Blues From the Gutter
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (15 September, 1992)
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Reviews (1)

Immortal music from the master
Hey blues piano lover, I really think you should get hold of ALL of Champion Jack Dupree's recordings! Failing that, make absolutely certain you get this one - buy, beg, borrow, or steal.

Recorded as a stereo album in 1958 in New York, Jack never sounded better, backed here by a small group including sax and electric guitar. Every track is memorable: Strollin' - "All you got to do is put one foot in front of the other!"; Can't Kick The Habit; Junker Blues (revisited from 40's original); Nasty Boogie (it is!); Stack-O-Lee - "Stack-O-Lee, shot Billy De Lyon; and he shot him two or three times".

Only drawback is short playing time (37:17) but with quality like this... just play it again! I have twice given my copy away when I wanted to give someone a single blues CD - the music is accessible to all, and at the same time it's as blues as blues can be. ... Read more

Asin: B000002IUM
Sales Rank: 60340
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Louisiana Blues    3. New Orleans Blues    4. Piano Blues    5. Pop   

The Bluebird Recordings 1934-1938
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 February, 1997)
list price: $11.98
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Reviews (1)

Classic Chicago blues
I have heard Jazz Gillum on LP about ten years ago. It was just two songs, but I remember they made me want to hear more. Now I can listen to a whole CD by Gillum and I enjoy every minute of it. Gillum was a superb Harmonicaplayer with a sound that combined southern country blues with urban Chicagofeeling. Gillum could play the higher notes of the Harmonica better thenmost other bluesmen(note his "Harmonica stomp). He was also a goodsinger, with a sad voice that suited his mostly slow-medium tempo bluessongs.On all songs Gillum is accompanied by Big Bill Broonzy, and youknow he knew what he was doing ! Other contributers are Washboard Sam andBlack Bob, who make it somewhat of an All-Star session. "SarahJane" is a fast non blues song, but with blues feeling. "I wantyou by my side" is based on the "careless love" melody."Dont scandalize my name is also not in the blues structure."Jockey Blues" is an 8 bar blues. Besides these - the songsfollow more or less the same successful formula, which reminds me of SonnyBoy Williamson (not Rice Miller) and is just as good. Overall, the musichere is great and dynamic, and affords us a chance to hear one of the greatChicago bluesman in his top form. ... Read more

Asin: B000002WUQ
Sales Rank: 137050
Subjects:  1. Acoustic Chicago Blues    2. Blues    3. Country Blues    4. Pop    5. Prewar Blues   

West Side Soul
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (10 June, 1993)
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Editorial Review

Many believe this 1967 landmark, Sam Maghett's first full-length studio recording, is the greatest blues album ever made. While that assertion is awfully difficult to substantiate, these 11 gems (plus one alternate) certainly deserve hyperbolic praise. These cuts have a dramatically direct emotional appeal, a blunt, unfiltered artlessness that's rarely been achieved in an electric setting. Sam's spirited vocals come from his heart and his belly, not his brain. His guitar work is smoothly melodic, à la B. B. King with a bit more bite, frenetic and energetic like Buddy Guy, but with more taste. Since this Mississippi native died at age 32, this album sits in a mystical place in blues history: In many ways, it is to Chicago blues what Robert Johnson's meager output is to Delta blues. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (18)

No bluer blues
"West Side Soul" is true-blue city blues, an absolute must-own for anyone interested in the genre. Folk and rock and rap and jazz are great at times, but sometimes you just need the blues. And unless you're willing to swan dive into a vat of dye at the local Levi's factory, you can't get any bluer than this. Jazz has "Kind of Blue," but this is "Really, Really, Really Blue."

Magic Sam's career may have been far too short (he released this and the almost-equally-excellent "Black Magic" before dying of a heart attack at the age of 32), but he at least died untouched by mediocrity. And he lives up to his name; his guitar is as spellbinding as Merlin's wand. Quick picks, long lazy notes, subdued background segments, and beautiful guitar solos: Magic Sam summons them all from his instrument with the effortless ease of a sorcerer.

And his voice--Oh, what a voice! There's a moment on "I Need You So Bad" that may well be my favorite moment of human vocal performance in the whole history of recorded music. It's one of those nearly inarticulate wails, an "Oh, baby" that captures a life's worth of emotion in the space of a few short seconds. You just can't top it, folks.

