Customer Reviews

Back to New Orleans

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This CD collects two early Bluesville LPs (their first and fourth), recorded in 1960 (a major year for recordings for both Brownie and Sonny). The feeling on both LPs is very relaxed and laidback; most of the tunes are standard 12-bar blues (A-B-C and A-A-B formats) with a couple of 8-bar blues and one 16-bar ballad thrown in. Verses are out of the standard blues repertory.

Brownie does most of the singing, though Terry joins on occasion for duets, and Sonny gets a few spots all to himself as well. Brownie's voice is clearly enunciated and mellow, and his accoustic guitar makes for perfect accompaniment. Terry, of course, blows harp and that axe is featured on folky items like FOX HUNT. There is a consistency to the high quality of the performances here that makes choosing highlights impossible: lets just say the whole CD is great. Definitely worth checking out.

WONDERFUL MUSIC and MUSICIANSHIP. Highly recommended and great value. Two albums on 1 CD.

A must have for your blues collection with good harp licking from the blind man.Originally released as a double LP.Very Basic raw blues.Get into it, All The Best,Peace!

Recently I reviewed in this space a DVD of "Rainbow Quest", a 1960's television show hosted by Pete Seeger, one of the premier folk anthologists, singers, transmitters of the tradition and "keeper" of the folk flame. One of the segments of that particular documentary (there are five in this series) featured Pete interviewing, playing along with and listening to the well-regarded folk/blues duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Needless to say after watching that performance I went scurrying for my Sonny and Brownie CDs. Mainly the work that I have of theirs is in compilations with other artists like Big Joe Williams but the present CD is a total solo Terry and McGhee effort. It is something of a greatest hits compilation. In any case, it can serve as a decent primer of the work of the pair, especially for those unfamiliar with their long careers.

Pete Seeger's relationship with Sonny and Brownie went back to the days of the Almanac Singers (that included Woody Guthrie) and New York City in the early 1940's. That above-mentioned segment gives some details about various goings on of those times and the genesis of some of the songs that are sung in the set. I have read elsewhere that at some point in their joint careers Sonny and Brownie stopped talking to each other even as they continued their professional lives together. Here, at least, they appeared to be civil to each other as the combination of Brownie's guitar and vocals, Sonny's smokin' harmonica and accompaniment by Pete on the banjo is a rare treat.

The CD is in the same highly professional mode as that of the television performance. It is only necessary to add a few comments about what to listen for here. To highlight Brownie's vocals and guitar playing and Sonny's harmonica the traditional blues classic about a man who went over the edge to please his lady and paid the price you can hardly do better than "Betty and Dupree's Blues" (also has been done in other variations by other artists under different titles, but the story line is the same). Elizabeth Cotton's super classic "Freight Train" is well-covered. A couple of novelty-type songs round out this selection, "Let Me Be Your Big Dog" and "Fox Hunt". Whether they talked to each other or not Sonny and Brownie were a potent combo spreading the blues gospel.