CD-Charts Position 161
Average Rating:

A Ass Pocket of Whiskey

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: R. L. Burnside

Release Date June 25, 1996
If you're debating between Pocket of Whiskey and Mr. Wizard, I recomend getting Pocket of Whiskey. Although both are good and raw, Pocket of Whiskey definitley has a more groove oriented style to it. More melody too. It's about as raw and pure as you can get.

CD-Charts Position 162
Average Rating:

Back to the Crossroads: The Roots of Robert Johnson

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Various Artists

Release Date January 20, 2004
This CD is meant as a companion piece to the book "Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues" written by Elijah Wald.

The book is a scholarly investigation into the various musical, cultural, and business/economic influences that comprised the world in which Robert Johnson (RJ) created his music and his landmark recordings.

Elijah Wald's research suggests RJ was not the tortured artist recluse who single-handedly invented the Delta Blues. Rather, Wald suggests - with full respect for the talent and genious of the man - Robert Johnson was a talented and skilled entertainer of the time who listened to and mastered many of the diverse contemporary music styles of his time - and then he created his ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 163
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The Deep River of Song: Alabama

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Various Artists

Release Date November 13, 2001
A couple weeks after 9/11, my sister and I caught Simon Shaheen playing at the Borders on State Street (I think it's on State) in Chicago, as part of the Chicago World Music Festival. Looking around after that concert, we stumbled upon a couple discs from the Deep River of Song series. One sample listen in the store to Vera Ward Hall on Another Man Done Gone and we were hooked. Shortly thereafter I was at the Rounder website finding about the deal they offered (not sure if they still do) if you bought the whole series at once, which is what I did.

In the years since these recordings were made, fad, fortune, the short American attention span, and often times rock-star comments have done much to distort the facts of America's black musics. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 164
Average Rating:

From Spirituals To Swing

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Various Artists

Release Date August 24, 1999
To me all the gold is in the prewar Count Basie Orchestra and this is the glue that holds together these recordings. Purely from the standpoint of Basieism, this is a crucial and important record.


The way that the sound has been remastered and recorded in this edition of the recordings, gives us the best real view of the Basie Orchestra on any live album I have ever heard that was cut before WWII, and better sound than some postwar live shots. Part of this is because of the superb natural acoustics of Carneige Hall. Part of this is that these concerts were recorded with actual recording equipment, while all the other live prewar Basie I know of are home wire recorder recordings of radio broadcasts.


We get to hear ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 165
Average Rating:

Blue Yule: Christmas Blues and R&B Classics

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Various Artists

Release Date September 10, 1991
Score one more for Rhino. This label really does know how to find obscure cuts and bring them into standout various artist collections. The only gripe I could have is this disk sounds a bit monaural in a mix, but I'll still use it--it's fun to mix up a little blues with the typical sugary Christmas sentiment.

What can I say about this collection that has not been said? Just add Lightning Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Canned Heat and the rest of the crew in and you've got a mix that'll make your season funky.

CD-Charts Position 166
Average Rating:

Blues Masters, Vol. 6: Blues Originals

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Various Artists

Release Date February 16, 1993
Most of the numerous entries in Rhino's "Blues Masters" series are very good, and this one is no exception.

This 1993 volume brings together 18 classic blues songs, all of which have been covered in one form or another by other blues, blues-rock or rock n' roll artists. Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" is the basis for Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy", Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right" was covered by Elvis Presley (as you may know!), Led Zeppelin have covered (or just stolen) several of these songs (the Muddy Waters-single "You Need Love" became "Whole Lotta Love"), and the Allman Brothers Band did a great rendition of G.L. Crockett's excellent, underexposed "It's a Man Down There".

... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 167
Average Rating:

Complete Early Recordings

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Reverend Gary Davis

Release Date September 15, 1994
This disc is full of unmatched guitar playing and ferocious vocals urging the listener to go to church and be redeemed. There is also a Blues song, "Cross And Evil Woman Blues", which sounds quite unlike all other Blues artists' repertoires. Though Gary Davis taught hundreds of students in the 1950s and 1960s, including Dave Van Ronk and Larry Johnson, he never played as well as he did on these seminal recordings.

CD-Charts Position 168
Average Rating:

Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: John Cephas, Phil Wiggins

Release Date June 23, 1998
According to the liner, John Cephas claims Rev. Gary Davis and Sister Rosetta Tharpe as major influences - you can scarcely make a claim better than that. Phil Wiggins learned with a street singer Flora Molton who is unknown to me. The result of the pairing of Cephas and Wiggins is a sound similar to Terry and McGhee - obviously in the instrumentation but also in the aesthetic sense of their blues.

This CD sounds like early work by a great duo - early work in the sense that it is well executed with feeling but lacks the depth of the blues that is in their major influence. Yet the sound is so good that I have no doubt that later albums will grow in subtlety.

It is difficult to choose a favorite track - The Richmond Blues which reminds me ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 169
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The Guitar & Banjo of Reverend Gary Davis

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Reverend Gary Davis

Release Date July 31, 2001
The Reverend Gary Davis is one of the exemplars of the blues. Many of his songs have been picked up by other artists and groups. For instance, the Grateful Dead took his rendition of Samson and Delilah and made it one of their concert favorites. There are many other blues and gospel songs, too. And he sure plays a mean banjo.

CD-Charts Position 170
Average Rating:

The Mississippi: River Of Song - A Musical Journey Down The Mississippi

CD-Charts > Music > Delta Blues
by: Manny Lopez Quintet

Release Date November 17, 1998
I don't normally write reviews, but since this great CD set has no review currently, I thought I'd make an exception. If you are passing by I urge you to give these tracks a listen. You'll find blues, gospel, rock, and various other tpyes of ethnic music. I've yet to play this to anyone who didn't like it. It's fun, it's moving and it's a great buy. Check out "Hilda the red-headed Swede".