And yet, I'm not sure that that's the best song on the album. His "Sweet Home Chicago" may well be the definitive rendition of that classic blues staple. And "My Love Will Never Die" is a scorcher, a wonderful slow-cooker full of simmering blues gumbo that has it all: smoky guitar work, fiery declarations of undying and unrequited love, and that certain spicy je ne sais quois that makes a song inexplicably greater than the sum of its parts.

Chicagoans (like myself) are required by city ordinance to like the blues. I'm no expert, but I've listened to my share of it, and I've found some great anthologies and some excellent albums--Junior Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues", B.B. King's "Live at Cook County Jail" and Buddy Guy's "Sweet Tea", to name but a few. Still I haven't found a better blues album than this one. Magic Sam, my love will never die.

Wicked Picking
West Side Soul is the definitive album by one of blues music's greatest guitarists and singers. Magic Sam (nee Samuel Maghett) had a booming soul-singer's voice, with a touch of aggressive blues-style delivery (think of an irate Otis Redding, or Screaming Jay Hawkins), which set him apart from other blues singers. He sounds like he means it when he says "you tend to your business, and I'll tend to mine" in the classic "I Don't Want No Woman." But what really puts him on the map, in my opinion, is his outstanding guitar work. His version of "Sweet Home Chicago" is the definitive one, and his picking on "I Need You So Bad" is some of the best blues guitar of all time. Definitely worthy of any music collection.

I know you got SOUL
With all respect for Wilson Pickett, the guys in the Commitments should have been striving to sound like Magic Sam.

This is some really great SOUL music; you can hear it in his voice and just feeeeel it coming through the speakers.

There's an early version of the Blues Brothers' classic "Sweet Home Chicago" which most people should be familiar with.

This really is a five-star record, and I'm not a fan of giving out five-stars willy-nilly like a lot of people on Amazon.

It's too bad Magic Sam's not as well known as some of the other great soul singers such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding; this one is just as good as any of the topnotch material....And it's (relatively) cheap!Do your CD collection a favor and buy it now. ... Read more

Asin: B000004BIF
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Chicago Blues    3. Electric Blues    4. Electric Chicago Blues    5. Modern Electric Blues    6. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    7. Pop   

Harlem Street Singer
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (11 March, 1993)
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Reviews (3)

"Blues" finds its hope in "Faith" via blind guitarist...
Gary Davis was born blind, black, and broke in South Carolina in 1896. Big obstacles, but he also was blessed with talent and got paid for his guitar-pickin' by the time he was a teen. Ordained as a minister at age 36, he changed his song inventory to Gospel and hymns exclusively. He ended up in NYC, performing at mostly Black churches and on the streets. In the late '50's, the "Folk Revival" of blessed memory provided him a brief celebrity beyond those venues. This album was recorded in 1960 at the Jersey jazz studio of the legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder. You get 44 minutes of soul survival stuff here, and any blues buff ought to own it. The more casual fan may have to listen a few times to really like Gary's vocals, but his guitar work is fun from the first chord. The recording quality is excellent. To me, the only flaw is that each song would have benefitted from one fewer sung verse, and one more instrumental passage. It's not that Gary's voice is any more rough than other bluesmen. The problem is that the lyrics of these church songs belabor the point and get a bit repetitious. Still, he was one of the best of his kind. Imagine him at 64, alone in the recording booth for three hours, doing 20 songs, of which these are supposedly the best takes of the best 12. He had not recorded anything in four years: in fact, he had only recorded in 1935, '54 and '56 prior to this August 24, 1960 session. On that day, Kennedy and Nixon were running for president, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Yankees were heading toward a classic World Series, and I was living about 40miles south of the studio, getting ready to begin 11th grade. Rev. Davis was doing somethingmore important: preserving the Black church songs of early 20th century for posterity.

The Best Davis Introduction Available
My collection includes all of The Reverend's recorded works. If you are going to buy just one Davis disc -- or if you are looking for a good introduction to this Blues/Ragtime master, "Harlem Street Singer" is unquestionably the best choice. The recording captures Davis at his most passionate vocally and at this top of his game as a gutarist. A lot of his early work suffers from poor recording technology, however this disc sounds like it was cut in a 21st Century studio.

