Richland Woman Blues

Maria Muldaur | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stony Plain Music
• ASIN: B00005AMNH
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,689 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one fine acoustic blues album!, May 18, 2001

By 

Volkert Volkersz (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Richland Woman Blues (Audio CD)

Those of us aging folkies who have been listening to Maria Muldaur since her days with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band during the "Sixties Folk Scare," will immediately recognize "Richmond Woman Blues" as a return--as well as a tribute--to her folk and blues roots. I mean, what more perfect way to start this acoustic blues album than with the fine finger-picking of John Sebastian, who was also part of that old New York jug band scene (too bad we don't get to hear his fine blues harp here...oh, well).

As Maria writes in her extensive and interesting liner notes, this was "a labor of love." That's obvious from start to finish the way she carefully selected tunes and visiting artists to pay tribute to the blues of the 20s and 30s. Like Maria, I got to see a few of the songwriters represented here in their old age. The blind street preacher, Reverend Gary Davis, inspired many of us budding guitar players to take a good look at our finger-picking technique. He continues to inspire me in the way he combined the gospel with this rootsy music.

My favorite tunes here are those from the gospel blues tradition. Here Maria "had church" with Bonnie Raitt and her slide guitar in her living room on Mississippi Fred McDowell's "It's a Blessing." On Blind Willie Johnson's "Soul of a Man," Marie is joined by a growly voiced Taj Mahal and Roy Rogers on slide guitar. This rendition is quite a bit grittier than Bruce Cockburn's version on "Nothing But a Burning Light," but either way it's a powerful tune about the condition of every person's soul. Ernie Hawkins joins Maria with his fine finger-picking on Gary Davis' "I Belong to that Band." Hallelujah!

This is one fine acoustic blues album. It reminds me of many nights in the 60s sitting around someone's kitchen table playing the blues until our fingers were raw. Here the same atmosphere is present, but the quality of the singing and playing has gotten better with age.

Thanks, Maria, for bringing to a new generation (and to us aging folkies) this "timeless and most eloquent expression of the human condition and the human spirit."

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maria playing to her strengths, April 20, 2001

By 

byrdfan "byrdfan" (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Richland Woman Blues (Audio CD)

I don't understand the review by Ms. Williams of Amazon.com, who calls this album a "surprise." This suggests a very limited familiarity with Maria Muldaur and her career.

"Richland Woman Blues" is no surprise to me; through the years, Ms. Muldaur has nearly always included what is now called "roots music," including Appalachian and classic blues, on her records, and they have generally been highlights of those records. The difference here is that she has finally recorded an album devoted entirely to such material, and it's delightful.

The selections consist entirely of blues from the 1920s and 1930s: Memphis Minnie, Bessie Smith, the Reverend Gary Davis, Lead Belly and Mississippi Fred McDowell among them. The arrangements are acoustic throughout. On most of the tracks, the basic instrumentation consists of one or two guitars (fingerpicked or slide) and upright bass, with an occasional additional instrument such as mandolin. The classic blues numbers, such as the Bessie Smith tunes, rely on piano.

Maria is one of our generation's finest interpreters of this kind of material, and the album is among the best of her career. Her voice has grown huskier over the years and, being the very intelligent singer that she is, Maria takes full advantage of the changes in her voice. She's not just a singer, she's a musician.

Three nights ago, I saw Maria perform an all-blues show at the Rosebud club in Pittsburgh that included most of the songs from "Richland Woman Blues" as well as others from earlier albums like the excellent "Sweet And Slow" and "Jazzabelle." If you get a chance to see her during her current tour, by all means give yourself a treat.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maria Muldaur can sing deep blues., November 7, 2001

By 

slomamma (San Luis Obispo, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Richland Woman Blues (Audio CD)

As much as I love the blues, IÕve rarely liked contemporary versions of early blues, from the 20s and 30s. They usually sound fake to me, and worse than that, just about sacrilegious. Why cover Robert Johnson or Bessie Smith or Mississippi John Hurt when those artists themselves created perfection that can never be equaled let alone surpassed?

I thought long and hard before buying Richland Women Blues which consists of nothing but covers of 20s and 30s blues songs. I wouldnÕt even have considered it except that I love Maria MuldaurÕs voice, and Taj Mahal, who is a guest on here, is one of the very few contemporary musicians who really can do old blues convincingly.

Thank God I took a chance, because this is a great album. The best blues are always less about bad times than about the ability to survive them, and MuldaurÕs earthy, donÕt-mess-with-me voice is perfect for getting that across.

There are four songs originally recorded by Bessie Smith on this album and every one is great. I canÕt believe IÕm saying that because I have NEVER heard a Bessie Smith cover that I thought was any good, but while Muldaur misses Bessie SmithÕs vulnerability, sheÕs got the same toughness in her voice, and itÕs so fine, so rare. It rings true, and any singer who can do a Bessie Smith song justice is the real deal.

There is not a single bad track on Richland Woman Blues, and every time I listen to it, I have a different favorite song, but the gospel-tinged blues of Soul of A Man (with Taj Mahal), I Belong To That Band, and especially ItÕs a Blessing (with Bonnie Raitt) make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It will be a long, long wait before you hear another duet as good as Muldaur and RaittÕs.

Beginning to end, this is a terrific album.