Customer Reviews

Complete Early Recordings

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The eighteen songs presented on this CD may, if allowed, cause the listener to re-define their standards of what personal expression in music might be. Skip James' music has been called strange and idiosyncratic. If these terms are adequate to describe sound that resists all attempts to pigeonhole and categorize, than perhaps they apply. These surviving sides, recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin, in 1931 (not 1930 as the title of this disc would indicate, the only flaw in this otherwise perfect presentation) show James as someone who chafed against existing musical idioms. Rather than subscribe to a pat or pre-figured means of communication, Skip James created his own unique means of expression through sound, depicting a unique world-view in an equally unique series of sonic vignettes, each one full of beauty and terror.

We have come to regard James as a blues musician, although very little of this music fits into the conventional blues idiom. This music embodies the sense of pain and the desire to transcend that pain that most blues music supposedly (but seldom actually) expresses. The songs address living with an unabashed intensity. They speak of surviving economic hardship, lost love, reckless living, and travel. They sometimes aspire to salvation, although this salvation always seems distant or chimerical. The world they articulate is one suffused with pain, joy and the threat of violence. In this, James' music is a very distant cousin to Guns n' Roses Appetite For Destruction, another group of songs founded upon a desire to live life in spite of extreme self-loathing.

To critique the audible surface noise present on the 78 source records is a bit like dismissing a Vermeer painting because the paint has crazed slightly in the centuries since it was painted. In some cases, Yazoo has used the only surviving copy of an original 78 as source material. Given these parameters, this disc sounds wonderful, especially when compared with other versions of these same recordings that have been previously available .

Skip has sometimes been compared with Robert Johnson - but their similarities are superficial, and comparisons between them most often stem from their common apocalyptic imagery and use of the Devil as an overt lyrical presence. Robert Johnson was a dance musician. His arrangements prefigured the band-driven sound of postwar electric blues. Skip James' music is not for dancing - his rhythms are frequently changing within songs and even within measures. It is impossible to imagine him recording with other musicians - the very private and exclusive essence of his expression precludes collaboration. His entire being, as evidenced in his sometimes ethereal, sometimes in-your-face guitar and piano playing, was devoted to finding a personal course of survival in a world plagued on all sides by hardships.

If you open yourself to this sound, you may find the most personal and private of rewards. If the music is not enough, I recommend reading Stephen Calt's provocative and engrossing biography of Skip James, "I'd Rather Be The Devil: Skip James and the Blues" (Da Capo, 1994).

For any fan of blues or "old-timey" music, Nehamiah "Skip" James' early recordings are essential.

What we have is every surviving cut James recorded for Paramount way back in the 1930s. Together, these provide perhaps the most emotional and musically complex pieces of the era. Foremost, James was an exceptional guitarist and while the blues format is inherently simple, he adds a prodigy's complexity to the basic structure.

But his voice is what grabs you. In each song, he expresses fragility and heartbreak like no other bluesman, perhaps surpassing even his famous contemporaries Son House and Robert Johnson. His eerie falsetto combined with hair-raising moans will make any listener shiver.

On several of these tracks, James puts down the guitar and plays piano--and while I'm not a traditional fan of piano blues, I cannot under-appreciate his ingenuity on the keyboard. Abandoning all standards, James will literally bang the keys before breaking the rhythm, all while stomping a beat with his feet. I feel sorry for the poor sap who attempts to transcibe his songs.

They're all here, folks: "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" of recent "O Brother" fame; "Devil Got My Woman"--my personal favorite, it's opener is the best line of any blues song ("Lord, I'd rather be the devil than be that woman's man..."); "22-20 Blues"--the basis for Robert Johnson's "32-20"; "Cypress Grove", "Cherry Ball"; so many greats.

A few will complain about the sound quality. But I can't. The guys at Yazoo have done a tremendous job of removing as much of the hisses and pops as possible, and frankly, I think these songs sound pretty darn good. But keep in mind that this isn't the album you are going to test out on your new $10,000 stereo. No, the historical significance and sheer musical genius are what make this CD essential.

Words can only say so much. If you have the slightest appreciation for music, you will not be disappointed.

If you thought the "revival" records and performances Skip James did in the 1960s were good, these originals are on an entire different level. They are so deep musically, dramatically, emotionally, rhytmically, they are so unique, they are such complete works of art, that as several other reviewers have pointed out, that they are NOT for light listening, they are NOT for the faint of heart, they are NOT for those whose dont like original African American or traditional folk music, they are NOT for people who can't appreciate great art.

James plays with a unique major-minor style and rhythmn native to the small area of Mississippi he came from. Yes, there are other players in that area, few recorded, who played in the same modal blues style that skip played and played some of the same tunes.

