Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff

Taj Mahal | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 15, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mobile Fidelity
• ASIN: B00000DWPP
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,524 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Conch (Introduction)

2. Kalimba

3. Bound to Love Me Some

4. Ricochet

5. A Free Song (Rise Up Children Shake the Devil Out of Your Soul)

6. Corinna

7. Conch Close

8. M'Banjo

9. Cakewalk into Town

10. Sweet Home Chicago

11. Texas Woman Blues

12. Gitano Negro

Editorial Reviews

This CD is an out of print collectible! A Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab disc. Catalog MFCD 764. There is a drill hole through the top right corner of the case, booklet and tray card. The CD has a tiny light mark on it. It is in a lift lock case.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is Taj Mahal the Mark Rothko of the Blues?, April 27, 2008

By 

Leo H. Stakemiller "Grandeherb" (Houston, Tx.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff (Audio CD)

"Recycling the Blues and Other Related Stuff" is most likely Taj's best album and definitely his best album side. At a time that blues meant listening to a wailing electric guitar, Taj swam against the current, and produced an awesome minimalist format. The first cut, "Cakewalk into Town" is adorned with Howard Johnson's tuba and some handclaps. Nobody but Taj could have pulled that off. You see great guitarists like Mark Knopfler use steel guitars as album cover ornaments, and Johnny Winter even cut a song with one, but Taj really knows what to do with one. In fact, whether it's an upright bass, banjo, or whatever, he will get incredible sounds out of it. Brian Jones move over. The album's version of "Sweet Home Chicago" is a simply definitive version, dare I say it, blowing away the track we have of Robert Johnson. Why this song and this version of this song isn't Chicago's theme song instead of The Chairman's is pretty obvious. The Pointer Sisters' background vocals are perfect. Ditto on "Texas Woman Blues," but the striking aspect of this song is the listener's recognition of how Taj has changed the texture of his voice from an edgy gravelly sound in the previous songs to a rich warm baritone. Anyone that picked up on the cd issue of "The Real Thing" will notice this quality throughout that album. And of course, on both albums, Taj shows us he can whistle better than anyone else. He is just so musically talented, especially during this period of his career, as to be disgusting. What is truly disgusting is that this cd is out of print and wasn't reissued with the reissues of his other early albums. The only cd version from 1991 fetches incredible prices. I guess I should be grateful for the issue of "The Real Thing," as it commemorates an incredible tuba breakdown that will have you running to the audio store to buy a subwoofer (rationalizing the expense as a partial savings on laxatives). And "Natural Blues" has that banjo mini-solo (or whatever you want to call it) in the middle of "Corinna." But I want more. I implore the record industry gods to hear my plea and produce a quality remastered cd version of "Recycling the Blues and Other Related Stuff."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff, December 14, 2007

By 

John S. Behnke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff (Audio CD)

I recorded this 30 years ago. i basically listened to only one side, it was produced on vinyl, the B side. It was fabulous Sunday morning music, definitely earthy with down home soul.