Best Of The Blues 1959-1968 [Box set]

Newport Folk Festival | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 10, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1959
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Vanguard Records
• ASIN: B00005AKJG
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,563 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Sliding Delta - Mississippi John Hurt

2. Candy Man - Mississippi John Hurt

3. Coffee Blues - Mississippi John Hurt

4. Stagolee - Mississippi John Hurt

5. Here I Am Lord Send Me - Mississippi John Hurt

6. Pallet on Your Floor - Mississippi John Hurt

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Levee Camp Blues - Robert Pete Williams

2. Midnight Boogie - Robert Pete Williams

3. On My Way from Texas - Robert Pete Williams

4. Freddie - Mance Lipscomb

5. So Different Blues - Mance Lipscomb

6. God Moves on the Water (The Sinking of the Titantic) - Mance Lipscomb

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. The Woman I'm Loving, She's Taken My Appetite - Paul Butterfield Blues Band

2. Baby Please Don't Go

3. Shake That Thing

4. Tupelo

5. Bus Station Blues

6. Let's Make It [#]

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

These three CDs document some of the greatest moments of culture shock in American music. Most of the bluesmen who first came to Newport had never played before audiences so attentive, large, or white. And those listening had never experienced anything like Skip James's blood-chilling whine, Reverend Gary Davis's furious testifying, or Mississippi John Hurt's twirling melodies. Most of the audience, in fact, assumed the bluesmen were dead. As a cinematic sweep of just what made those countercultural gatherings so exciting and diverse, this set is an unqualified success (though the rather arbitrary and ahistorical sequencing by blues subgenre is as puzzling as the omission of specific performance dates). While many tracks have long been available on other compilations, the unreleased cuts, 11 in all, are revelations, especially Muddy Waters and Otis Spann strutting through "Flood" and John Lee Hooker sinking into the scary groove of "Let's Make It." --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Collection Of Live Performances, March 12, 2002

By 

Gavin B. (St. Louis MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Of The Blues 1959-1968 (Audio CD)

If there is a better collection of live blues than this Newport 3 CD set, I haven't heard it. This stunning CD covers 10 years Newport performances during the height of the folk blues revival in the early 60's. Many of the artists were rediscovered by blues enthusiasts like John Fahey, Al "Blind Owl" Wilson and Sam Charters by canvassing remote areas of the south and locating the M.I.A.s of the 1920-30s "race" records. Some of these performers were presumed to be dead, and Newport was their first time in front of an audience in decades. There is not a single throw-away among 16 performers and the 51 (count 'em!)cuts here.

Vangaurd Records is to be commended for making the right artistic choices in thier production of this CD. Many of these performances had been floating around for years on other Newport collections. Producer Tom Vicker devoted an entire disc to each of these three categories: delta blues, country blues and urban blues. There is a sense of continuity on each disc without any jarring segues. Engineer Jeff Zaraya captures the warm analogic glory of the orginal performances and wisely chooses not to edit out foot stomping, hand clapping and crowd noises. Zaraya's mastering work captures the passion of the living blues and he avoids the mistake of reducing the performances to sterile museum piece curiosities.

The scope of performers is staggering. Son House, self proclaimed mentor of Robert Johnson, whose piercing slap-time steel guitar was the alter-ego to his gritty emotional baritone. Skip James, ghost of the delta, sings in his haunting falsetto with his mastery of complex right hand poly-rhythymic bassline fingerpicking. Jesse Fuller, San Francisco's one man band, plays his ramshackle ragtime blues. Mississppi John Hurt demonstrates his wry humor and his delicate five finger picking of his brillant orginal music. Polished performers like Muddy Waters and Brownie McGee know how to pace a show and work the crowd. Harlem's Rev. Gary Davis' does "old time religion" gospel shouting and precision ragtime picking. The suprise is an obscure ex-con, Robert Pete Williams with his eerie "stream of consciousness" lyrics and elliptical song structures. Robert Pete Williams, more than any of the performers, is connected to the roots of West African folk music. By my own count, John Lee Hooker was the last performer on these recordings to die(June 21, 2001). These astounding Newport performances are, at once, a historical document, a tribute to the diverse artistry of American blues, and some of the most passionate and riveting music I've ever heard. An essential for anyone collecting blues or roots music.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues in the Open Air, April 18, 2001

By 

daveguy "daveguy" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Of The Blues 1959-1968 (Audio CD)

The Newport Folk Festival in the 1960's regularly featured blues artists; from Son House to the Butterfield Blues Band, acoustic to electric: Mike Bloomfield was on hand with Butterfield in '65 and wound up backing Bob Dylan in his now-near-mythic "coming out" as a rocker. This new anthology of Newport blues supercedes and expands upon the "Blues With a Feeling" set, leaning heavily on the acoustic, but including some essential electric performances. The rawness and authenticity of these artists will excite anyone with ears for this kind of music. Essential for blues fans, and a real bargain as a three-CD set. Highly recommended.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure trove, February 26, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best Of The Blues 1959-1968 (Audio CD)

It's almost hard to believe that this CD exists. So many excellent performances by legendary bluesmen like Son House, John Lee Hooker, Skip James, Muddy Waters and a whole host of others, all recorded live at the legendary Newport Folk Festival. And the sound is amazing, crisp and clear.

Disc one opens with a six-song set by "Mississippi" John Hurt which includes "Candy Man" and "Stagolee", and also includes two spooky songs by an ailing but still-powerful Nehemiah "Skip" James, four songs by Son House, and songs by Bukka White and Fred McDowell, as well as two excellent acoustic solo performances by Muddy Waters. House's "Death Letter Blues" and "Empire State Express", Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be Satisfied", and Skip James' "Devil Got My Woman" are among the highlights, but there aren't really any "lowlights".

Disc two features a great little set by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, a wonderful rendition of Sleepy John Estes' "Clean Up At Home", three excellent songs by the underrated Robert Pete Williams, and several other fine performances, including Mance Lipscomb's version of Blind Willie Johnson's scary "God Moves On The Water", and Jesse Fuller's "San Francisco Bay Blues" (which you may have heard Eric Clapton cover on his "Unplugged" album).

On disc three, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins plays an electric guitar (gasp!) on a great, swaggering "Baby Please Don't Go", and is backed by drummer Sam Lay on "Shake That Thing". John Lee Hooker lays down haunting versions of "Tupelo" and "The Great Fire Of Natchez", as well as a gritty "Boom Boom". Muddy Waters is accompanied by pianist Otis Spann on a great, swinging "Blow Wind Blow". And the 6'6" John L. "Memphis Slim" Chatman plays a version of "How Long" to rival that of Leroy Carr himself.

The vast majority of these performances are acoustic, and there is a lot of wonderful acoustic slide guitar here...Muddy Waters, Son House, Fred McDowell, Mance Lipscomb, and Bukka White all play ringing bottleneck phrases. Sonny Terry blows his customary harmonica, and Memphis Slim and Otis Spann both contribute some excellent piano playing. And while many of these songs have been available on various LP and CD releases before, "Best Of The Blues 1959-1968" includes almost a dozen previously unreleased recordings, of which Sonny Terry's & Brownie McGhee's "Drink Muddy Water", "How Long" by Memphis Slim, and John Lee Hooker's "Let's Make It", are among the greatest.

This collection is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the 60s blues revival, or just acoustic blues music in general, and you won't believe the fidelity. A wonderful two hours and fifty-three minutes of music.