Customer Reviews

Definitive Charley Patton

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The massive and super-sexy box of Charley Patton on Revenant is getting plenty of raves, and perhaps rightly so -- but the real bargain is here on a compact, handsome, and highly economical package from Catfish, a UK label. The recordings sound as good as they probably ever could (take that as meaning they are fun to listen to), and the booklet is nicely done. No lyrics are provided, but otherwise everything is just about perfect. And Patton himself is a revelation, perhaps not as dramatic as Robert Johnson at his best but a terrific performer -- and a voice that's going to get stuck in your head forever.

Want a nice box set of one of the greatest blues artists ever and don't have $150 for the Revenant set? Check this out. You won't be disappointed.

I waited with baited breath for this one an was not disappionted one bit. Catfish has really cleaned up the sound. REALLY!! There is a great and informative booklet with it as well as the box cover being a recently discovered advertisment of Charley sitting down which none of us knew existed. this music may not be for everyone,in fact some will find his vocals hard to digest because of his intimidating growl. At this price don't pass it up. Especially since the only other time his complete recorded output was released it was at a cost of $18 a pop per cd consisting of 3 pieces. Patton rules and rocks forever!!!!!

Although the Revenant boxed set is rightly lauded for its spectacular packaging and nearly overwhelming completeness, this Catfish set lacks just a couple of the Patton tracks on the Revenant, and the Catfish sounds better.

While many blues CD reissues are ruined by overprocessing in the transfers (nearly anything from Sony), Catfish has used processing judiciously to create the most listenable CD versions of these difficult sides. Revenant is definitely raw and in your face, like they just put the needle on the records and let them play, but Catfish strikes a great balance between taking the noise out and leaving the music in.

It helps that Catfish works from better sources, too. These 78s indicate significantly less groove wear and other distortion here than on the same tracks on the Revenant box.

If you can live without the few extra obscure Patton sides Revenant includes, you needn't worry about settling for this box -- you'll still get the best sound. In fact, if you're a Patton fan, you need the Patton set for the packaging and included materials, this one for the clearest transfers.

Mr Patton was one of the first black musicians to achieve real star status. He was probably born in Edwards, Mississippi in 1887, and could neither read nor write, yet he spelled his own name out loud : Not "Charley" but "C-H-A-R-L-I-E".

He was a source of inspiration to many blues singers and guitar players, Howlin' Wolf, Son House, Bukka White, John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson among them, and they in turn inspired countless others.

Patton's voice was deep and hoarse, yet immensely powerful - it was said that when he performed outside, his voice would carry for hundreds of yards without any kind of amplification.
He played a mean slide guitar, and is generally regarded as one of the first blues players to use the now-classic rhythmic twelve-bar pattern.
Patton's music was strongly rhythmic; he slapped his guitar to accentuate the rhythm, he stomped his feet, and snapped his E string (the deepest bass note) like a 70s funk bassist, and when you hear Charlie Patton, you can imagine what Howlin' Wolf must have sounded like when he started rocking up the juke joints in the late thirties.

This triple CD from Catfish records compiles nearly everything Patton ever recorded, and the remastering has worked wonders on the 70-year old 78s (none of Patton's original Paramount masters exist). Charlie Patton has finally escaped the hailstorm of surface noice which for decades greeted anyone who tried to listen to his songs, and the power and authority of his voice and guitar playing is amazing, at times even matching that of his contemporary, the great Son House. And that is saying something!

This is an essential document in the canon of the blues; indeed in that of modern popular music in general. One of the most important blues releases since the complete recordings of Robert Johnson twelve years ago.

