Smith on saxophone, Sammy Lawhorn on guitar, Luther Johnson on bass, and Frances Clay on drums. The songs, all written by Muddy Waters, range from "woe is me" slow blues such as Country Boy to hard-driving, rocking numbers such as Hoochie Coochie Man and Tiger in Your Tank. If you want to know what a slide guitar sounds like, just listen to Rosalie or County Jail in particular; it's quite a distinctive sound. Blues piano is exemplified by Spann's performance on songs such as 19 Years Old and Baby Please Don't Go.

The advent of rock and roll overshadowed Waters to some degree, and his career endured some ups and downs during the 1960s, but he proves he still had it in spades in this 1964 performance (although I should add that the sound quality here is far from pristine in places). When he is really cooking on tracks such as Tiger In Your Tank, County Jail, and Long Distance Call, and the crowd is going wild, you know you are hearing the blues the way it was meant to be sung.

not Muddy's best
I hate to put down anything Muddy has done, but truthfully, this is the worst album of his I have ever heard. Whoever is playing bass on the first 5 or 6 songs is completely out of key, and doesn't appear to know the changes. The sound quality of the recording is very poor too. Muddy Waters does have some GREAT live albums but this is not one of them. Instead of this listen to LIVE AT NEWPORT, or MUDDY WATERS LIVE.

Muddy is king!
This is the blues. Before this I had never heard any blues music. But my mom went and got me this, because Muddy tought my mom how to play the guitar. This is one of the greatest music genres ever! I fell instantly in love with this Cd. It's the best! Buy it! Trust me, you won't be dissapointed. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

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

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

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

Amazon.com

Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas (1876-?) was a railroading hobo from the Lone Star State whose style and repertoire were obsolete long before the first of his two recording sessions in 1927. His last recorded song, "Don't Leave Me Here," a plaintive version of his "Don't Ease Me In," was his bluesy take on the popular early 20th-century standard "Alabama Bound" and is one of many gems in this unique collection of extra-Delta country blues, "rags," and medicine show or vaudeville tunes. With Thomas punctuating most of his songs by tooting on pre-harmonica quills, or panpipes, these colorful numbers offer a glimpse into a vanished world. After recording such delights as "Railroadin' Some," "Jonah in the Wilderness," "Red River Blues," and "Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance?," the mysterious minstrel disappeared--unless that really was Thomas on the corner of Crawford and Capitol during Houston's winter of 1949. --Alan Greenberg ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great music from the Black South
Henry Thomas was not a blues musician, although the four blues titles in this album are excelent. Henry Thomas was a songster, a performer of popular country songs. Fans of modern blues will find it hard to compare Thomas with people like Robrt Cray, Albert Collins or Albert King. But the music played on this CD does represent what was going on and popular in the beginning of the century. I found the Panflute playing reminiscent of African flute music. This in itself makes the CD worth listening to. The CD contains many types of songs. All are delivered with a great voice and inimitable - though simple - guitar backing. Henry Thomas has the musical charisma similar to that of blues greats such as Charlie Patton, Blind lemon Jefferson or Blind Willie Johnson (himself an example of a non-blues singer who is popular among blues fans). To me all the songs are great, but Railroadin' Some, Shanty Blues, and Texas Easy Street deserve special honors. I highly recommand the album.

Fantastic CD, but the liner notes?...
This CD, containing every one of Henry Thomas's recordings, is a must-have if you're a fan of Lead Belly and other black musicians who performed pre-blues and early blues(but you probably won't care for it if you're expecting to hear something similar to Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf). Thomas's songs are full of energy and humor, the delicacy with which he played the quills providing an interesting contrast with his rough guitar and vocal style.
My only quibble with Yazoo's otherwise excellent packaging has to do with the liner notes written by Stephen Calt. Couldn't they have found someone who had more favorable things to say about Thomas? While acknowledging Thomas's deft picking on the few straight blues numbers like "Texas Easy Street Blues", Calt questions the "documentary value" of this music--in other words, he seems to have serious doubts as to whether Thomas was representative of the black music of his time. He points out the influence of white music on Thomas's recordings, but the same thing can be said of every black musician of his generation(Thomas was born in the 1870s); blacks and whites often performed and recorded the same songs.
There is one point in particular, albeit a minor one, on which I question Calt's analysis. He calls Thomas's "Shanty Blues", a slide piece, "a truncated version of a hillbilly song Fiddlin' John Carson recorded in 1927 as 'The Smoke Goes Out the Chimney Just the Same'...". I have never heard Carson's version so I don't know how similar the Thomas song is to it, but Calt is either unaware of or completely ignores the great similarity between Thomas's vocal phrasing on "Shanty" and the slide licks on "Guitar Rag", a popular instrumental recorded by black musician Sylvester Weaver in 1923(and itself later copied by white country musicians).

An Absolute Gem!!!
One of the great pleasures of being a music historian is that I occassionally run across an unheard-of gem. Henry "Ragtime" Thomas is definitely such a gem. Making all of his 23 recordings between 1927 and 1929, Henry Thomas recorded unadulterated music the way musicians really played, not the way that many, like Robert Johnson were told to play. The mix is a cross between Blues, Country, Folk and just plain-old fun music.

Fans of Rock music will recognize some of the songs as later becoming hits. "Don't Ease Me In" was later recorded by the Grateful Dead, "Fishing Blues" was later recorded by the Lovin' Spoonful and "Bulldoze Blues" was later given a note-for-note, (down to the flute solo,)yet uncredited cover treatment by Canned Heat. Thomas played an instrument similar to panpipes that he played on a neckbrace, much in the style that harmonica players use.

If you want to explore the true roots of Rock music or if you are simply a Blues fan, this album is an absolute must.

A Unique Recording
Unique because the music in this collection is really unlike any other. It's certainly not blues, at least not as we know blues, and it's not really old-timey music. From my standpoint, what Henry Thomas was doing was collecting tunes, songs, popular lyrics of the day and combining them all into entertaining tunes for dancing and listening. And saying these tunes are entertaining is an understatement...they are simply some of the prettiest, happiest old-time tunes I've heard. Archaic sounding and fun, this collection is a keyhole look into another musical era. It's likely that old-time country music back in the late 1800s was similar to these. So, not only is this collection a very pleasant-sounding one, but it's also a view to a time before recorded music.

ragtime texas
Thomas was a Texan who recorded in the late twenties, but his music is only tangentially related to the blues. The consensus seems to be that he represents an older style that was dying out when he recorded. Thomas was called "Ragtime Texas," but his music is more ragged and less technically sophisticated than the East Coast guitar ragitme associated with Blind Blake. Suffice it to say that Thomas is sui generis and comparisons to other artists just don't hold up.

The rhythms are jaunty, but the music is kept from cloying by the heaviness and resonance of Thomas's voice. His lyrics tend to be more-or-less random collections of "floating" verses rather than coherent stories. The lightness of the music and the lack of formal conherence might make Thomas emotionally unsatisfying for listeners who are used to the intimately personal and anguished statements of, say, Robert Johnson or Son House. Heard on its own terms, though, this is fun, warm music and a fascinating glimpse at an almost-forgotten folk style. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Great Session Recording!
Beginning in the late 50's US Bluesmen were invited to London to be paired up with London musicians for what became known as the London Sessions. Those bluemen included the likes of Big Bill Broonzy, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and even rock and roller Chuck Berry. On this disc Muddy is paired with Irish great Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood and Carey Bell to name a few. The result is absolutely fantastic. Those unfamiliar with the work of Rory Gallagher would be well served to listen to the guitar work on "Young Fashioned Ways" or "Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man When I'm Gone" which Rory later release on his own album as simply, "I Wonder Who". Not a bad tune on the disc. Hopefully, Chess will remaster this CD and include some of the previously unreleased material from these sessions as they did recently on Muddy's "Fathers and Sons" which features Muddy with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. No serious collection can be complete without either of these great releases.

Quintessential Rhythm & Blues
A great mix of slow and up-tempo, super guitar licks, first-rate studio mixing and great sound (all too rare for a blues album). If you have quality speakers you'll love this album. This is McKinley Morganfield at his best. I'm a Muddy Waters nut. I've seen him live. This is better! Key To The Highway, Young Fashioned Ways, Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man, I'm Ready and I Don't Know Why all remind me why I love the blues; especially with some rhythm. Thanks to Muddy and Willie Dixon. I know you're smiling up there! 5 star vocals, music and recording!

I may be getting old
Back in the early 1970s, Chess Records sent all of their major recording artists over to London to record. Muddy Waters was no exception to this gimmick. Muddy works here with a mixture of some of his regular band members and some young British rockers. The results are good, if not essential. Muddy had recorded most of these songs before, in superior versions. Not that these versions are bad, they are just lacking when compared to the original versions. Most of the songs here are given a more "contemporary" (circa 1970) feel to them, with mixed results. This is a pretty good album, but I would recommend starting with Muddy's older, "classic" material before you work your way up to this one.

Superflous
This is not a terriblealbum, but there isn't anything here which isn't readily available in better versions.
The late Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher comes off quite well, but Steve Winwood, Mitch Mitchell and Georgie Fame bring absolutely nothing to the party, and even Muddy himself sounds quite uninspired.

2½ stars...only for completists.

Let's not get carried away
Some of the reviews here are waaay too generous, so don't get your hopes up about the quality of this album. One reviewer refers to it as the best blues album of all time: Heck, I can name 10 or 12 other MUDDY WATERS albums that has this beat hands down! Muddy's vocals sound tired, the material is sub-par, and the band isn't particularly good, although Rory Gallagher gets off a few good solos. The organ playing is horrid--and absolutely unnecessary. The album cover art gives a pretty good indication that this wasn't a very serious Muddy Waters blues album. You can steer clear of this one, unless you have all of Muddy's classic stuff and are interested in hearing him on an "off-night." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

She must have thought I was a real gone jerk
The CD features a great selection of "jump blues" songs from the late '40s to the mid '50s. Jump blues can be considered to be sort of a combination of swing music and the blues. Or you could just call it early r&b with horns. However you want to look at it, it was definitely a precursor to rock and roll. Many of the songs here would go on to be recorded by rock and rollers. (Elvis covered four of the songs here.) But putting the rock and roll connection aside, this music can stand on it's own merits. This is just plain fun, wild music. But don't take my word for it, listen to it and decide for yourself. Highly recommended.

Early R&B and R&R at its best!
This is a excellent example of the roots of R&B and R&R. The blues have never sounded so good! "Hand Clappin'"(#1) still uses the sounds of the big band era, and "Hoy, Hoy"(#6) brings blues and rockabilly to a new level. It is no surprise that Little Richard picked up his sound from Rudy Green's "Juicy Fruit"(#8). Wynona Carr's "'Til the Well Runs Dry"(#16)is an excellent example of the early R&B music sounds of Etta James in the late 50's. There were so many artists performing this type of music in the late 40's, but mainstream music critics never gave them their due. Many of the great rock n roll artists started their careers in blues music, including James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, and the Doors, unfortunately many stirred their talents toward mainsteam pop. Remember the names of these artists and those local jump blues bands in your community that honor their music.

Superb collection of the roots of the neo "swing" movement
This excellentCD presents a superb 15-year cross-section of an underappreciated branch of the blues. "Jump" blues seems to answer the never-posed question, where does swing end and the blues begin? For that matter, add rockabilly and electric blues, go way back to the late forties, and you have performances infinitely more powerful than Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis. These artists suddenly seem embarrassingly derivative--especially when you hear the original Big Mama Thornton version of Hound Dog. You'll wish you'd never heard of Elvis. ... Read more