Giants of the Blues

Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 8, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Madacy Records
• ASIN: B000000L3H
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,125,630 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I'm a Stranger Here

2. Everybody's Blues

3. Walk On

4. Down by the Riverside

5. Blues for the Lowlands

6. Right on That Shore

7. Blowin' the Fuses

8. Cornbread, Meat and Molasses

9. Ham and Eggs

10. Lost John

11. Chain Gang Blues

12. It Takes a Chain Gang Man

13. Betty and Dupree

14. Stackhole

15. Rock Me Momma

16. Chain Gang Special

17. Long John

18. Pick a Bale of Cotton

19. Red River

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is important to have this CD, October 14, 2006

By 

jrv213 "Joe" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Brownie and Sonny: The Giants of the Blues (Audio CD)

I am, for a better word, 'SHOCKED' at the reviews of this CD and how poor they are. I would have to assume that these reviews are from beginner blues music listeners that really have no clue what they are talking about. It is true that tracks 1-5 and 7 are Sonny Terry and Brownie at their best, but it is however the Blowin' the Fuses concert from the Los Angles Troubadour in 1962. These six tracks are enough to get the CD alone, but songs 6, and 8 to 19 are pieces of US Americana history that are priceless!!!
It is true that the condition of these tracks are fair at best, but it sounds better then the Leadbelly Library of Congress early recordings and how can you say that those recordings are not great. The group of Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie (who is the bad singer that one of these reviews eludes too. HA, can you imagine that!), Alec Seward, and Cisco Houston sing together in a 'Great Depression' era. These recordings represent a multicultural poor class singing ol' songs to help them forget their extremely troubled lives. The reason why the recording is so bad is because it is most likely the group sitting around one microphone (if not a recording Victrola). I guess one needs to understand the times of a poor, wondering, mixed race class nation to hear the importance in the almost hypnotic/spiritual song "Pick A Bale of Cotton" to appreciate that it is a miracle that something like this was recorded for us to hear in this era. With recordings like these something like production is secondary to the real meaning of the compilation. This is a must have for anyone who really listens to music and contemplates music's true importance in this world. Historically, musically, and spiritually these 'Archive Extras' are pure magic.

3.0 out of 5 stars Some of Woody's last recordings, October 25, 2009

By 

Lightnin' Wells (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giants of the Blues (Audio CD)

The tracks after eight which everyone seems to knock this CD for as far as poor performance and sound quality were recorded in 1952 and released on LP sometime in the 1960s on the budget Archive Of Folk Music label as a Sonny Terry album. Supposedly the tracks were recorded in someone's living room (Sonny's apartment in Harlem) on a borrowed wire recorder, which was a form of home recording used briefly in the 1940s using wire instead of a reel to reel tape;hence the loose presentation and poor sound quality. The musicians present were Sonny Terry, Alec "Guitar Slim" Seward and Woody Guthrie. They were obviously putting together a themed presentation which was supposed to be chain gang songs possibly due to the popularity of Josh White's similiarly themed album which was so popular some years earlier on Columbia. Sonny and Alec play stongly and were in fine voice. Unfortunately Woody is beginning to feel the effects of the Huntington's Chorea which led him to be hospitalized shortly thereafter and which eventually led to his death as well as a possible few drinks. He is wild and erratic and is the poor vocalist alluded to by another reviewer.The other musicians obviously loved and respected Woody and were willing to participate in this session though he was on his musical decline.An imporant document for fans of Woody Guthrie showing the once mighty performer in one of his last recorded performances. It is tedious listening but fascinating nonetheless.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the recording quality fool you, May 14, 2008

By 

Michael W. Dean (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Giants of the Blues (Audio CD)

I have to agree with Joe's review above: the later tracks on this CD were not recorded in a studio somewhere. That's just how early blues recordings sound, folks. This is an excellent collection and a slice of history.