Hand Me Down My Moonshine

Luther Allison

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 4, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ruf
• ASIN: B000009POK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #110,417 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #31 in	Music > Indie Music > Blues > Chicago Blues
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Luther Unplugged, August 20, 1999

By	john thomas (athens, oh) - See all my reviews

"Hand Me Down My Moonshine" is a superb acoustic album featuring Luther and his son Bernard on guitars, recorded while he was still living in Paris. If you are only familiar with his electric guitar playing, this is a real treat. No bells and whistles, only the fine interplay of the two guitars and of course the emotional vocals that are Luther's trademark. The songs on this CD recall the old masters, and you'll hear the influence of Robert Johnson and Lightnin' Hopkins on cuts like "Lightning Bolt", "Don't Burn My Bread", and "You're The One". Put this one on and close your eyes. You'll swear you're sitting on the back porch at the Allison's, a special guest of one of the finest bluesmen that ever lived. A must for any serious Luther Allison fan.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great acoustic blues!, February 14, 2002

By	Kevin Ott (Levittown, PA USA) - See all my reviews

... Then we see Luther Allison looking up at us from the CD rack, and we remember what the big deal is.

Allison's 1992 release "Hand Me Down My Moonshine" is recorded acoustically, as opposed to the electric Chicago blues which comprises most of his body of work. There's nothing more electric on this disc than a steel guitar.

In an era where digital technology has all but eliminated the possibility of a bad record, it's easy to pine for the scratches and over-the-phone qualities of recordings made before quality was an issue that recording media could address. Sometimes it's pleasingly quaint to hear the remnants of a wax cylinder in a Bessie Smith song, or whatever made Woody Guthrie sound as if he were standing three or four rooms down from a microphone. While most of "Moonshine" was recorded on digital audio tape - the two grittiest songs were recorded at studios near Allison's home in France - Allison's voice brings back that found-in-the-back-of-the-Library-of-Congress feeling that makes those old recordings so endearing. His pipes hit their apex in the title track (one of the two recorded in Paris), swerving between church-balcony highs and dirt-floor lows.

Allison's voice overshadows most of his guitar work, which again in the title track reaches complexities hard to describe to someone who isn't a blues fan. French bluesman Patrick Verbekes plays steel guitar ably on "You're the One," a classic blues conceit, and Allison's own son Bernard screams on slide guitar in the disc's final track, "Meet Me In My Hometown."

Other tunes stand out, like "Farmer's Child," an ode to - and lament of - Allison's rural upbringing and family history, and the infinitely sexy "Don't Burn My Bread," which - no offense to Chris Isaak - should have been used in that dirty scene in "Eyes Wide Shut."

All in all, the disc starts out upbeat and winds up low and grinding, like a day spent listening to friends play music in your home - which is exactly what Allison wanted from the album.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite CD's, September 16, 2009

By	Cheapybob (Chicago) - See all my reviews

I'm here looking for other stuff by him that's as good to add to my collection. I also have Reckless, but to me its not as good. I really like Luther's acoustic sound.