Customer Reviews

Essential Taj Mahal

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Condensing Mahal's lengthy catalog into a two-disc set is a nearly impossible task. To make it work, Columbia pulled together material from its own vaults (representing Mahal's recordings from 1967 to 1976), as well as sides from Warner Brothers (1977), Gramavision (1986, 1991), Private Music (1991 to 1998) and Hannibal (1999 to 2000). That's a healthy chunk of Mahal's oeuvre, shorting a few children's albums from the late '80s and recent works that are readily available. To insure that the arc of these two discs reflected the self-portrait Mahal painted across his recording career, they left the track selection to the artist.

The thirty-six selections do an admirable job of reflecting Mahal's deep roots in the blues and the excursions of discovery and synthesis that have kept his records vital for over thirty years. Columbia's earlier 3-disc set "In Progress & In Motion 1965-1998" offers more tracks, but many of them were unreleased or rare works aimed at collectors. This Essential set provides a more focused helping of Mahal's regular releases. In comparison, disc one of the Essential set mostly duplicates tracks offered on the box set, adding only "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" "Country Blues #1" and "Happy to Be Just Like I Am." Disc two, on the other hand, provides 11 (of 18) tracks that weren't on the box. These include works from his year on Warner Brothers ("Love Theme in the Key of D") and several sides released by Private Music and Hannibal. I've always found the earlier sides to be more compelling, but a balanced retelling of Mahal's music requires a spin of the later work.

In addition to stellar blues tracks (including early work recorded with Ry Cooder, Jesse Ed Davis and Al Kooper, and some truly fine National steel-body guitar picking), there are great surprises in Mahal's catalog. Goffin & King's Brill Building classic "Take a Giant Step" (famously recorded by The Monkees") is turned to island folk, and the trucker standard "Six Days on the Road" takes a blues turn that's still suitably pill-fueled. His excellent work with brass (particularly tuba master Howard Johnson) is represented by a 1971 live-at-Fillmore-East recording of "Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie (Anymo')" and 1972's "Cakewalk Into Town." Also from 1972 is the unusually arranged "Texas Woman Blues," with the Pointer Sisters adding vocal harmonies to Mahal's lone bass accompaniment. The Pointers gospel-influenced vocals also provide the decoration for Mississippi John Hurt's "Frankie & Albert."

Mahal's collaborations with Etta Baker, Hall & Oates, Sheryl Crow, and players from Little Feat and The Hooters turn up on disc 2, along with an ever expanding repertoire that takes in soul and jazz classics such as Otis Redding's "That's How Strong My Love Is" and Horace Silver's "Senor Blues," as well as Caribbean and Hawaiian forms. Like other "Essential" releases of deep-catalog artists (e.g., Johnny Cash), this serves as both a listenable career anthology and a roadmap to exploration of the individual releases. The chronological arrangement of the tracks allows the progress of Mahal's music to unfold organically, and the discographical notes tie each track to its originating album and accompanying musicians. [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]

Aahh yes the Taj!! I've been searching for the track "Satisfied and Tickled too" for years. The original album from the mid 70's just doesn't seem to be available anywhere on cd, so what a surprise when an old friend returns from a holiday in Florida and presents me with the Essential cd and yes folks this really is an essential album. As a previous buyer said there is something about the track Satisfied and tickled too that just makes you want to play it over and over again. Mind you there a quite a few tracks on this collection that also merit the repeat button. This is a great 2 cd compliation, there is a more comprehensive 3 cd set called "In progress and In motion" but basically if your new to the Taj this Essential collection is the perfect start. You really will be satisfied. Long live the Taj.

On a recent NPR segment, they asked people on the street what song they would choose to listen to, if they had to listen to it for 24 hours straight. My song, I think, would have to be "Satisfied N' Tickled, Too"...Don't what it is, but I have a nearly insatiable craving to hear it again after the final notes fade...

But everything you need by Taj is here, from classics like "Take A Giant Step" to more modern fare like "Senor Blues"....it's all there, and it all, dare I say it? satisfies...

I was looking forward to receiving my CD and spending time with Taj Mahal. He became one of my favorite performers after seeing him at the Fillmore East over 30 years ago. He was the first act, followed by Donny Hathaway and ending with Leon Russell. Most of the audience had never heard of him, but immediately became enraptured with his music, his playing, and his smooth as silk voice. He seemed so self assured considering the talent he was sharing the stage with . He also appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself while entertaining us and it became infectious throughout the theater. I am sad to say that the technical quality of this newly produced CD of Taj's older work was not very good. The music seemed sloppy and fuzzy and Taj's vocals were so low that you could not really hear him. This was throughout disc one. Disc 2 was way more interesting and much more clear. Listening to him on disc 2 gave me the same pleasure I always had throughout the years as I followed his career. I gave this CD 4 stars because the second disc alone was well worth it. Simply Reyna

Lots of music for a decent price. If you're unfamiliar w/ Taj, it's a good introduction. If you are familiar with his music but don't have a lot of his cd's, it's a worthwhile purchase. IMO, this one really IS "essential" stuff - I could quibble w/ a selection here & there, but overall, it's a good retrospective of a brilliant musician's work.

Fascinating! I saw Taj in concert at the Fillmore West many years ago. His performance was polished and beautiful. I enjoyed some of his tunes over the years, but stopped listening to him for a variety of reasons, nothing to do with him. This is a two CD set and, to my surprise, I liked the second disk, the one that contained music that I had never heard, better than the first. For me, at least, that says a lot about the man and the musician. Even without airplay, he just kept on growing. Wherever he is, I wish him the best.

I always liked Taj Mahal when I occasionally heard him on the radio. Then a friend called me and asked me if I would like to go see him live. Taj Mahal was absolutely mesmerizing onstage and it was not a performance, but an experience. This CD embodies his multifaceted genres and recreates what he delivers in concert. I bought The Essential Taj Mahal because he performed a great song called "Fishin' Blues" that stayed with me a year after I heard it! This is just plain fantastic music by an amazingly talented individual. He has a great lineup of stellar musicians backing him. I have been listening to this since I got it, except when my husband steals it from my car. Taj makes everything his own, so the remakes are not really remakes, they're Taj Takes and worth the listen. Get it, you won't regret it.

I really like Taj Mahal and I found this collection a good combination of alot of their songs for a great price.

My husband loves Taj Mahal, and he can't find most of the Taj Mahal CD's he owns. I don't really know a lot about this artist, but I found this set on Amazon and bought it hoping that it would provide my husband with many of the songs he loves! It was perfect, it has all his favorite songs on it!

This collection sums up over four decades of the ever-evolving music of an American treasure. When will people stop classifying Taj Mahal as a 'bluesman'???? Blues makes up only part of his vast repertoire. Taj was one of the first people to introduce the concept of 'world music', and you'll hear that in these CDs. The collection highlights many co-creators (Jesse Ed Davis, the Pointer Sisters, et al)and many of Taj's bands.
I give this five stars because it refvlecvts Taj's uniqueness as a performer and person as well as reflecting many of the quality songs and styles he has recorded. For Taj fans, it may not have your favorite---there are just too many memorable songs for that to happen. I confess that Taj has been one of my favorites for over 40 years and this collection was satisfying to me.