Customer Reviews

Steakbone Slide Guitar

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

 

 

Good CD. Some of these songs have been sung by famous groups. Good Morning Little School Girl, and You Gotta Move sung by Johnny Winter and the Rolling Stones, respectively. It is really weird the way this guys sings his songs. He just leaves off the last word of a line - like he is too tired or lazy to say it. I like it though. Has a real raw sound.

While the McDowell recordings offered on Lomax's "Sounds of the South" are in my opinion the best(please take this with a grain of salt, just my opinion), I find that 'Steakbone Slide Guitar' is my fave. The short introductions to each song are really endearing, like this one to track 2- "This is Big Fat Mamma with the meat shanks on your bones, ev'ry time you shimmy baby some man's dollar gone. That's the first song i learned how to play." The production is solid and straightforward: vocals center left, guitar right-mixed. Fred delivers these songs without ego. Buy it and give it a try, Seriously, I spent about 10 dollars on this album and it has been a great album to sing along to on the way and back from work.

Peace,
Jeremy
P.S. I spent way too long on this review trying to sound smart and articulate. Roots and Blues Rock My world. PEACE!

This album (most recorded in England) is a study of dottin the eyes and crossing the t's when playing fingrer pickin/slide. Un less you are a pervair of old/older country blues, there is no way to understand what is going on with intricate subtle changes heard because of electrified guitar. Fred at the time was not a tired old man, he was mid sixties. ECXEPT for steakbone named because it was his Dad who used a cut down steak bone for slide. There is no new material, however, having electrified the unique quirky timing and seemingly slashing slide you find a very masterful job of Freds ability. As a solo performer for many of my 59 years, trying to capture the sound, off beats with the speed of his slide becoming part of the genious of this piece of work. I own as far as I know every piece of Freds catalog, some bootleg, Steakbone is unique, I general think electric slide is rock b lues. Give Steakbone a listen.. the sound is eerie, the ambience is still very delta, also pick up the DVD with Fred performing with ..hmmm I forgot, maybe big joe williams? its just about a guitar lesson and you will see him with his electric that sounds 1/2 electric 1/2 acoustic.

This is one of Fred's last recordings, just a few years before he passed. Unfortunately the sleeve notes tout this recording as being unique and impressive in it's presentation, but sadly it really just reflects how a very, old and tired man sounds after so many years. This is solo McDowell on electric. Any of Fred's previous recordings are better than this endeavor. True to marketings glory, the hype far surpasses the reality. Be wary of Amazon's used cd's from second sources. This one came heavily scratched, dirty, and with a broken cd case.