Label: Arhoolie
Originally released: 1995
Blues
“To quote the liner notes, "One can never have enough of Fred McDowell in his record collection." That sums it up for me. Tracks #18 were recorded in 1969 and were previously released as Arhoolie LP 1046. Tracks #918 were recorded in 1968 at Chris Strachwitz' house, and were previously unissued. Fred McDowell is a genuine icon of traditional country blues. There's no doubt that blues has a soul when you listen to this man and his guitar. Just go out and get this one!”
**
Mississippian Fred McDowell did not record until the 1960s blues revival when he was first "discovered." Bonnie Raitt struck up a friendship with him, and he refined her slide guitar playing. This album captures McDowell in a band setting with properly unobtrusive players. McDowell plays a percussive, loping guitar emphasizing his dry vocals with stinging slide repetitions as on "Diamond Ring." He's a great electric country blues player, and this album, like all of his recordings, is exciting. This CD includes 10 tracks previously unreleased, to boot.
By Michael “Wolf” Spicer — Music City Bluesletter.
**
“Arhoolie has made available an essential blues album, a masterpiece of electric bottleneck guitar playing, an historic recording of Mississippi Fred McDowell, and an 18 track CD with a heap of terrific previously unissued material- all in one release: Fred McDowell's This Ain't No Rock N' Roll.
Along with the previously released recordings of McDowell on theArhoolie label, including "You Got To Move" (CD304) and "Good Morning Little School Girl" (CD 424), this latest collection is just as stellar. But, what differentiates this one is that Fred is heard playing an electric guitar and is joined, at times, by a small, sympathetic rhythm section. "This Aint No Rock N' Roll" takes the originally issued Arhoolie LP 1046 Fred McDowell and his Blues Boys (although I can't find "Big Stars Falling" from the original Arhoolie LP), and adds 10 previously unissued cuts for 77 minutes of prime amplified bottleneck blues.The first 8 cuts (from the LP) were recorded in 1969 with Fred accompanied by second guitar, bass and drums, while the 10 unissued tracks were recorded in 1968 with Fred playing solo, except with drums on "I Heard Somebody Calling Me,""Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning," and "Mama Said I'm Crazy" (which also has added harmonica). The music ranges from slow, lurking, moody cuts like the excellent "Levee Camp Blues" and "I Wonder What I Have Done Wrong" to the driving, pulsing songs like "Dankin's Farm" and "My Baby." An additional bonus is the recording of"new" and "rekindled" songs that Fred added to his later repertoire, such as "I Worked Old Lu and I Worked Old Bess," "Diamond Ring,""Meet Me Down in Froggy Bottom" and "Jim, Steam Killed Lula "
Either with or without electric amplification, McDowell's dark vocals intertwined with his spellbinding bottleneck playing is truly sublime. And "This Ain't No Rock N' Roll" can strongly attest to the power of Mississippi Fred's electric work.”
By Dennis Rozans — Blues Rag.
**
“The Arhoolie, from 1968-9, is thoughtlessly titled - there's a well known 1969 Capitol LP with an almost identical title due for CD reissue any day now. Even worse, both highlight Fred as an electric guitar player with a small group. Confusing or what!
As I wrote in a profile of Fred in RR.131, his acoustic playing and vibrant slide was so strong and dominant that electricity seemed superfluous. Yet he was already electric on his home ground for dances and parties and it was more a mistaken perception of what he should be doing rqther than his own inclination that kept his early recordings unplugged (didn't young Dylan have the same problem around the same time?)
This CD includes all but one of the tracks on Arhoolie LP 1046 in which Fred was given unobtrusive and remarkably effective support by Mike Russo on second guitar John Kahn, bass, and Bob Jones, drums. Together with his own amplified guitar, it gave him a much fuller, rhythmically varied foundation while reducing the complexity of his own solo playing because there was no longer a need to provide melody and rhythm himself.
Much as I love the acoustic Fred, this is one electric set I rate very highly indeed. There are ten previously unheard tracks recorded in Chris Strachwitz's home the previous year which are comparatively low key and a bit tentative, rather as if Fred was still unsure about what to do with the extra power available. A year or so later when the LP was recorded, he was confident and assertive, fully in control of the beast and able to expand his acoustic technique to generate new dynamics and express the potential of the instrument. It's like Muddy Waters moving away from his Library of Congress sides to the electric sound of the early Chess sides, where the music scarcely changed while the way it was shaped did.
Those extra ten tracks are valuable for songs Fred never recorded commercially and a trifle surprising because of the comparatively seldom use of slide. Another side of Fred and a I valuable addition to his recorded repertoire.”
By David Harrison — Folk Roots.
**
01. My Baby
02. Levee Camp Blues
03. When The Saints Go Marching In
04. Diamond Ring
05. Dankin's Farm
06. You Ain't Treatin' Me Right
07. Ethel Mae Blues
08. Meet Me Down In Froggy Bottom
09. Mama Said I'm Crazy
10. I Heard Somebody Calling Me
11. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning
12. I Wonder What Have I Done Wrong
13. I Worked Out Old Lu And I Worked Out Old Bess
14. Jim, Steam Killed Lula
15. Worried Now, Won't Be Worried Long
16. Going Away, Won't Be Gone Long
17. Going Down That Gravel Bottom
18. Bye, Bye Little Girl
*
NoPassword
*
DLink
*
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario