Reviews (1)

Lawd have mercy!
I got the blues so bad, I couldn't open my own eyes. Thought I was blind until I had to call my friend and say, "come over here and open my eyes, I got the blues". Hmm mmm, this here be the blues you play when you just got left behind by a mean mistreater. It be guaranteed to heat things up, so play it out on your porch. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Country Blues CD
This is one of the best overall crossection of original blues recordings I've found. The quality of the recordings appears to have been enhanced, and is as good as I've heard for these type of vintage tunes.

I quite enjoy having either of these 2 CDs (2-CD Set) in my car CD Player. Especially enjoy hearing the Memphis Jug Band, Leadbelly, Tommy McClellan's Cross Cut Saw is worth the price of the entire 2-CD set!! I never tire of listening to it.

Doc ... Read more

Reviews (4)

THOUGHT ROBERT JOHNSON WAS THE GENIUS? THINK AGAIN.
This album totally shows where Robert Johnson (blues guitarist/singer extroardinaire) created his own style. Using a little bit of everyone on this album's style, Robert put it all together and created a guitar wizard and an excellent composer. This album also emphasizes the fact that Robert even stole lyrics, as did/do most blues musicians. Here you will hear the similarity of Robert's lyrics, where he learned the ongoing base-line trick, slapping the guitar, singing the way he did, his complicated slide licks , and his interesting chord shapes. The songs on the album are similar to these Robert Johnson songs: Devil got my Woman (Skip James) is like Hellhound on my Trail, Milk Cow Blues (Kokomo Arnold) is like Milk Cow's Calf Blues, When the sun goes down (Leroy Carr) is like Love in Vain Blues, My Black Mama (Son House) is similar to Walking Blues but greaterly shows Robert's slide licks similarity, Revenue Man Blues (Charley Patton) shows how Robert sometimes did not use a plectrum and shows Robert's famous base-line trick, Red River Blues (Henry Thomas) is like Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Roll and Tumble Blues (Hambone Willie Newbern)is like Travelling Riverside Blues and If I Had Possession over Judgement Day, Life Saver Blues (Lonnie Johnson, no relation to Robert) is like Malted Milk and Drunken Hearted Man, 22-20 Blues (Skip James) is like 32-20 Blues, Sitting on Top of the World (The Mississippi Sheiks) is like Come on in my kitchen, Preachin the Blues (Son House) is like Preaching Blues, Go Ahead Buddy (Casey Bill Weldon) is like They're Red Hot, Lead Pencil Blues (Johnnie Temple) is not only like When You Got a Good Friend, but it shows Robert's famous straight forward shuffle beat. Consider buying this FOR SURE! What would you rather do, waste your time finding possibly rare recordings of these unsuccessful artists or buy this anthology.

Before the Legend
Robert Johnson is the most recognized and celebrated figure of the blues genre. His incomparable talent directly influenced later legends like Muddy Waters and Elmore James; and later, rock n' roll's most famous artists, such as Eric Clapton, Led Zepplin, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Aerosmith...the list goes on and on.

But mainstream music accredits him as the inventor of the sound. This is simply not true. While he was probably unsurpassed in talent, Johnson himself aquired the style, melodies, guitar work, and in some cases, lyrics, from his contemporaries. This collection offers just of few of the songs that were later reworked into Johnson's masterpieces.

But this album has much more value beyond the historical significance; the music is phenomenal. We have the brilliant songwriting ingenuity of Skip James, the ferocity of Son House's moans and bottleneck slaps, the soft sincerity of Lonnie Johnson's voice, the tongue-in-cheek humor of Johnny Temple, the jagged growls of Charley Patton, and the weaving melodies of the Mississippi Sheiks.

I cannot stress enough that each song is outstanding--you will not have the urge to skip any track; your money will be well spent. Furthermore, the folks at Yazoo have done an excellent job of digitally cleaning out the hisses and pops from these old 78 vinyl recordings. Sure, they sound a bit muffled and there is a scratch here and there, but overall, these tracks are very listenable (with one exception being Son House's "Preachin' the Blues"--only one copy is known to exist, and it's in rather bad shape. Although the sound quality is poor, Yazoo has wisely included it in this collection as it is a powerful and astounding song).

Most Delta Blues aficionados will already have the complete works of all the artists on this collection. But even if you are a casual blues fan, you are undoubtedly a fan of Robert Johnson, and this disc will be a vital part of your collection. You will hear the bases for Johnson's most famous songs ("Cross Road Blues", "Come On In My Kitchen", "Hellhound On My Trail", "Love In Vain", "Sweet Home Chicago", "They're Red Hot", "Kindhearted Woman Blues"--they're all here, folks!), and you will realize the "King of the Delta Blues Singers" is actually sharing his crown.

Never heard of Robert Johnson? This CD is great anyway.
This is one of the best blues CDs I have. Selections chosen with great care. Enjoyable without any reference to Robert Johnson. Understand - these are old recordings and this is like listening to old 78s - scratches and all. But who cares? I would give it 10 stars if I could. The liner notes offer detailed analysis of how Robert Johnson transformed some of this music.

Of great historical importance!
Critics worship Johnson far too much at the expense of other equally talented Delta bluesman (I had a conversation about this in a bar one night with August Wilson--he agreed completely). This album shows how much Johnson learned, borrowed or stole from his contemporaries. The Skip James contributions are classics. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Anyone looking for versions of the great bluesman Charley Patton's timeless songs need go no further than Patton's original recordings. Patton is considered the first Delta Blues master, and hearing pub rocker Graham Parker deliver his take on "Poor Me" does no favors to either Patton or Parker. Stick to the originals or Howling Wolf's various Patton covers. --Mike Johnson ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Play it again, Sam
I can't even remember why I bought this, but I am glad I forgot. It's really quite beautiful. I must admit I don't know Patton's music back ward and forward but this is moving, interesting, and, ( is this damning with faint praise?) PLEASANT to listen to. Good for anytime, anyplace, I say. Parker's cover is arresting. Lots of subtlety and terrific musicianship on this CD. More than worth a risk. Did I mention sexy and scary?

Great interpretations
This is one of those rare tribute albums that's so good you buy a bunch more tribute albums trying to find one just like it. The originals are pretty tough listening with notoriously bad sound quality. Great stuff, but not for regular listening. This album moves the songs out of history and into the present and it sounds great with some very interesting tracks.

Found it to be a really enjoyable cd
I agree the Graham Parker performance is great but so is Snooky Pryor's track which is my favorite. Just behind that are the great acoustic performances by Charlie Musselwhite and Joe Louis Walker. There are surprise interpretations on the album that i found delightful. I've been very pleased by this project and was amazed to see the bad revue below. Since it was too negative, i thought I'd post my views.

Charley would have hated this thing !
First THE positive. Parker's rendition of "Poor Me" is worth the price of the disc alone. The rest is shear disappointment thru and thru. I respect Steve James greatly, but this brilliantly concieved project lacks the fire and imagination it could have had. Someone should really give a Charley Patton tribute. Maybee Alvin Hart or even.....myself???? ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must-have for Stonesphiles...
A very nice collection of songs from late 50's to early 60's at the NFF...most of these are on the 3-cd set that was recently released. However a handful are not on that set - including a powerful 9:30 rendition of Rev.Robert Wilkins classic Prodigal Son, which of course was covered by the Stones on Beggar's Banquet. Here you find the inspiration for the Stones version, which included only a handful of the many verses that Wilkins' had...also, you hear how Charlie and Keith appropriated the guitar and percussion (Wilkins' foot, here) parts for the Stones' version. A must-hear experience! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

preliminary impression
I'm listening to this for the first time as I write--a lot of rare country blues artists. --And let me just say this, I have three copies of C.C. & O. Blues by Pink Anderson and Simmie Dooley, including the Columbia remastering on the Roots n Blues compilation--this one is THE best, no question. Zero noise, zero reduction in quality. I am astounded at the sound quality for this song. It's a favorate and to be honest I would own this disk for the pristine copy of C.C. & O. Blues. The other tracks have good sound quality --what you might expect for 78's.

Lane Hardin and his falsetto voice is a standout the first time through, at least for the songs that were new to me. The William Moore track (One Way Gal) reminds me of Rabbit Brown's James Alley Blues, not as good but still nice. Cairo Blues is another gem. If you like Barbecue Bob, the Willie Baker and Charlie Lincoln tracts (Weak Minded Woman and Jealous Hearted Blues) will both remind you of his 12-string blues style--must have been the "Atlanta sound."

Mostly guitar playing here, instrument wise: dreadnoughts, resonators, 12 strings and slide playing. Two selections feature the harmonica, John Henry Blues has a mandolin, and one song is kazoo-centric. The cover depicts someone playing banjo but I haven't heard any banjo so far.

All that said, a nice selection of overlooked cuts/obscure bluesmen, good for intermediate country blues fans to get started on the second leg of exploration. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Content good... Packaging needs work.
I must say it would be hard to give the musical content on this release a poor rating. There are some real gems here. But at least on the LP version of this... to which I am referring, the notes are a load of inane lunacy. They are a so-called "transcription" of a conference on Hokum with no real information on the genre these recordings, etc. The names of the artists, the recordings, and the year is given, however that is it. Honestly, I enjoy Yazoo's compilations but the lack of info on the date, locale, label, etc. is often quite bothersome. Great cover illustration though, courtesy of R. Crumb and and P.S. to the reviewer prior to this... "The Coldest Stuff in Town" is subtle???

Exploring Hokum Blues
Yazoo comes through with another wonderful compilation. Hokum is a blues form that celebrates the more earthly pleasures of life, usually through the liberal use of double entendre. Selections here range from the somewhat subtle (Coldest Stuff in Town) to the obvious (Please Warm My Weiner). While some of the performances are, shall we say, unpolished, others display some fine musicianship, especially on guitar. I especially like the fact the Yazoo does not overprocess the original material, opting to include musical content at the sake of leaving a little noise. If you are unfamiliar with this genre, this is an excellent starting point. If you like hokum, you'll be very pleased with this selection. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Oh YEAH!
It's real! It's raw! It's gut-level! There is no slick production work. They didn't clean it up so it'll go down easy. It's down home cookin' - none o' this fancy white tablecloth eats. It's from the soil and you can taste the dirt! You ain't gonna like it at first, but it's gonna become part o' yo' soul an' then you gonna crave it.

An amazing slice of Americana
I never knew this music existed -- until I got this CD. What great stuff! I especially like the "Denomination Blues" played on the rare pianola. It has an amazingly delicate sound, with lyrics sometimes funny, sometimes quite poignant. Also great is "City of Refuge" (what a gruff voice!), the fabulous harmonies of "Stay on the Right Side" (did Take 6 study the Blue Chips?), and the calmly confident "Jesus Gonna Make up my dying Bed." This is "religious" music sung by people who really believed what they were singing - and it shows! ... Read more