I'm not a religious person, but Davis' music is almost enough to send me running to church. The piercing conviction of the lyrics and sycopated guitar in Twelve Gates, Great Change and Samson and Deliah still send chills of guilt up my spine.

As good as it gets.
If you enjoy both blues and gospel music, you will discover on this CD that for Reverend Davis there is no distinction between the two forms. Samson and Delilah and Death don't Have No Mercy were tunes that influencedThe Grateful Dead and other Rock bands, but here you get the full, originalimpact of these songs.

Reverend Davis was without question one of thegreatest blues guitar stylists ever, and this album captures some of hisstrongest recorded work. The importance and beauty of this recording cannotbe overemphasized! ... Read more

Asin: B000000XYN
Sales Rank: 92333
Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Arranger    3. Blues    4. Blues Gospel    5. Country Blues    6. Folk-Blues    7. Piedmont Blues    8. Pop   

Trouble in Mind [Smithsonian/Folkways]
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (22 February, 2000)
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Editorial Review

Mississippi-born blues singer and guitarist William Lee Conley Broonzy had two fairly distinct careers, each of them triumphant and influential. In the 1930s, he brought the rural blues of his Delta homeland to Chicago and added elements of jazz and hokum to create a more sophisticated, urbane, exciting style, essentially helping to pave the way for the Chicago blues sound. By the 1950s, when the electric Chicago sound he helped foster began to blossom, Broonzy had all but left that style behind. Instead, he began to perform traditional folk songs (and the occasional topical original) with only his voice and acoustic guitar and he became a key figure in the burgeoning folk boom. This highly appealing set comes from the latter period and finds him to be a scintillating and smooth vocalist, one capable of generating great emotion without losing his polish. His guitar work is subtly brilliant as well, a silky blend of single-note runs, forceful bends, tricky double stops, and articulate chords. It all comes together in effortless, unassuming fashion. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Broonzy's acoustic best
This "Trouble In Mind" compilation from the Smithsonian is the best collection of Broonzy's later period acoustic work. I think this is a better collection than the other 'best of' compilation ("Absolutely The Best" on Varese Records). The remastering on these tracks is excellent and they are the best sounding recordings of Broonzy I have ever heard. The songs here are all of his classics. The only thing that's disappointing is that they left off the track "Never Satisfied", which would have made this the ultimate collection of Broonzy acoustic blues songs. Highly recommended!

Complete album
I preferBig Bill's acoustic work over his electric work. This is a collection of acoustic songs from the last years of his life. He sings blues, folk, protest songs, gospel...all of that in this great collection. Extensive liner notes and the printed lyrics and notes for every song makes this CD a true gem. Includes some live recordings as well.

A great cornerstone to start a blues collection
Smithsonian Folkways did a great job capturing the essence of Big Bill Broonzy's sound. I've heard other albums and this is my favorite. The music is taken at the latter half of his career and establishes Broonzy as a master of the country blues/folk sound. A great album any blues fan should own. ... Read more

Asin: B000047872
Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Acoustic Chicago Blues    3. Blues    4. Country Blues    5. Pop    6. Prewar Blues   

Avalon Blues : Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (08 October, 1996)
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Editorial Review

Mississippi John Hurt recorded 13 country-blues songs for the Okeh Electric Records company in 1928. Then he vanished. Actually, he never went anywhere. Indeed, he never strayed from his hometown of Avalon, Mississippi. He simply put the guitar down. It was the Great Depression, times were tough, money was scarce, and he needed to work. Nearly 30 years later, a blues enthusiast tracked him down, took him back to Washington, D.C., and suddenly Mississippi John's musical career resumed as quickly as it had finished. He recorded again, but these first songs from the late 1920s--with John's melancholy voice and hypnotic guitar playing at its most inspired--are his greatest musical accomplishments. --Percy Keegan ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Delightful music, amazing sound
John Smith Hurt of Avalon, Mississippi wasn't really a bluesman. Sure, he had numerous blues tunes in his exceptionally broad repertoire, but he never regarded himself as a blues singer. His playing was just too refined and articulate, and his gentle voice too plain to work in a mass setting such as a dance; John Hurt's music was (and is) best heard in small, intimate gatherings.

