Customer Reviews

Worried

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this record.

Everyone who I have bought a copy of this for also loves it. Yes, Asie died two years before it ever came out, and that is a shame. But he did more than most of us ever will; there's just ten songs here, and 2 of them are "remixes" (addition of some deep bass, effects and such. It actually works really well. Who'd have guessed?!) So these eight songs are what makes up Asie Payton's legacy. It's more than enough. Asie wails, moans, and plays and MAKES you understand why the mostly unknown - well face it - mostly FAT POSSUM artists - are TEN TIMES BETTER than whatever blues record is selling thousands of copies; and I don't care if it IS B.B. King and Eric Clapton - THIS stuff is better.

After you get convinced, do yourself a real favor. Check out the other Fat Possum wonders: Scott Dunbar (Like Asie, the only album he ever made. Like Asie, it's absolutely KILLER), Johnny Farmer (I believe Farmer is still alive, though I understand he is not well enough to make more records), T-Model Ford's first album, Junior Kimbrough's first three records, and the amazing Robert Belfour who played the House of Blues in LA a few months ago, and made me want to weep he was so good. Get this stuff. You won't know how much you needed it until you hear it.

Fat Possum Records does a wonderful job as curator of lost music. Mr. Payton was recorded in only two sessions. He died not long after, taking his immeasureable talent to the grave. If not for this compilation, this world would be much poorer. Mr. Payton's blues are on par with any artist I have heard. Honest, arresting, and wrapped in emotion, his works deserve a spot in the pantheon alongside the other greats.

I give this CD only 4 stars simply because it runs 33 minutes. Asie's story is quite incredible; the tracks from this CD were recorded in two sessions, one of which was recorded in a car parts store. They've been mixed and produced and the result is that Fat Possum/R.L Burnside sound of down home, simple yet heartfelt blues. Asie's has more class however; his voice carries more emotion and his sound has more variety compared to say, Burnside or Junior Kimbrough.

Overall, if you like these "new found" artists; Asie is one of the best. He apparently was never discovered or rewarded for his talents but he obviously had it.

This is very, very good CD.

The 7 tracks on this CD (plus the 2 remixes) constitute the legacy of Asie Payton and there's no doubt that this is Mississippi Hills blues at its best. Accompanied by a drummer on some numbers, Payton keeps it plain and simple yet his singing and playing goes straight to the heart. Overall, this CD is an important musical document showing that not only Delta blues came out of Mississippi. I don't understand, however, why Fat Possum failed to include the undubbed and unmixed version of "Asie's Jam." They can remix all they want to as long as they also give purists like me the original tracks.

...perfection.

This is simply a perfect recording of tunes. It's hard to say exactly what it's perfect for- the blues are like that. But I love it, and every time I listen to it I think "man, it's been too long since I last listened to this record".

Even if I last listened to it just a couple of hours prior.

Buy it. If you don't like it (and you might not) give it away and odds are THEY will like it.

All the kids out there headbanging to SRV licks and thinking they know blues should put this album on and drink deeply. (Starting with the second song -- the first is a funked-up studio remix. It rocks OK, but it's really not representative.)

This is the real thing, not for blues lightweights. But if you're interested in where blues really comes from, its sad, gritty, honest soul, get this disc. It's a rough record, a collection of demos with marginal sound quality. But that adds to the charm.

It's heartbreaking that Asie died before they could record a real album or two.

Even though I live just down the road from Asie Payton's hometown of Holly Springs, I was not lucky enough to hear him live before he died. After listening to Worried a few times, I know that I will regret that for a long time.

Payton's blues are the basic Delta blues that could only come from a lifetime of living what he sang. In the same sense that Willie Foster (Get Live at the Airport)is an important artist and a true original, Payton's music is real, heartfelt, and a tribute to what living in the Delta is all about.

Worried Life is powerful stuff. There are not a lot of extra frills, just a man singing from the heart. If you love original American music, make sure to get your copy of this one.

You know a true blues man when he plays for the love of the music and is not motivated by the lure of selling CD's and making money playing in clubs. Such is the story of Asie Payton, broke, living in squalor in a one-room shack with no phone, air conditioner or other modern conveniences. Like his surroundings Payton's music is a no frills, real deal, situation. The guitar work and vocals are rough, slightly off key and simply fantastic. "Nobody But You" has a rhythmic beat that is not easily forgettable and Joe Tex' "Skinny Legs & All" will not make the top ten but it never sounded better. No matter what you call it-- demos, outtakes, intakes--it is a work of art. It's a shame that there will not be anymore from this guy, so get him while you can.

I want to walk down the aisle to Asie's I LOVE YOU.

One of the best blues albums of the last 30 years. Right up there with Hooker 'N Heat, Muddy Waters' I'm Ready and R.L. Burnside's Mr. Wizard.