Customer Reviews

Real Folk Blues / More Real Folk Blues

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

 

 

MCA/Chess' "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson" remains the ultimate Rice Miller-compilation, with "His Best" in second.

But this twofer-CD, which brings together all 24 tracks from Miller's two "Real Folk Blues" albums, doesn't make a bad supplement. It does repeat eight songs from "His Best", but it also has 16 songs which can't be found on that collection. Conversely, if you have the more extensive "Essential" anthology, you'll find only eight songs here that you don't already have.

The overall standart of this material is high, with "The Real Folk Blues" being slightly stronger than its companion volume.

"Help Me", "Bring It On Home", "Nine Below Zero", "Down Child", the supremely tough "Checkin' Up On My Baby", and the punchy "One Way Out" are all among Rice Miller's best most familiar songs, and numbers like "Too Young To Die", "Decoration Day" and "My Younger Days" are equally excellent. Rice Miller was by far the best songwriter of all the Chess greats of the 50s and early 60s, an awesome lyricist whose highly personal songs express sentiments ranging from pure joy to the deepest, darkest despair. Willie Dixon's way with words was impressive, but Rice Miller is something else:

"When I first met the lil' girl / I didn' know what I was doin' /

Now we all tied up / And my life is ruined!

I'm scared o' that child / I'm scared o' that child /

I'm scared o' that child / I'm too young to die!"

She's a cute lil' girl / She got such a wonderful mug /

When she start to talk / Her voice but stone jug /

I'm scared o' that child...

We had a date and I couldn't make it / That's what made 'er mad /

Now I'm lookin' at two brown eyes / They turned greenish-gray /

So I'm scared o' that child...

I called my baby / And I told 'er I would be late /

'Time my baby opened the door I looked in the barrel of a .38 /

I'm scared o' that child..."

23 of these 24 songs are from the 60s, and they are significantly better than Miller's 60s recordings for Delmark, even if this collection doesn't quite maintain the magnificent level of quality of MCA/Chess's main Sonny Boy-compilations.

Among the best lesser-known songs are the funky, playful "Peach Tree", Willie Dixon's swinging "That's All I Want", and the slow "Got To Move" from Miller's first LP, "Down & Out Blues". "Stop Right Now", "The Goat", "Close To Me" and a couple of other great songs will be familiar to those who own "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson", but not to those who "only" have "His Best". ("Sad To Be Alone", on the other hand, is on "His Best", but not on the "Essential" collection.)

Newcomers will be better off with "His Best", but this CD is a really fine addition to that compilation...the sound is very good, and the liner notes get a B+ as well.

4 1/4 stars. Definitely recommended.

SONNY BOY II, AKA RICE MILLER. THE MOST SOULFUL OF THE CHICAGO BLUES ARTISTS. THERE WAS NO OTHER LIKE HIM. HE IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE OF THE "TRUE FATHERS OF ROCK & ROLL, NOT TO MENTION, R&B." THIS CD HAS MOST OF HIS BEST, BUT IT IS MISSING A COUPLE OF MY FAVORITES, LIKE, "DON'T START ME TALKING", AND "I DON'T KNOW." OTHER THAN THAT, IT IS FULL OF GREAT BLUES THAT HAS BEEN REMASTERED BEAUTIFULLY. GREAT BUY!!

Who doesn't just LOVE this man?! I've been a devotee for over four decades, I still remember like it was yeaterday coming home with the "One Way Out" and "Bummer Road" lps! That voice and harp blew me away then and it still does to this very day! This is a great collection of well and lesser known classics: "Bring It On Home" and "Peach Tree" are good examples of this. It would be difficult for me to cite a weak track as I'm not sure Sonny Boy EVER recorded one! You will enjoy this all to short overview and it should prompt you to go alot further! 'Nuf said!

Well sorta heard them before. Being a child of white rock 'n' roll I have only begun to come to terms with my ignorance of music history. I perfectly well knew that rock music is greatly indebted to the blues, and naturally blues-rock bands in particular. I knew Zeppelin covered some blues classics. Clapton, of course. But damn, you gotta hear this music for yourself to appreciate what a debt it is! And while I love the speed, the volume, the attitude, and in-your-face rebelliousness of rock... it doesn't seem to hit as deep. Well that's what I'm feeling now as I explore the music. I'm a novice, but right now I'm just bowled over by the beauty and power of blues musicians like Sony Boy Williamson. Well thought I'd share that with you. And yes, the harmonica playing is incredible on this CD.

This is the second Sonny Boy Williamson, a quirky harmonica genius. Some of his best known songs are here - "One Way Out," "Help Me," "Bring It On Home," "Nine Below Zero" - along with some, like "The Hunt," that are just plain strange. If you like blues harp, buy this CD.

I also highly recommend Sonny Boy's CDs "One Way Out" and "Down And Out Blues."