However, no one can can get you as deep out in the Mississippi Midnight you might not ever come back alive Piney Woods nights of love, death, struggle and pain as Skip James does. As excellent as Robert Johnson is, his music is easy listening music compared to this!

The little subheading on this album is more accurate than you can imagine: strange, complex, and the most bizarre blues ever. Everything I thought the blues was supposed to be about I found in Skip James, both his words and his sound. While his piano playing is tough to get a feel of, his guitar moans with dark forbodings that thrust you perfectly into disturbing moods. A lot of bluesmen refer to the devil, and with James, you can hear it in the music. His lyrics offer no sanctuary, and their emphasis on anger, jealousy, and pain complete the darkness the music initiates. Don't be fooled, this album is not for the faint of heart. It is the musical equivalent to an Edgar Allen Poe tale of terror, or Conrad's _Heart of Darkness_. James is the Black Sabbath of blues. So while his musicianship is unprecented, he might be a little too good at it. You can let that decide whether or not this is the kind of stuff for you.

You often hear the phrase "the poetry of the Blues" used by writers to describe certain artists,and while it's (usually) deserved,the case of Skip James is emphatically POETRY.
The deal is this : his stunning guitar mastery AND that bone-chilling falsetto vocal resulted in some of the most enigmatic and hauntingly beautiful Music (irregardless of Blues,Jazz,or whatever) ever committed to phonograph recordings.
I am a Hot Jazz nut who had this material on an early '70s Biograph LP which had so muffled the surface noise as to be akin to hearing the music over a telephone! The digital mastering here is realistic,-face it,Paramount discs were the dirt-cheapest things made on the market,and surviving 78s are in such poor condition as to be FRAGILE beyond description.Unfortunayely,luck would have it that so much stellar music of the time was waxed for a label like Paramount!
That said,the MUSIC herein is nothing short of brilliant;James deserves his reputation as a haunting and evocative artist,that falsetto singing will send a chill up your spine...try to hear "Devil Got My Woman" without the hairs standing on back of your neck...ditto "Cherry Ball Blues"....and there's the virtuoso guitar piece "I'm So Glad" (apologies to Eric Clapton & Cream but they just couldn't touch the original!) and the spiritual songs are lovely (James struggled with the notion of becoming a deacon at one time).
Along with my Jelly Roll Morton CDs,this music is precious to me and I strongly feel that in the case of THIS cd it is possible to give an unconditional gaurantee of satisfaction....BUY IT TODAY!!!
And this IS poetry here,think of Skip as the Coleridge or Dylan Thomas of the Blues,,,yes,I know that's a tall order but its the Godspeed Truth.I do not undersell Robert Johnson (I have HIS cds as well) But James came first and he deserves your love and attention.
God bless you all.Thanks.

You have never seen the end of the world until you've been to Bentonia, Mississippi. I stood there for about a half hour, in between the sno-cone truck and the funky little "Fast Food" shed, leaned up itself against a country garage where ten or fifteen disconsolate looking men hung around watching a lone mechanic work on a car. A freight train pulling no more than four cars rattled through and I remembered reading that, when Skip James used to sing on a Bentonia street corner, people paid him just to stop: his songs were that sad. This is some of the most genuinely mournful and haunting music you will ever hear.

Beautifully performed meditations on loneliness, death, and fleeting happiness. James' delicate, complex guitar work (reminiscent of the otherworldly A.C. Forehand) and intimate falsetto vocals are without peer in conveying despair. Deeply sad and personal music.

The fidelity on this disc is poor due to it being re-mastered from 78's. If you are interested in the historical aspects of this recording, it's fine. If you want to hear better fidelity, Blues from the Delta may be a better choice. Skip James is fantastic!

Fans of Robert Johnson's should probably also be aware of Mr. James. Their styles are relatively similar; with the main exception being that Johnson is more virtuosic while James is more versatile (Skip James also plays piano). Also, James pre-dates Johnson by about 7 or so years. The recording is pretty rough at times (towards the end, some of the songs are pretty static-y) but the rawness of emotion remains intact. Most of these songs are pretty depressing, but it's the BLUES. These songs have been pretty well mined by classic rock bands in the late 60's (Hard Time Killing Floor {Led Zeppelin/Butterfield Blues Band}, I'm So Glad {Cream}) and it's easy to see why.

You have to listen hard to get past the surface noise on these 1930 recordings. Many of the originals exist only in single copies and time was not any better to them than it was to James himself. But if you are only familiar with the later recordings he made after being "re-discovered", you have to hear these original sessions.
His voice, his guitar, his staccato piano work are amazing in these recordings. Thirty years later all had faded to one degree or another, but particularly the voice. Hear the original, do the work. You'll find the education worth the effort. If you are a blues person you NEED this CD.