New Orleans Street Singer

Snooks Eaglin | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Smithsonian Folkways
• ASIN: B000A3EJOK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,005 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #56 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > New Orleans Blues

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before he became a master interpreter of Crescent City rhythm and blues, and before David Bartholomew took him under his wing at Imperial records, Ford "Snooks" Eaglin took to the streets. While moonlighting behind New Orleans stars like Sugarboy Crawford, he specialized in an eclectic variety of acoustic folk songs and blues. So you won't find the fiery electric fretwork you've come to expect from Snooks on this album. But you will find subtler pleasures. At the time, Snooks (blind since his early childhood) was absorbing the gospel and rhythm and blues that he heard around him. He has given the songs on this CD his own warm and very personal treatment. Tracks like Ray Charles's "I Got a Woman," "Mama, Don't You Tear My Clothes," and "Don't You Lie to Me" offer a mix of nimble fingerpicking and strumming backed by simple washboard accompaniment. But the sound quality isn't too great, and there is a sameness to his sound once you reach the last track. Still, these songs are an interesting chapter in the story of a New Orleans blues legend, one who sounds more vital with each passing year. --Ken Hohman

Product Description

Versatile and transcendent, Snooks Eaglin is known for his electric R&B, as well as his acoustic folk classics. Billed in the mid-50s as "Li’l Ray Charles," this influential New Orleans guitarist can hold his own with just his voice and guitar, though he prefers playing with a rhythm section. Eaglin was first recorded by a folklorist who heard him on the streets of the French Quarter, and has since created diverse and unique music with influences ranging from traditional blues standards to jazz, classical, and gospel. Snooks Eaglin: New Orleans Street Singeris a poignant collection of his early work, and yet still holds true to his broad range and style. 32-page booklet, 25 classic tracks (including 8 bonus tracks not available on the original LP), 68 mins. of music!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The sounds of New Orleans, December 9, 2005

By 

Megan Romer (Lafayette, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Orleans Street Singer (Audio CD)

Snooks Eaglin is New Orleans through and through. There's hardly a style of music that the great city has made famous that Eaglin doesn't play some of. He wails through fat electric blues tunes, strums through folky country delta songs and so much more.

This album is a triumph, and brings the sounds of New Orleans as it once was to the world. Pick it up, you'll be glad you did.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Multi-Talented Snooks Eaglin, July 15, 2008

By 

D. B Pepper "neonx83" (Plainview, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Orleans Street Singer (Audio CD)

Eaglin is a multi-talented artist. He can play Country Blues, New Orleans-style R&B, and even Rock 'N' Roll. On this disc, he plays straight-forward Country Blues. "Careless Love" is masterfully done, "High Society is nothing short of dazzling, and "Helping Hand" is an emotional experience. The liner notes are highly detailed and extensive. I highly recommend purchasing this cd. Snooks is still with us, but often plays electric Blues at small clubs and at festivals, as opposed to Country Blues music. I'd love to see him perform some day.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen And Learn From Snooks.., March 16, 2009

By 

R. Webb "minstrel man" (u.s.a.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Orleans Street Singer (Audio CD)

Snooks Eaglin has the ability to flow through a song, smoothly and best of all affectively. Snooks, unlike bluesman Robert Pete Williams who tends to lean more on the delta blues style, Snooks seems to play more of a variety, jazz, blues, r & b, classical, country, and does so with authority, as you hear on this Smithsonian Folkways reprint CD of the original vinyl, with eight extra tracks added to this legendary collection. Set up with vocal and guitar only, Snooks is singin' and playin' out songs like, ROCK ISLAND LINE, TROUBLE IN MIND, CARELESS LOVE, LOOKING FOR A WOMAN, LET ME GO HOME WHISKEY, Sinatra's, LONESOME ROAD and John Lee Hooker's, ONE SCOTCH,ONE BOURBON,ONE BEER, twenty five songs are on here to leave you mesmerized as you get to know Snooks Eaglin, booklet included.