Customer Reviews

Rough Guide to Delta Blues

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This albumn is one of the best compilations of Delta/Traditional/Country Blues I've ever listened to. It's easy to listen to from beginning to end. The albumn flows well, reaching back into the "old-timey" Blues with musicians like Charley Patton, Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas, Blind Joe Williams and others. From Mississippi John Hurt's soft playing and soothing singing to Robert Belfour's painful moans and rythmic plucking, this albumn is a trip back to jook joints, front porches, and planting fields. Definitely worth looking into for the buff and the beginner, alike.

Perfect compilation for anyone interested in 20s-30s rural blues. Every song is perfect.

I have a large collection of Blues CDs. There were several songs on this CD that I didn't have. One song that is a standout is "Meet Me in the City" by Junior Kimbrough. While lesser known artists contribute to this collection, there are familiar artists included, such as Bukka White, Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. This CD will make a fine addition to any Blues collection.

I could think of better choices for a "Rough Guide" but there are some great off the beaten track songs on this cd. I really like the qaulity of some of the songs such as "Stack o Lee Blues" by Missippi John Hurt which makes the guitar parts easy to hear. Anything done in Piedmont style can sound a bit muddy in old recordings but this collection had an excellent sound quality over all.

Okay so the blues have got your attention. Maybe you heard it as background music while traveling and can't get that sound out of your head, or heard someone strumming in some urban square trying to scratch a few pennies out of those little chords on a guitar. Whatever. You are hooked, or at least intrigued. So you need a little primer of the guys (mainly, guys, but not exclusively so) who taught the guys who taught the guys who you heard on that street corner or in some current concert hall. That is where this nice little CD comes in. In one place and at one sitting you will most of the key guitarists who created the beat and the singers who put words to the mournful sounds about hard women, hard work, hard living and hard liquor. Names like Tommy Johnson, Skip James, Son House, of course, Muddy Waters, Charley Patton and so on.

But wait a minute this is only the beginning of the journey. From there you will need, desperately need, to hear the material John and Alan Lomax recorded back in the days down in the South when these guys were still alive. And, of course, check out Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. Oh, ya, don't forget the women blues singers who got more renown when they were alive and filling the gin mils and concert halls. And the blues as it moved north to places like Chicago and Detroit. And then people like the Stones, Rory Block, and others who cover the old classics. And don't forget the Cajun influences, And Tex-Mex, and.... Hell by the time you get done you will be an old codger or codgerette. But here is where you start.

I would direct your attention to several outstanding efforts here, first and foremost a great version of Sitting On Top Of The World by the under-appreciated Mississippi Sheiks; Tommy Johnson on Cool Drink of Water Blues; the incredible Bukka White and his flailing National Steel guitar on Aberdeen Mississippi Blues;, and, Louise Johnson's On The Wall.