Rediscovered in 1963 after 35 years of musical inactivity, John Hurt didn't even own a guitar when Tom Hoskins travelled to Mississippi to establish whether he was still among the living. He was, and he became the darling of the mid-60s folk crowd, but way back in 1928, when Hurt was in his mid-30s, he laid down these thirteen sides for OKeh, and they remain his ultimate musical statement.
These are the highly priced collector's items that initially made Hurt's rediscovery and idea worth pursuing...sheer musical perfection, with a keen sense of chord melody structure which makes John Hurt's bouncy, rhythmic playing sound both elegant and driving, topped as it is by his warm, pleasant voice.

He mixes spirituals, blues, and folk songs, coming off as a songster rather than a bluesman most of the time, and his versions of religious pieces like "Praying On The Old Camp Ground" and "Blessed Be The Name" are just beautiful.
These are the original incarnations of "Candy Man Blues", "Avalon Blues", "Nobody's Dirty Business", and Hurt's renditions of "Stack O'Lee", "Spike Driver Blues", and "Frankie". He went on to re-record almost all of these songs in the 60s, but these are the originals, and the ones on which his justifiable reputation rests. And the sound quality is truly amazing...would that we could one day hear Charlie Patton or Blind Lemon Jefferson or Son House's 1930 waxings this clearly.

Silky smooth vocals, gorgeous guitar,psychotic lyrics.
This truly is a treasure of early 20th century music.And the story of Mississippi John Hurt's "discovery" and renewed career at the end of his life in the 1960's is just wonderful. For his guitar playing skills the man is probably a virtuoso or a genius - or both.The syncopated fingerpicking is as delicate and intricate as a finely sewn needlework.And his voice is gentle and sweet. Musically it is easy to listen to and riveting at the same time.But - there is a catch here . . . in some of these songs, juxtaposed against the gentleness of the playing and singing, are lyrics that will make your jaw drop in shock at their sheer brutality.Some seem like they were written by a psychopath.He singsto a jaunty ragtime accompaniment in his sweet gentle voice: "one of these days I'm gonna wake up boozy, grab a gun and kill my Suzie".Mixed in with this are spiritual songs.One minute the guy's gonna kill his baby (and thinks that no one else should be concerned about it) and the next - he's praisin' the lord.Lyrically, this is stuff Charles Manson would relate to.In any event, the music is superb and most of the songs have relatively "normal" lyrics.The fingerstyle guitar playing is amazing and it alone makes this an album worth getting.Just tune out the bizarre lyrics in some of the songs.

Gently rockin' blues...
This cd has a variety it is no doubt blues, however Hurt is more versitile then just a blues singer, he is a masterful guitar player, who picks ragtime melodies, and sings folksy style, while gently rocking both vocally and instrumentaly.

Hurt was ahead of his time by 30 years, before the folk music scene was huge in the 60's, also he was looking back 20 years to the 1910's and ragtime.An interesting mix 1n 1928 lookin to the past and the future ta make some great original and truly unique and from the heart warming blues.

An essential cd is the bottom line ... Read more

Asin: B000002AEN
Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Revival    4. Country Blues    5. Delta Blues    6. Pop    7. Prewar Country Blues    8. United States of America   

Amazing Grace: Mississippi Delta Spirituals By The Hunter's Chapel Singers Of Como, Miss.
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (26 July, 1994)
list price: $12.98
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Editorial Review

This spellbinding blues-gospel blend from 1966 is one of the best (albeit not particularly broadly celebrated) revivalist records of the '60s. Tennessee-born Mississippi Fred McDowell was 64 when he cut the 16 tracks found here. Still, he was only a half-dozen years into a recording career that would end with his death in 1972. For this outing, the Delta bluesman explores his reverent side with assistance from his wife, Annie Mae, and their church choir from Como, Mississippi. With McDowell's assured guitar and fiery but friendly vocals in the fore, the choristers wrap themselves around the songs with enraptured ebullience. A few of these tunes will feel familiar to pop fans; "Jesus on the Main Line" was covered by Ry Cooder, while the Rolling Stones adopted "You Got to Move." Everything here, however, makes a deep connection. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Real Deal
The old time blues/gospel music on this collection is as real and raw as it gets. You'll recognize lots of the tunes but you have never heard them like this. If the first and last tracks of this album don't move you, you're half dead anyway!

