SOME OLD, NEW & BORROWED BLUES….. A Launch Pad for the Blues.

Apr 232010

This is an easy introduction to the blues. We’re going to look at three albums of great music that might just spark your interest in something different. They also boast excellent sound quality.

Now, you need to bear with me a little on the title of the article. The first album is not really old as far as blues recordings go. That would have to be something by Blind Lemon Jefferson or Charlie Patton, someone like that. But this article is supposed to make it easy for the newcomer to appreciate blues and those incredible recordings need easing into once you’ve got the hang of things a bit. Additionally, all three of these albums also boast songs by those early artists to give you a taste of what they got up to.
Just as the first record isn’t truly old, the second album is not truly new. But in the scheme of things, the extended timeline of the history of the blues makes 1994 seem like just hours ago, so I think we can be excused a little more licence here! We get it right for the third album though, because every track is borrowed from a blues legend and interpreted by another one.

OLD: MUDDY WATERS – ‘Folk Singer’ 1964, Chess Records
So as I alluded to earlier, the songs on Folk Singer are performed in the ‘down home’ style of the old blues, but with incredible sound quality. It’s different from the Muddy Waters that’s well known from things like ‘Mannish Boy’, ‘Got My Mojo Working’ and the like that were borne from life in the city. This is ‘sitting on the porch with a jug of moonshine’ music. We’ll investigate that city stuff later.

This is a truly intimate recording of an acoustic band made up of true legends and masters of their craft. The concept was ‘Unplugged’ but way before it’s time. Muddy Waters plays acoustic guitar and sings, beside him is Buddy Guy, also on guitar, while the rhythm section is Willie Dixon on acoustic double bass and Clifton James on a small, simple drum kit. If you’ve never heard this album, you’re in for a real treat, especially if you want to know how your hi-fi copes with reproducing a convincing soundstage with players placed in a tangible sounding environment. Played on a really good system, you feel as though you could walk among the musicians as they play. Rightfully acknowledged as one of the definitive blues recordings of all time and claimed by some to be simply one of the best recordings of anything ever.
Sound Quality: 10 out of 10

Music: 8 out of 10

NEW: KELLY JOE PHELPS – ‘Lead Me On’ 1994, Burnside Records

This is a little known album of solo acoustic guitar and vocals – we’re still on the front porch for this one. Phelps plays slide guitar in the ‘lap-style’ where the musician lays the body of the instrument down flat and frets the strings with a slide – in this case a steel bar rather than a finger tube. There are covers of classic blues standards as well as some original material. Phelps doesn’t consider himself to be a blues musician and is known for never playing a song the same way twice – a true improviser. This is his first record and he later worked with a band. Though it’s almost so laid back it’s untrue, I find this album totally captivating and almost hypnotic at times and it’s a recording that I hope I will never be without. The first and best album from a great talent.

Sound Quality: 8 out of 10

Music: 10 out of 10

BORROWED: ERIC CLAPTON – ‘From The Cradle’ 1994, Reprise Records

And so, now we arrive at the ‘borrowed’ section of the article. This record is Eric Clapton’s wholehearted vote of thanks to his influences, so it’s cover versions all the way. This is where we move away from the country and get a taste of the Chicago blues – this is a really powerful sound played by an incredibly accomplished band. There are songs by (or made famous by) people like Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Freddy King, Otis Rush, Lowell Fulson, Leroy Carr and more and the whole album is a gripping taste of what these performers are all about. The interpretations are respectful to the originals but not note for note clones. It’s worth noting for the uninitiated that three of the songs were written by Willie Dixon, who played bass on the Muddy Waters album discussed above. Dixon was no mere bassist as he wrote scores of songs for many of the giants of blues in his long standing roles of house songwriter and bassist in the resident band at Chess Records in Chicago – his influence cannot be underestimated.
The playing is vital and full of energy, and again the sound quality is excellent. It’s a live-in-the-studio recording, with only two single instrument overdubs on the whole thing. For the most part, Clapton’s guitar sound has its usual clean and sharp character but throughout the whole thing it sounds like a band having immense fun.

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Sound Quality: 9 out of 10

Music: 8 out of 10

So there it is, Old, New & Borrowed: A Launch Pad for the Blues.

Hopefully if you listen to and enjoy these three records, it might inspire you to investigate this richly rewarding field of music a bit further.

Muddy Waters – ‘Folk Singer’ 1964, Chess Records CHE12027.2
Kelly Joe Phelps – ‘Lead Me On’ 1994, Burnside Records BCD 0015-2
Eric Clapton – ‘From The Cradle’ 1994 Reprise Records 9362-45735-2

Other issues of ‘Folk Singer’: Some reissues include bonus tracks from other sessions recorded in 1964. A two for one package is also available with ‘Folk Singer’ coupled with its sister album – ‘Muddy Sings Big Bill’ on BGO Records, A 2003 SACD disc on import from Island Records. Mobile Fidelity Sounds Lab released a vinyl pressing MFSL 1-201, Original UK vinyl was released on Pye Records.

Chris Bennett

Source of Music reviewed…… Reviewer owned items

System used…..

Accuphase DP67 CD Player, Audio Research SP8 Pre-Amplifier, Mark Levinson ML9/ML11 Power Amplifiers, Mirage M3Si Speakers

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