Catfish Records has to be thanked a million for this inestimable reissue.One of the greatest monuments in the history of the 20th century's music.The complete recordings of Charley Patton,58 tracks,are incredibely precious for those who love the pre-war country blues (and,speaking of Patton,we can talk about pre-first World war country blues),and who only owned the marvelous two-lp Yazoo set (28 tunes).
This is very hard,rough,violent music,with many african influences;this is very old blues playing,a rural conception of this music,so far from many well known blues players.Patton's recording carreer happened between 1929 and 1934 (he died April 28,1934 of heart's disease,aged 43 or 47),and he mostly played alone,except for a few tunes with Henry Sims (violin,who also recorded with Muddy Waters for his very first recordings),his wife,Bertha Mae (vocals) and the gigantic Willie Brown (guitar,1900-1952,who recorded two outstanding tracks on May 28,1930, "M&O blues" and "Future blues").Charley was a bad guy,always running from a girl to another one,drinking like Tommy Johnson (a milestone in the art of drinking),and surely the most hallucinating blues singer and guitarist with McDowell,Skip James,Shines,Bukka White and the Johnsons (Robert and Blind Willie).I treasure this music for twenty years,and now I have thirty more tunes to listen to.There are too many masterpieces here to write about each of them; "Screamin' and hollerin' the blues" (with typical figures of Son House's playing),"Down the dirt road","Pony blues","When your ways get dark","Pea Vine blues","Tom Rushen blues",...
There is the extraordinary "Prayer of death",whiwh looks so much like Blind Willie Johnson,with some amazing slide playing by Charley (something he didn't do when he played the blues).Or "Lord I'm discouraged",in which Patton's voice is absolutely terrific.Patton's music really is the foundation of the blues,and reminds me a lot of an older obscure musician,"Texas" Henry Thomas,who was born around 1874 and recorded 23 tunes at the end of the twenties.Patton was the father of all the musicians of the Delta,and I wonder what Son House,McDowell and Muddy would have done if Charley wasn't here.Don't miss this music,this is and indispensable monument in the history of music.Even if the sound condition is often rather poor.You'll find some inconceivable treasuries in these 58 tracks,some of the most important ones ever waxed.Who taught Charley to play this music,sure we'll never know.But we can guess who would never have played if he hadn't been there.These recordings are essential for every blues addict.Don't miss this precious reissue.

Revenant's $150 box set has ten times the value of this $30 offering, but if you can find this trio of CDs well under list price, just ignore the "Definitive" marketing hyperbole and acquire the bulk of Charlie's magnificent career. Patton, of course, comes closer than anyone we know to having "invented" the blues. (W.C. Handy heard someone much like Patton in 1903 and immediately franchised the term for a fast-food version.)

Charley Patton was older than the younger Bluesmen (and Blueswomen) and he were more steeped in the medicine-show minstrel tradition as well;this goes to account for his (at times) unDelta sounding guitar work ('Delta' blues being a label spawned by the usual examples of Robert Johnson & Muddy Waters)and Patton is of historical importance as being a transitional artist bridging the barrelhouse ragtime tradition and the early Blues themselves.
Fine. Now about this set...it is an embarassment of riches musically (and it's music & not history that we buy records for is it not?)Pattons ragtimish contrapuntal finger style guitar meets Delta bottleneck slide guitar is nothing short of striking;his innate sense of percussive complexity enlightens numerous performances here.
The sound is very well mastered given that these all were Paramount 78s,and,while the Revenant Box set IS definitive it is also definitively EXPENSIVE...the Catfish box set here affords you the opportunity of taking in (almost) All of Patton's work at a VERY reasonable price....with excellent packaging and overall sequencing this set here I would urge every music lover to buy.Rap? Give me a Break! THIS is MUSIC!

This is the best sound quality of Charley (Charlie) Patton that I have heard yet. I owned the Yazoo LP and this blows that away. Definitive is more comprehensive and the sound quality is about as good as you will get for about 80% of his tracks. The intensity and passion are evident from the first listen and if you don't start moving when you hear Patton thump his guitar on the first track, you may wanna check yourself for a pulse. You have heard the name, read the stories now buy this CD and experience the founder of the Delta Blues

Charley Patton was the father of delta blues they say, and listening to him that seems in many ways a right title. He orginated many great blues classics as 'Spoonful blues' and 'Heart like railroad steel' as well as taking with him Son House, Louise Johnson and Willie Brown for a summer recording session in 1930. All great blues artists inspired by this man. Charley Patton was both a genius slide guitar player and an amazing singer. His voice was raw, powerful and sophisticated at the same time, and his all his songs were underlined by that wonderful slide guitar. Get a hold of this one and listen to the notes of a really great blues man.

an edit from years later... should have been written earlier but I forgot about this. I grew to hate this box. go for the jsp.