Customer Reviews

At Home with the Blues

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Without a doubt the title should read "The Best Of Willie Foster" This is the best recording that I have heard of willie Foster.I love the percussion on the first song of the album.

"Fine example of Mississippi Delta Blues. Willi

I just want to say my father music is the best blues out there, not just because he's my father but his music is excellent, his wordings and love for blues made me all the woman I need to be. I was taught by the best about life and men. The profanity like most blues my father never used. This CD is all about LOVE, and loving everybody. The CD Willie Foster(At Home With The Blues) is EXCELLENT!

No, Willie Foster was not just one blues-harp player among many others ; he was an amazing bluesman, a great harmonica player, and a wonderful singer, with that complaining voice that goes straight to your heart. But his life full of trouble (misery, prison, psychiatric hospital, etc.) never allowed him to lead the musical career he could have had. Finally, he only recorded some 45's in the fifties, and 5 cds at the end of his life : all of them are very good with some gutwrenching moments, but this one is very weak : Willie couldn't be bad, but the sound is poor, and the production is awful. Try any other cd from Willie, except this one.

Little Willie Foster was one of the many second or third rank blues players who somehow became "legendary" once the real legends had all died off. Not to say that his music isn't enjoyable, but there are many CDs out there by guys just like him, and almost none of them have anything to offer that differentiates them from one another. Foster's music might best be described as a somewhat watered down mix of Howling Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson #2. If you're looking for truly original and/or important harp blues, buy a CD by Junior Wells, James Cotton, George "Harmonica" Smith, Sonny Boy Williamson #2, Big Walter Horton, or Little Walter. If you've got all those and you're looking for the next best thing, get a CD by Carey Bell, Billy Branch, Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, or William Clarke. If you've already got all those and are still digging deeper, pick up something by Easy Baby, Little Arthur Duncan, Raful Neal, Johnny Dyer, Wild Child Butler, or this guy, Willie Foster.