Solid rural black gospel blues
Every track on this collection is solid rural blackgospel blues.Fred McDowell is joined in his vocals by his wife and three members of Hunter's Chapel in Como, Miss.McDowell accompanies the group on bottleneckguitar.

This is the powerful, raw blues polished not in the recordingstudio but in life.Their voices blend in an emotional range ranging fromrough and raw to nearly lyrical.Jesus Is On the Main Line could haveeasily come off a recording from the teens or twenties.You Got to Movehas a smoother, more forties and beyond sound.Amazing Grace is awonderful rendition with the voices interweaving - somewhat as if youmerged the call and response style with a lining out style -- the result isabsolutely spectacular.

A different kind of gospel
If you think Amazing Grace is a cliche, you probably haven't heard the very different rendition found on this album.

Simple, unembelished, and raw, the arrangements here bring out the emotional complexity, irony, andanger in southern black christianity.

Today's gospel music is all polishand electronic keyboards, attempting to appeal to young people through theinfusion of elements like rap.I wonder if there are many groups like thisleft today, delivering the music in a more "authentic" andultimately more satisfying way. ... Read more

Asin: B000003OQO
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop   

Medicine Show Man
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (20 July, 1999)
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Editorial Review

No mere sales pitch, the title of this record refers to Pink Anderson's 40-year tenure as a member of traveling medicine shows across the South. It's not surprising, then, that his brand of blues is lilting and lighthearted, intended as entertainment much more than spiritual or emotional release. As one of the most significant purveyors of the Piedmont country-blues style, Anderson covers a broad spectrum of traditions for his material--ragtime, minstrel, string band--and delivers it all with charisma and off-the-cuff charm. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Joyous Music
Pink Anderson, a songster in the style of Mance Lipscomb, Blind Willie McTell and Mississippi John Hurt rather than a bluesman,spent 42 years as a medicine show man, entertaining the crowds with slyly witty songs. This album, the second of three wonderful recordings made by Bluesville in 1961, features this repertoire.

He sings with great elan and enjoyment, even if his fingers sometimes slip a little. Highlights include "In the Jailhouse Now (recorded by Blind Blake and Gus Cannon), "Chicken" (also recorded by Bill Williams) and the wonderful "Travelin' Man" (similar to Luke Jordan's classic version). "Greasy Greens" is full of innuendo and performed with gusto, whilst, just to raise the tone at the end, "I'm Going to Walk" is a gospel tune.

This is a delightful album: recommended without hesitation. If only Pink Floyd could play like this!

Among the more entertaining of the Andreson collections
[...], I'm prejudiced when it comes to brother Pink being that we're both from Spartanburg, SC where he is well remebered. That said, objectively speaking this is one of the more entertaining of the Pink collections. The songs here are rather funny and clever and it captures the spirit of being at his old house on Spartanburg's South Forest Street (where he actually recorded these tunes) entertaining his neighbors. "I've Got Mine," He's In the Jailhouse Now," "Greasy Greens" and "Travelin Man" (the latter is actually a PC remake of a minstrel show tune [....]) will give you the feeling of old fashioned fun.

Inspirational Blues Artist; SYD BARRETT named 'PINK' FLOYD
This blues album is very high quality blues! Pink Andersoninspired Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd, to so entitle the psychedelic rockband, fighting off other titles such as the abdabs, and sigma 6, syd named his band after Pink Anderson, this legendary blues artist who's music is found here, and Floyd Council, yet another blues artist, thus coming up with Pink Floyd.

This album will be something that will stick with you for life, and you ears will be blessed with the great blues sound of the south.

