Customer Reviews

Lots More Blues Rags & Hollers

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..the very best! Anything (aneeeee-thing!) by these guys jointly and severally is worth collecting. PERIOD!

My family moved to Rochester, NY in the summer of 1964, when I was 17. My first friends were friends of Spider John's brother, and they all owned this album. This was my first introduction to Billie Holiday and Leadbelly, and led to a lifetime love affair with blues music. This album is a must for all the baby-boomers who started digging the blues in the sixties; the extra cuts are icing on the cake.

... except the following:

I've heard it said that Koerner "out-Dylans" Dylan, and I have to agree. "Duncan and Brady," "Crazy Fool," and "Lady Day" feature his fast-talking and -singing wit, and the one-man band rendition of his "Ted Mack Rag," along with the liner notes on it, amplify his sense of humor and talent.

As a harp player myself, I find myself drawn to Tony Glover's cuts, especially "Don't Let Your Right Hand Know" (which, however, is not on this album, but rather on "The Return of ...". "What's the Matter with the Mill," "Honey Bee," and "Can't Get My Rest at Night," which are on this album, are likewise excellent examples of his talented harp work.)

Dave Ray, whether doing an unaccompanied field holler, like Leadbelly's "Black Betty," playing his faster songs like "Freeze to Me Mama," or playing a racing 12-string bottleneck accompaniment to his slower-tempo vocal in "Fine Soft Land," is a real artist.

My album is at least 35 years old, and it shows. It's nice to know I can get a fresh copy on CD!

I have listened to the music of most of the great acoustic bluesmen, and there are many great ones, black and white. But Koerner, Ray and Glover are right on top, the best of the lot. The three albums I listened to almost constantly in the early sixties were ruined in a flood over 30 years ago, and though lamented, life got complicated and I never replaced them. I just figured these great bluesmen and there wonderful music had faded into memory like so many of the artists of the folk-blues revival. But recently I was counselling a secretary and friend on some personal matter and suddenly heard myself saying. "Man you got to be careful what you gonna do, you might hurt yourself, you might hurt your friends too, you got to be careful, little mama, what in the world you gonna do, you might hurt yourself, hang, hang for the rest of your life." She knows I'm crazy, but still asked me where the hell I got that bit of wisdom, and I told her from "Spider" John Koerner, etc., etc.

A few months later, she showed-up with "Blues, Rags, and Hollers", and my mind was blown. I rushed home from work straight-away and slipped the CD into the player with trepidation- would these guys sound as good as I remembered? Or would another memory best left in the past be diminished by the reality. Well, they were even better than I remembered. When Dave Ray suddenly burst into my late middle age world with "It's Alright" the music went right to the bone, complete with goosebumps. I'm a bit long in the tooth to be playing air- guitar, but there I was. And all these songs make me feel like that. The intensity of "One Kind Favor" is beyond wonderful, with Tony Glover's haunting harp intensifying every subtle riff of Dave's talking 12-String and haunting, strangely stirring vocals.

I think the boys might think this little review a bit over-the-edge, but I mean every word of it, in fact I think its understated. If you like acoustic blues-hell, if you like music, don't miss these albums.

Recently I heard George Carlin (another old fart) issue a dictum that white men should never sing the blues. He was referring of course to "The Blues Brothers" and in their case I heartily agree. But it is quite obvious that he's never heard Koerner, Ray, and Glover. I'm pretty sure that Bukka White, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, and all the rest are smiling down on these three white boys with approval and respect.

Dean West

On a blues message page, we were asked to list our top ten favorite discs. I only wanted to list one per artist so I listed their first release, "Blues Rags and Hollers". But I could have easily substituted this one. It's THAT good. My only cavil--wish there was more cuts featuring Glover's harp. Nothing against what is there. Just that I love the harp, and Glover knows how to blow it!