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October 9, 2007
Last August, our Musicological Research Team took a drive down Highway 61 all the way to the epicenter of the Mississippi Delta Blues Universe, Clarksdale, Mississippi. Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Ike Turner, Robert Johnson and many other important blues musicians either lived there, worked there, or stayed there. You'd be hard-pressed to find another town of such musicological importance.
Along with tasty BBQ, friendly people and really good donuts, our team was delighted to find a living blues music scene with yearly music festivals, real juke joints , the Ground Zero Blues Club owned by actor Morgan Freeman, and a hip blues radio station WROX. We were also happy to find out that this music scene isn't some fake Disney World put on for tourists; this is the real deal. This music is what the locals listen to, and dance to. Yes, dance.
But now you say you want the proof. Well, here it is. We have selected five representative CDs by contemporary artists. Here they are. Get dancin'
1. Mule by Paul "Wine" Jones
The late prince of music journalism, Robert Palmer, writes in the liner notes of Mule that Paul "Wine" Jones plays guitar "with the momentum and unpredictability of a runaway steamroller." It's an apt description. For Jones's raw electric riffs are the sonic by-product of hard life in the Mississippi Delta, and the songs contained in this CD are a mud-splattered testament to playing the blues for no purpose other than self-expression and emotional release. Indeed, Jones often slurs indistinguishably on cuts like "Kitty Kat" and "Rob & Steal." But who cares? After all, this is the real thing. Is that Jones playing the wah-wah or is it Big Jack Johnson? Are they a beat behind the primal thump of Sam Carr's drums? It makes no difference. Because these 10 tracks are so uncompromising and dangerous they make Buddy Guy sound like Donny Osmond. With releases like Mule, Fat Possum Records is showing the world that the deep, dark Delta blues still exists. And you can be part of it. Just play it loud. - Ken Hohman, Amazon.com
2. Smokin' in Bed by Denise LaSalle
Unlike so many other blues vocalists who just re-interpret material given to them by songwriters, Denise LaSalle is a seriously talented songwriter. Although her soul blues style has strong urban contemporary overtones at times, it's best to think of LaSalle as a modern-day Bessie Smith, because that's really what she is. She writes funny songs full of sassy attitude and it's an attitude she carries with her on-stage. Off-stage, LaSalle accommodates all autograph seekers and gladly obliges journalists and radio disc jockeys. - All Music Guide
3. Burnside on Burnside by R.L. Burnside
North Mississippi guitarist R.L. Burnside was one of the paragons of state-of-the-art Delta juke joint blues. The guitarist, singer and songwriter was born November 23, 1926 in Oxford, MS, and made his home in Holly Springs, in the hill country above the Delta. He lived most of his life in the Mississippi hill country, which, unlike the Delta region, consists mainly of a lot of small farms. He learned his music from his neighbor, Fred McDowell, and the highly rhythmic style that Burnside plays is evident in McDowell's recording as well. Despite the otherworldly country-blues sounds put down by Burnside and his family band, known as the Sound Machine, his other influences are surprisingly contemporary: Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins. But Burnside's music is pure country Delta juke joint blues, heavily rhythm-oriented and played with a slide. - All Music Guide
4. Sad Days, Lonely Nights by Junior Kimbrough
Cited as a prime early influence by rockabilly pioneer Charlie Feathers, Mississippi Delta bluesman Junior Kimbrough's modal, hypnotic blues vision remained a regional sensation for most of his career. He finally transcended the confines of his region in the early '90s, when he appeared in the 1991 movie Deep Blues and on its Anxious/Atlantic soundtrack, leading to his own debut for Fat Possum Records, All Night Long. - All Music Guide
5. Roots Stew by Big Jack Johnson
Contemporary Mississippi blues doesn't get any nastier than in Big Jack Johnson's capable hands. The ex-oil truck driver's axe cuts like a rusty machete, his rough-hewn vocals a siren call to Delta passion. - All Music Guide
To find out more about blues music from the Mississippi Delta, you must read Robert Palmer's Deep Blues.
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