Customer Reviews

Terraplane

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

 

 

Just a quick note to anyone that might be new to listening to delta blues...please don't pay any mind to the reviews spouting dislike of "white people trying to sing black!" This CD's music speaks for itself and the blues is an attitude, not a color! An artist singing from the soul is just that....and should not be compared to what some narrow-minded folks think a blues voice should be. I have been, and always will be, drawn back to this music and my feeble attempts to play my resonator because of the music of many of the blues greats which include Scott Ainslie, Rory Block, and Chris Whitley (get his "Dirt Floor" CD and see what I mean), all of whom happen to be caucasian! Listen with your ears and your heart and your soul.

While I can't fault Ainslie's playing (it's really good), the singing just sounds contrived. Not to sound racist, it just sounds weird to have a white voice trying so hard to emulate a black one. It just doesn't do it for me. If you want to hear these songs, listen to them as recorded by the original artist. The diddley-bow playing is interesting but only goes so far - there's just so much you can do with one string.

My hat goes off to Mr Ainslie for trying this hard, but I'd rather hear an album of instrumentals or originals sung in his "natural" voice.

"Terraplane" gets three stars due to his excellent guitar work.

Scott Ainslie is a blues historian, teacher and fine musician that has compiled 4 originals with 4 Robert Johnson tunes and a sprinkling of tunes written by Bukka White, Gary Davis and others. Ainslie performs solo on all numbers but two--"Change my Name" where he is accompanied by son Gabriel on percussion and "My baby walks on fire" where he is accompanied by Jazz/Blues guitarist Scott Sawyer. On the various tunes Ainslie plays his 1931 National, electric guitar and a one string "diddley bow". While Peter Green does a better interpretation of the Robert Johnson tunes on his "Robert Johnson Songbook" and "HotFoot Powder" CD's, the combination of materials on this Cd make this a well done delta blues album.

Terraplane features an excellent mix of traditional blues songs interspersed with the talented origional work of Scott Ainsle. Scott presents this rich work with excellent style, and garnishes it with his smoothe guitar work on two particularly wonderfull instruments. An excellent choice for the blues student or any lover of good music. From start to finish, a great album. Listen to Stand Up as soon as you get the disc, its great.

Scott Ainslie isn't all that well known but he should be. If you love the delta style blues you will wear this CD out. Playing in the style of one man, one insturment, Mr. Ainslie demonstrates a mastery of blues that will blow your socks off. He has a fantastic blues voice coupled with a technical and artististic mastery of the guitar. He does Robert Johnson better than Robert Johnson did. You absolutely won't be disappointed if you are a Bluesman.

An absolute tour de force. Ainslie is a straight-from-the-heart blues player (and blues scholar) with intelligence, style, breathtaking guitar chops and a soaring, gutsy, passionate voice. Don't miss this CD!

Terraplane is an excellent mix of traditional "standards" and original material by guitarist/blues scholar Scott Ainslie. Blues players may recognize him as the author of an outstanding note-for-note transciption of Robert Johnson's complete recordings for the guitar. Mr. Ainslie obviously has a great deal of respect and reverence for blues traditions, but all of the tracks on this CD have a freshness and exhuberance which invigorate the songs. In particular, "Parchman Farm" (which I believe is played on the Diddley bow), "Terraplane Blues" and "Im Gonna Change My Name" stand out, as well as an excellent rendition of "Death Don't Have No Mercy". Highly recommended as an introductory album for those new to the blues and a definite MUST BUY for blues lovers.