Simon recommends this album, and a great buy here at Amazon.Com. ... Read more

Asin: B00000JQKF
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop   

The unbelievable raw talent of a young Milton Campbell is in grand display on this collection of early-1950s Sun classics. Milton hadn't yet honed his blend of cutting electric blues, New Orleans-style R&B, and deep country soul; he seemed at this point to move from one to the other rather than trying to fuse them into a cohesive style. The payoff here, however, is in his ferocious delivery, both in terms of his vocal performance and his steely guitar work. Fueled by Ike Turner's pumping piano, Milton assuredly blisters his way through a range of his own material, offering buzzing, razor-sharp guitar flurries and soulful vocal moans, and reminding us once again of Sun's prestigious origins as a blues label. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Asin: B0000002C3
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Electric Blues    3. Pop    4. R&B    5. Soul-Blues   

The 'Spoon Concerts
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (11 July, 1989)
list price: $18.98 -- our price: $18.98
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Features

• Live

Reviews (1)

Jimmy's Fusion
I went on a 6 month trip with only a few tapes to listen to and this was one of them.And man did I listen!I probably played this album 100 times, and never got sick of it.This album is one of, if not the best fusions of blues and jazz that I've heard.If you're at all interested, then buy this one.It moves from slow to fast seamlessly and old Jimmy's even got a song dedicated to his mother in the audience.Its a good 'un. ... Read more

Asin: B000000XEY
Sales Rank: 175230
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Jazz Blues    3. Jump Blues/Piano Blues    4. Pop    5. Urban Blues   

This exceptional two-CD set proves that Swingtime Records was not just a stopping point for many blues legends, but also an important label in the development of African American music. Through the purchasing of masters from smaller labels or recording artists under contract, owner Jack Lauderdale unwittingly created a gene pool for the next generation of the blues. With each track, you can hear the pieces falling into place and new styles being born. Lowell Fulson drags the wild child of rural blues to the city with "Every Day I Have the Blues." Jimmy Witherspoon defines Kansas City blues shouting on "Ain't Nobody's Business Pt. 1." And with "Kissa Me Baby," a young Ray Charles emerges from the long shadow of Charles Brown to create a new music called soul. The unsung heroes shine too. Just listen to the grooves pianist Lloyd Glenn, bassist Billy Hadnott, and sax man Earl Brown lay down on Lowell Fulson's "Blue Shadows." Pure R&B magic. --Ken Hohman ... Read more

Features

• Box set

Asin: B000003CL5
Subjects:  1. 40's    2. 50's    3. 60's    4. Electric Blues    5. Jazz Blues    6. Jump Blues    7. Piano Blues    8. R&B    9. Soul    10. Swing    11. Urban Blues    12. West Coast Blues   

The Lone Cat Sings and Plays Jazz, Folk Songs, Spirituals and Blues
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (01 July, 1991)
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Reviews (3)

Bob Weir Fans Should Hear This
On the Grateful Dead's first LP, Bob covered "Beat It On Down The Line." And on 1981's live acousticreleaseReckoning Bobby sings "Monkey and the Engineer." It's pretty easy to deduce that Bob got the tunes from owning this album back in the early days in SF, CA. So ... for those who enjoy probing the sourcebooks of their musical heroes ... Here's an original: Jesse Fuller.

This is the best Jesse Fuller release
Jesse was a friend of mine.We meet several times once in East Park, Georgia. He sat on the porch and sang for hours playing an old Sears Silvertone 12 string guitar.Many of the songs sung that day were fromthis recording, which was originally released on Goodtime Jazz.Jessealways wanted to be on the Ed Sullivan show.May his soul rest in peace.

Jesse is what blues is all about.
I was at Jesse's coffee shop concert in Seattle in 1958.Was an amazing performance of Original Blues from a master artist. Still have his 78 album. ... Read more

Asin: B000000XXS
Sales Rank: 180589
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Revival    3. Country Blues    4. Folk-Blues    5. Pop    6. Prewar Country Blues    7. West Coast Blues   

Josh White Sings The Blues & Sings Volumes 1 & 2
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (28 February, 1995)
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Reviews (1)

Great Blues
Josh White can rip your heart out with his blues, especially on songs like "One Meat Ball" (my personal favorite) and "Strange Fruit" (an even stronger version than Billie Holliday's).He has an intensity and style all his own, and I found this album to be a good cross-section of his work.His clear, pure voice adds to the pathos in an ironic way, and the accompanying guitar work is excellent.When you listen to his music, you get a real feel for what it's like to be down with no hope of ever getting up.His artistic mastery is unsurpassed. ... Read more

Asin: B0000008XI
Sales Rank: 64491
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop