The Original Delta Blues (Mojo Workin': Blues For The Next Generation)

Son House | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Label: Columbia/Legacy
• Copyright: Originally Released 1965, 1992 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
• Total Length: 55:56
• Genres:
• ASIN: B00138F576
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,968 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw and captivating - voice of lonely soul, May 9, 2004

By 

Andrius Uzkalnis (Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Original Delta Blues (Audio CD)

There is so much built on blues out there, so much derived from it, that it is easy to forget where it all began. Son House is so raw, so unaffected by technical tricks or crafty ideas, so far from any pose, pretence or stereotypical imagery of show business that you feel actually privileged to be allowed to come into contact with his singing.

It is like entering an empty temple in an unfamiliar country: you have seen some of the signs, you have some of the knowledge about the faith, but the experience is new and humbling.

Yes, humbling is the word. If loneliness had a voice, it would be the voice of Son House.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short but sweet, November 10, 2003

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Original Delta Blues (Audio CD)

Well, maybe "sweet" isn't the right word, but Columbia/Legacy's "The Original Delta Blues" is a really fine distillation of the label's double-disc set "Father Of The Delta Blues", containing 11 highlights from that comprehensive overview of blues legend Eddie "Son" House's 60s recordings.

These 55 minutes of music feature Son House and his National steel guitar, which he played with a slide, and Columbia have managed to include all of House's essential 60s songs.

The powerful a capella spiritual "John The Revelator" is here, as is the slashing slide guitar workout "Pearline", the sarcastic "Preachin' Blues", the bitterness of "Grinnin' In Your Face", and the fantastic 9 1/2-minute "Levee Camp Moan" with Canned Heat's Alan Wilson playing great harmonica fills behind House's clanging, percussive guitar riffs.

And then there's the awesome, razor-edged "Death Letter" ("I got a letter this morning / say, what d'y'reckon it read? / Said hurry, hurry, the gal you love is dead").
Music journalist Ted Drozdowski of the Boston Phoenix once wrote something like this about House:
"The voice of the great Son House not only sounds as though it could split the earth asunder, it is also the voice of a soul utterly alone".

I couldn't have said it better myself. Which is why I steal Mr Drozdowski's line.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Son House Blew Me Away..., October 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Original Delta Blues (Audio CD)

For me, this was one of those rare CD's that from the first play became an instant favorite. I had heard of Son House, of course, but had never heard him. I have played this CD about a hundred times since I bought it a month ago (my wife is about to have me put away...) It is absolutely incredible. I have never heard anything like Son House.

I have quite a few blues discs but this one, more than any other, really moved me. If I could only keep one, this would be it.