Respect the Dead

Otis Taylor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 2, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Northern Blues
• ASIN: B000063T4W
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,689 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Respect the Dead", Yes... the title speaks true!, April 6, 2004

By 

FPO - See all my reviews

This review is from: Respect the Dead (Audio CD)

Otis Taylor has given greater meaning to blues music than any other artist I've listened to. I have looked at the blues section of the music store, all that I could find was B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and even some artists from the United Kingdom who would play pop-culture music, only sung with bluesy black accents. Now that Otis Taylor has arrived I can drift back into a world of brightly lit shacks nesled deep in the swamps and woods at night on the outskirts of a southern town and hear the tales of the old dark skinned folks I knew as a boy that were told in song, acoustic instruments, and spirit. Being a black American who has lived in various places in the south of the states (...), I would not need no British artists telling me about blues music let alone my own culture. (No offense to them.) My personal favorites Ten Million Slaves, Hands on Your Stomach, Black Witch, and Seven Hours of Light refelect the southern world I lived and knew in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dirty Driving Rain, May 30, 2005

By 

R. J MOSS (Alice Springs, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Respect the Dead (Audio CD)

Experiencing the aural whipping of'Respect The Dead'is rather like walking, with scant protection, into a howling rain. Taylor's voice has already been out there in the storm. Electric banjo and guitar drive home the point:the banjo plucked like fingers tripping over the ribcage of skeletons.This isn't subtle music. It's mantric beat and repetitive lyrics insist on what it is we should be taking with us.Deaths described are mostly caused by misadventure rather than heroics. This is one powerful disc and its tracks are hard to separate with respect to impact. Indeed, for greater effect, the songs may best be heard apart from each other as collectively they give the head a pelting.However,'Ten Million Slaves' is an awesome opener.'Shaker Woman', ' 3 Stripes On a Cadillac',and'Black Witch' have etched themselves upon my mind.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More of the Same--i.e., it's a Classic, May 28, 2002

By 

K DEREK E GRAY (NASHUA, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Respect the Dead (Audio CD)

I am amazed that an artist can keep up this level of achievement over three discs. Otis Taylor is, without a doubt, one of the top 5 bluesmen recording today--and the most ambitious. His songs don't just tell a story, they evoke a world, one that is light years away from the world of the average middle-class blues-CD buyer. I cannot think of any other artist who evokes so many emotions, with the possible exception of Skip James. Taylor's lyrics, coupled with his enigmatic voice, heartfelt delivery & understated music, create a work of depth that is amazing. Buy this disc; if you hunger for more, you can't go wrong with any of his others, either.