In his documentary "Deep Blues," eccentric producer Robert Palmer introduced us to a brand of blues that comes not from the Delta, but from the hill country region of northwest Mississippi. While it bears a vague resemblance to its lowlands cousin, Hill Country Blues is a whole 'nother critter altogether. It is, as Palmer describes in the liner notes of this CD, a "slashing, droning trance-blues," a "churning, jamming one-chord exercise in stamina and mass-hypnosis."
Too many recordings these days suffer from excessive post-production, processed until they've been homogenized, sterilized, or just plain castrated, but this ain't slicked-up big city blues, Bubba. Uh Uh. Robert Palmer is a blues bloodhound; he knows where the Real Blues live, and on this CD records them in their element as they happen. The results are, in a word, profound.
Burnside plays a wicked, ratty slide over the top of a hypnotic backbeat laid down by backup guitarist Kenny Brown, bassist Dwayne Burnside and drummer Calvin Jackson. Recorded live at a jukejoint owned by fellow bluesman Junior Kimbrough, "Too Bad Jim" is raw, nasty & compelling, coming through with all the fevered urgency of a jukejoint jam session.
".44 Pistol" is a raucous and swaggering counterstroke to the haunting cover of Lightnin' Hopkins "Death Bell Blues" which follows. Two other Hopkins tunes, "Short Haired Woman" and "Miss Glory B." get the Burnside treatment. "Fireman Ring The Bell" seems to borrow much from Bill Broonzy's "Rollin' & Tumblin'."
This is Deep Blues as it should be heard, bare and honest without any fancy production tricks to spoil it. Just buy it.