Big Bill Broonzy and Country Blues

Originally posted on January 9, 2009

Big Bill Broonzy was one of the last of the folk-county bluesmen, one of the original players to follow in the wake of Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and the others. He recorded through the thirties and forties, gradually going to a more electric style until the early fifties, when he reverted to the acoustic roots of his music, becoming a part of the folk revival movement. He enjoyed genuine success in his remaining years before leaving this world in 1958. Sometime in that later period he recorded an album for Folkways Records, Broonzy Sings Country Blues. I believe I was in 7th grade when I stumbled upon a copy of the disk, rather badly warped, for something like ten cents at a local junk shop. I had learned by that point that guys who had nicknames like “Little,” “Blind,” “Big,” “Fats,” etc., were bound to be cool, so based on such a slim bit of guidance I picked the record up. Only half of the disk would play, the other skipping relentlessly in response to the warp, but what was playable got my attention!

Years went by, I had sold off my original record collection to help pay for school, Folkways' director Moses Asch had passed away, and the record went out of my memory. The Smithsonian acquired the Folkways catalog a number of years ago and began reissuing everything—as a regular CD issue, a CD-Rom dub, or a download. I remembered that old Broonzy record and sure enough, it was again available. So here I hear it all once more after so many years, this time without the skips, and hey, it still makes for great listening. Bill plays some very nice picking guitar, is in strong voice and covers a repertory of gems. He was in full flower, despite the years of scuffling that were behind him. So it’s something to check out if you have the interest. Set your search engine to “Folkways,” get to the Smithsonian site and you’ll find that and a zillion other recordings of folk, world, and generally wonderful things.

[Update: Since I originally wrote this review, the album mentioned seems to have gone out of print. However, the Folkways anthology Trouble in Mind appears to cover virtually that entire album and some other cuts as well.]

Skip James IS the Blues

Originally posted on April 6, 2009

What can you say about Skip James? He is a special member of the country blues pantheon who made a seminal series of recordings in the early days of the record industry, disappeared like so many and was rediscovered in the mid-sixties. Skip passed on much too soon after re-establishing his artistry in a series of concerts and recordings. Document Records has two concert appearances from the second phase of his career (on Live Volume 1), that should still be around if you search.

The first from Boston in 1964 marked his re-emergence in fine fashion, the second, from Philadelphia in 1966, finds him apparently ailing but still going strong. There’s that wonderful high-ranged blues voice, and great accompaniment on guitar as well as piano. It shows that his powers were as strong as before and will be a real treat for anyone with a liking for the music. He had a sense of humor and a delivery that cannot be duplicated. By all means get this one.

Classic Blind Lemon Jefferson Remastered

Originally posted on October 10, 2008

The early “folk” blues as represented on record is one of the treasures of American Culture. Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Skip James, Blind Blake and a number of others created some masterpieces of the three minute art form in their day and their music lives on for those that seek it out and those who have admired artists who embody the spirit of their work.

One of the most important and prolific of these bluesmen was Texas master Blind Lemon Jefferson. There’s a box set around of his work from 1926-29 and it is a revelation (Blind Lemon Jefferson: The Complete Classic Sides Remastered on JSP Records). Although the recording quality varies from acceptable to pretty awful, once one adjusts to the technical defects and the minimal lineup of Blind Lemon’s vocals and his acoustic guitar, sometimes his piano, pretty much nothing else, his genius comes through. Interestingly there are a number of songs that technically are not blues in the sense of the chord sequence standardized over the years. And he revisits some of the same materials in the different sessions, deepening his commitment to their essence as time passes.

But it is the perfect combination of soulful voice call and solo guitar response that most fascinates. His is a two-way dialogue between both elements and he works out ingenious weavings of them in ways that can only bring astonishment on close listening. Four full CDs is a lot to digest, but in the end one comes away with a complete picture of his style and how important a pioneer he was. The set is going at a bargain price last I checked. It’s a tremendous addition to anybody’s collection, anybody with a feeling for the blues. In today’s world the blues still have the power to musically transform troubling experiences and make something beautiful out of it all. Blind Lemon comes through these scratchy recordings with a voice that speaks to us as powerfully today as it did in 1926.