Customer Reviews

Most Things Haven't Worked Out

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

 

 

This is the genuine article and proof of why the blues is about raw emotive force over virtuosic instrumental prowess...there are plenty of cats that can play better than Kimbrough, but a paltry few who can belt out fuzzed-out gutbucket licks with such ferocity and authority...The man was a fixture for decades at his own Mississippi juke joint and on this release you can almost smell the stale cigarette smoke, cheap whiskey & greasy fatback barbecue odors that must have permeated the place. The tracks are lengthy excursions into crude funk-inflected boogie rhythms with Junior's raspy garbled vocals periodically bubbling to the top of the rough gumbo groove. If you like your blues abrasive and painfully honest look no farther than Kimbrough & crew. As a side note, I was surprised to see a lack of reviews under this & Kimbrough's other releases while his compatriot R.L. Burnside has quite a few...not to knock Burnside, but Kimbrough is every bit his equal; do your ears & rump a favor & check him out.

Thia album was recorded in the last few months of his life. By this time Junior had been exposed to rock music, and his rythems had become harder edged as a result. This album is'nt as produced as some of his other CDs (not that any of them were over-produced), with three trackes taken live from his Juke joint. This CD is the probably the best window to Juniors world that we can get (that is Minus all the echo and Bad recording quality).

I have come across this late bluesman only recently. But this record is already by far one of the finest blues records I have come across in years. The strength of Mr. Kimbrough's brand of blues comes mostly from his skillful manipulations of guitar. His guitar playing is well layered: a robust baseline that's droning and hypnotic, a solid and spacey mid-range filled with riffs that are saturated in reverbs and unexpected syncopations, and claustrophobic solos in upper registers with missing/unreachable high notes. Kimbrough's blues is raw, authentic, and even evokes the timing and melodic sensibilities of some contemporary Western African music, such as that of Ali Farka and Boubacar Traore. There is an ever-present yearning in his music, which is especially moving in the context of his hypnotic and claustrophobic sound scape. Certain tracks on this record are a little too over-produced for my taste, on which the real treasure - Kimborough's guitar-playing - are somewhat overshadowed. But overall this is still a damn fine blues record! Wholeheartedly recommended!

I used to go to Junior Kimbrough's juke back when I was a student at Ole Miss and let me tell you, that place rocked. The Junior that I saw play in that wonderful place is captured beautifully here and on the handfull of other CDs we're lucky enough to have.

The man was a master. His music will endure.

Mr. Kimbrough done come thru with the dirt on this one. This aint just blues music, it's soul music right in there with Isaac Hayes and nem. It's hard played and honest and that's the true pleasure of it.

In 1997, I went to my local record store in search of the much-celebrated Junior Kimbrough album All Night Long. It wasn't in stock, so I picked up Junior's then-latest record, Most Things Haven't Worked Out.

In the subsequent decade, I've collected virtually everything he recorded, but Most Things Haven't Worked Out remains my favorite.

If you're not familiar with Kimbrough, be forewarned: His music ain't easy listening. At first blush, it can be fairly impenetrable. The sound is murky and primordial with trance-inducing grooves and strange, loping rhythms. His vocals are a mix of holler and mumble.

But once you're hooked, there's no turning back. His music at its best - as on Most Things Haven't Worked Out - is truly intoxicating. That's no mere hyperbole. After a while its grooves become so insistent and so mesmerizing that it makes the listener - at least THIS listener - dizzy.

Simply put, nobody sounds like Junior Kimbrough.

Most Things Haven't Worked Out is more ramshackle than his Fat Possum debut All Night Long, but it's a riveting listen. Recorded partly at his famed juke joint in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the record is chaotic and primal, at times threatening to collapse in on itself. But it never does, and that's its beauty.

If you're ready to go searching for the dark heart of the blues . . . let Junior be your guide.

as iggy pop is alleged to have said, "the first time i heard junior i just went crazy."

play it on bright sunny sunday afternoon in may and you'll still feel like you're half drunk on moonshine at 3am in northern mississippi in august. if you play it late at night god only knows where it might take you. unbelievably haunting stuff. by far my fav junior kimbrough cd, and one of my fav blues cds of all time (i've got somewhere between 100 and 200).

If you only buy one Fat Possum CD this year, make it this one. Fans of Junior's trance and dance grooves will find this to be the meatiest of his recordings from the 90s. An essential purchase!

Up until the day he died, Charlie Feathers told anyone that would listen (and even those who wouldn't) that he was Elvis Presley's main influence. Far be that from the truth, it is fact that Junior Kimbrough WAS Charlie's main influence. With that in mind, it's a shame that we were thrown into Junior's world at such a late time in his life.
Don't get too down about it though, this album kicks.

Pure delta blues...electric and jammed out by one of the last remaining people who could sincerely play it. (R.I.P. Junior) Honestly, this is one of the best delta blues albums ever made. A lot of people have probably found Junior via RL Burnside....lemme tell you: RL is fun....Junior was great.
And that title...damn, is there a better name for a soulful blues album?