R.L.BURNSIDE - My Black Name A-Ringin' 1999

R.L.BURNSIDE - My Black Name A-Ringin' 1999
Label: Genes Records

Blues
 
I hadn't heard of R. L. Burnside until recently when a friend told me to check his stuff out. I bought this album due to that suggestion and all I can say is I can't believe what I've been missing! Every song is masterfully played, the vocals deep and reminiscent. The most powerful aspect of the Blues is that we, the audience, know that what we are hearing comes from experience. The truthfullness in Mr. Burnside's singing and playing is amazing. This album will get inside your head. For Blues fans this is one Bluesman to put on your list and this album deserves a place there as well. A word of note: If you like this album you might be thrown off by the stuff Burnside does for Fat Possum which is a hell of a lot different from what you hear here.
By Ryan Costantino.
**
13 acoustic songs written and/or arranged by R.L. Burnside and performed in the Delta blues tradition. The performance featured on this release was recorded on October 1969 and it captures Burnside in his earlier, pre-electric, pre-techno, pre-rap, pre-experimentational years. The tempo is slow and thoughtful comprised mostly of single notes with a somewhat quickened rhythmic tempo. Stylistically, the CD follows in the tradition of Robert Nighthawk, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James and John Lee Hooker. The CD is almost mesmerizing and is sure to appeal to traditional Delta blues fans and fans of acoustic blues alike.
By  "deepbluereview".
**
Rising like a ghost out of the north Mississippi cotton lands, the voice of R.L. Burnside is higher and thinner on these previously unreleased 1969 recordings than on his contemporary work. And his guitar's acoustic and sparer than the rhythmic juggernaut he commands today. Nonetheless, these 13 songs cut as close to the bone as his best Fat Possum CD, Too Bad Jim. They also capture Burnside just before he came into his own as an artist, flashing the influence of Lightnin' Hopkins, Fred McDowell and others like a hand of trump cards. Most important, the sparse field-style recording technique allows the poignance in Burnside's voice to thoroughly soak the lyrics of tunes like "Nine Days in Jail" and "MyBlack Name A-Ringin'," speaking volumes about life in the Jim Crow South in which these songs were put to tape.
A mesmerizing, moving performance.
          
This previously unreleased 1969 recording captures a youthful R.L. Burnside in the process of honing his now well-established Mississippi blues style. The music here, like all of Burnside's catalog, is part of the juke joint tradition, in which steady riffing is embellished as it motors along. Unlike the tough, electric blues band sound of Burnside's later recordings, My Black Name... features Burnside alone with his acoustic guitar, occasionally backed by harmonica player Red Ramsey and second guitarist Jesse Vortis. The blues master's voice is soulful and warm, lending a quiet dignity to these spare songs, some of which Burnside still plays today. A must for any fan of raw blues, My Black Name A-Ringin' is a legend captured in the making.
By Tad Hendrickson.
**
R.L. Burnside - Vocals, Guitar
Jesse Vortis - Guitar
Red Ramsey - Harmonica
**
01. Going Down South     3:16  
02. Two Trains Runnin'      2:49  
03. Sat Down On My Bed And Cried    2:49  
04. Nine Days In Jail    4:36  
05. Long Haired Doney    4:11  
06. Hobo Blues    4:1
07. My Black Name a-Ringin'    2.27
08. Catfish Blues    2:52  
09. See My Jumper    3:56  
10. Peach Tree Blues    3:41  
11. Goin' Away Blues    3:33  
12. Poor Boy    3:02  
13. Tom Wilson's Place     3:11  
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