King of Delta Blues

Robert Johnson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 1997)
• Original Release Date: October 7, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002AI3
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,697 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In The Beginning..., December 14, 2001

By 

David Bradley "David Bradley" (Sterling, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: King of Delta Blues (Audio CD)

All the acclaim and legend surrounding this collection is true, and anyone who is interested in American music really should start here.

A word of caution to the uninitiated, though: Robert Johnson did not play the electric blues which are the staple of modern American blues and the roots of Rock n Roll. This is acoustic blues music, solo vocal with (incredible) acoustic guitar accompaniment. It is amazing, amazing stuff--just try to duplicate the guitar parts and you'll understand what a master Johnson was--but don't be looking for rockin' rhythm sections or the big bass sound of later bluesmen.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just one of dozens of compilations, February 5, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of Delta Blues (Audio CD)

If I had to pick sixteen out of Robert Johnson's 29 singles, I would end up with pretty much the same ones that Sony has chosen for this collection.
But having said that, I also have to add that there are dozens of Robert Johnson-compilations like this one on the market, and no good reason to get anything other than Columbia's double-disc "The Complete Recordings". And if you really want a single-disc compilation, go for "King Of The Delta Blues Singers", which, although it misses out on a couple of Johnson's best songs, features the most amazing sound you'll ever hear, thanks to a masterful remastering job.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor sound quality... so what?, November 18, 2005

By 

Larry (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of Delta Blues (Audio CD)

Mount Vernon Maven points out accurately that this recording sounds "horrific" and that it needs to be "remastered remastered remastered" to sound good on that "fabulous audio system". To be fair, it does sound bad.

What needs to be understoof is that these were recorded in the mid-1930s before audio tape was common. These recordings were most likely done on wire recorders or direct to phonograph. The fact that they've survived at all is impressive. Honestly, they sound fantastic considering the source - it's a clean signal with low noise and little distortion.

Even if these were remastered until the end of time, they will never sound like a modern recording. They were done with a single microphone picking up both voice and guitar simultaneously. There's nothing with which to work. They can be re-EQ'd (they have) and recompressed (they have), but beyond that, you can't make it sound like much more than it is without re-recording it and that will never be Robert Johnson.

Sorry to all of you that expect perfect sound from recordings nearly 70 years old - the technology was inferior. These will likely never sound better than they do here; however, the performance and inspiration remain completely intact - this is something that most modern music doesn't have and something which many people might deem more important. For those of you that are looking for substance over style, this should be the sort of music you're after.