Customer Reviews

Complete Recorded Works (1926-30)

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This marvelous, and mostly sonically-sound, collection features late-1920s bluegrass tales of dying hobos, dying soldiers, suicidal lovers, murdered lovers, and "curley-headed" lovers, among other topics. Blind banjoist/guitarist Dick Burnett and his partner, fiddler Leonard Rutherford, are nothing less than superb, performing with spooky, almost psychic, concordance and casual, but utter, conviction. I won't bother to christen this material "authentic," since this is the stuff from which the concept springs. Highlights, in my book, are as follows: "Lost John," with a tune and a pattern of lyrics that cry out "Ida Red;" "Ramblin' Reckless Hobo," an assertive, perpetuum-mobile waltz that includes humanly-produced train effects and the lyrics, "My pocketbook is empty, and my heart is full of pain;" and "All Night Long Blues," whose lyrics are very much like Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor." And there is the Bob-Wills-style introduction to the rollicking "Ladies on the Steamboat," a number very much like Wilbur Sweatman's "Down Home Rag." And for those rock-history pundits who define rock and roll as country musicians playing the 12-bar blues, track the chord changes and count the bars in "Curley-Headed Woman." Finally, for those who believe bluegrass banjo was born just after the fall of Nazi Germany, "Going Around the World" (track 20) should provide an ample reality check, early-1929 style.

The sound quality throughout is mostly adequate to good, with a few tracks nearly obliterated by noise, but the music is fabulous. If you want "roots" music, this is it. A classy cover photo and an informative booklet, to boot. Buy, buy!

There are a handful of songs on an old Rounder Records LP entitled RAMBLING RECKLESS HOBO that aren't on this CD. Also, there are one or two unissued tracks that are not on this CD, although there are a few. So be wary if you're a completeist...

I'm very dissapointed in DOCUMENT, for now I don't know how many songs I'm missing out on in other collections. They usually tell you if songs are missing, but the book says nothing.

There's bluegrass; the golden oldies that even those who don't THINK they know the music KNOW - and then there's bluegrass; the real, dirt poor, backwoods stuff. This is that stuff. Burnett & Rutherford are also among the BEST at what they do - but unless a person can actually identify with the songs, rather than just listening to some music - this particular CD would be a little too intensely hillbilly to be enjoyed.