A Little Bit of Rain

Sid Selvidge | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 1, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Archer Records
• ASIN: B00008DKBT
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,390 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #84 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > New York Blues

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Sid Selvidge has had a musical career as expansive as the Mississippi Delta -- and as true to his roots as the bluesmen of yesteryear.

In short, it’s been the real thing.

Selvidge was born in Greenville, Mississippi, and got his first guitar at age 13. As a teenager he disc jockeyed at radio station WDDT in Greenville, and later at KWAM in Memphis. While in Memphis he performed at the famous Bitter Lemon Club, where he studied the styles of legendary bluesmen Furry Lewis and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

He honestly understands the songs he sings, which is why listeners love to hear them.

"Sid Selvidge, who comes from Mississippi by way of Memphis, is neither country nor rock," said John Rockwell of the New York Times. "He’s pretty much everything musically in the whole Southeast."

Selvidge graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis with a degree in Anthropology and later taught there. His first album, Portrait, was recorded while he was still in school, on Enterprise Records, a subsidiary of Memphis-based Stax Records.

Selvidge then traveled to New York where he played his style of roots and folk music before fascinated audiences. He received rave reviews.

"His voice is an astonishing instrument," said Robert Palmer of the New York Times. "Cool and liquid with a range of several octaves."

Back in Memphis, Selvidge recorded The Cool of the Morning in 1976 on his then new label, Peabody Records, as well as Alex Chilton’s "Like Flies on Sherbet." He had already caught the attention of the major recording labels while in New York, which resulted in another album, Twice Told Tales, on Elektra Records, Nonesuch American Explorer Series.

In between his solo recordings, Selvidge has performed with the band, Mudboy and the Neutrons, featuring Jim Dickinson. Bob Dylan once called them "the great band that nobody can find." This group has released three albums over the years.

"With a voice as smooth as Kentucky corn liquor and a guitar tone as smoky as Tennessee barbecue, Selvidge keeps the Memphis music tradition alive," said Guitar Player magazine.

Six years ago, Selvidge helped found Beale Street Caravan, an internationally syndicated blues radio program, heard on over 500 stations in the United States and overseas. He currently serves as executive producer of the show.

Selvidge has been a guest artist at Carnegie Hall and has performed on the National Public Radio program, Mountain Stage. He has even written a children’s blues opera, commissioned by Opera Memphis.

Selvidge’s latest CD is entitled, A Little Bit of Rain, on Archer Records, and is produced by Jim Dickinson. It was released in the spring of 2003. For more information please see the News tab on the Archer Records website.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars musical art of the highest order, June 10, 2003

By 

Jerome Clark (Canby, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Little Bit of Rain (Audio CD)

What a gorgeous record. I first heard of Sid Selvidge some years ago, in passing but always flattering mentions in a book by the late Robert Palmer. Until a few days ago, however, I'd never actually heard him. Selvidge, I learn, is one of those hidden treasures, a guy whose gift is sure and true but too smart to force its attention on you. When you hear him, you need to -- and you will want to -- sit down and afford him the courtesy of deep listening.

A creature of the folk and blues revival, he also has an ear for rootsy r&b and a feeling for the subtleties of older, purer country. Whatever he's doing, it is distinctly his own, melded into a seamless musical vision. He goes inside a song and burrows to its core. It can't be easy, but Selvidge is too good to make it sound like work.

His version of "Hobo Bill" carries only occasional, incidental references to the immortal Jimmie Rodgers original. Bascom Lamar Lunsford's recording of the traditional "Swannanoa Tunnel" is a classic, but Selvidge's reimagining is sheer cold, lonesome wind. Only Fred Neil could have topped this, though the CD's title tune, a Neil composition (from his first solo album, the influential 1965 Elektra release), amply demonstrates that Selvidge can hold his own against the folk masters. He manages to transform the grossly over-covered "Long Black Veil" into something you can listen to with pleasure. The r&b ballad "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?" will make you cry. The great James Luther Dickinson produces. I need say no more, except that if you're looking for musical art of the highest order, you'll want this record to be a part of your life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Fantastic!, January 15, 2007

By 

M. A HERBST (Mt. Vernon, Wa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Little Bit of Rain (Audio CD)

You have to have a heart of stone to not get misty listening to Do I Ever Cross Your Mind and not think of a lost love. Only Ray Charles' version comes close.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sid Selvidge is a treasure, September 26, 2009

By 

G. C. Todd "GCT" (Memphis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Little Bit of Rain (Audio CD)

If Townes Van Zandt had a twin brother from Memphis with a soothing voice it would be Sid. This is a sublime record. The song selections are magical (John Hiatt's The River is worth the price of admission) and Jim Dickinson's spare spacious production is perfect.