Recorded between 1927 and 1930. Digitally remastered by David Mitson(Sony Music Studios, Los Angeles, California).
A bottleneck guitarist of consummate skill, Blind Willie Johnson was a traveling evangelist who preached the gospel by playing and singing such message-heavy tunes as "I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole," and "If It Had Not Been for Jesus." But there is not a whit of squeaky-clean, Sunday-morning sweetness to Johnson's music. Overwhelmingly intense, Johnson's performances are all open wounds and raw nerves. THE COMPLETE collects everything the artist ever recorded, and makes a case for Johnson as one of the most passionate, affecting bluesmen of all time.

It is Johnson's singing that truly startles. A gruff yet finely nuanced bass, Johnson sings with a voice that could grind glass, wrenching out spiritually committed messages in a manner both primal and sublime. Johnson also displays great variety, be it the stark, understated intensity of "Dark Was the Night - Cold Was the Ground" (where he wordlessly vocalizes in a hush over ghostly riffs) or the full-tilt prophetic perfection of "John the Revelator" (a duet with Willie Harris). THE COMPLETE BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON is an utterly essential set of the most hair-raising gospel blues ever put to tape. Be prepared.

This is part of Columbia/Legacy's Roots N' Blues series.

Rolling Stone (9/2/93, p.64) - "...adds no new discoveries to his discography, but it boasts clearer sound than the Yazoo reissues..." Q (9/93, p.96) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...[THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS] are as crude as you'd expect...nonetheless, the intensity and strangeness of `Dark Was The Night' suggests [Blind Willie Johnson] belongs among the heavy hitters..."


  Four Kings Of Blues Guitar CD
  by Paul Butterfield Blues Band
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The '60s Blues Revival begins here. Calling this album influential is an understatement akin to calling the Grand Canyon a rut; suffice to say that an entire generation of musicians (mostly young and white) heard this and had their lives changed forever. In fact, for at least a year after the album's release in 1965, it was impossible to walk down the hall of any college dorm in America without hearing one of the songs here echoing from somebody's room.

Heard today, the thing still packs a wallop. Butterfield's harmonica and vocals are utterly idiomatic, without a hint of minstrelsy. Michael Bloomfield's lead guitar is stinging and eloquent, and the rhythm section, on loan from Howling Wolf, swings like mad. The only fly in the ointment is the fairly primitive production, which often makes Mark Naftalin's keyboards sound like a horde of angry bees, but that's a small criticism in the face of blues playing as passionate and accomplished as this. A genuine classic.

Live Recording


  Live From Nowhere In Particular CD
  by Joe Bonamassa
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Although his previous studio albums have rightly positioned him as the king of electric blues guitarists, Joe Bonamassa's gut-wrenching expressiveness and technical wizardry are best experienced live. This blistering two-disc concert set captures Bonamassa's brilliance on strutting stompers ("Bridge to Better Days"), aching laments ("So Many Roads"), and-the highlight--a sweat-inducing medley of "A New Day Yesterday"/ "Starship Trooper" / "Wurm."

Personnel: Joe Bonamassa (vocals, guitar); Rick Melick (keyboard); Carmine Rojas (bass guitar); Bogie Bowles (drums).


  Bad Influence CD
  by Robert Cray
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Cray's second effort hews to the same musical template as TOO MANY COOKS, his under-appreciated debut. That is to say that BAD INFLUENCE is hardly the work of a blues puritan. There's just as much Memphis-style R&B and soul as blues in the mix, making for a potent fusion. Cray's guitar work is more impressive than ever, particularly on "No Big Deal," where he rips jagged metallic lines out of his Stratocaster as if he were channeling Otis Rush. The two bonus tracks are particularly entertaining, as Cray offers a suitably rowdy version of Texas bluesman Peppermint Harris' often covered "I Got Loaded" and an intense, almost gospel-style reading of Booker T.'s "Share What You've Got, Keep What You Need."

  Come On In This House CD
  by Junior Wells
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(vocals, slide guitar, 12-string dobro); Derek Trucks, Bob Margolin (acoustic & electric guitars); Tab Benoit (acoustic guitar); Corey Harris, John Mooney ... Full Description(slide guitar); John Cleary (piano); Bob Sunda (acoustic & electric basses); Herman Ernest III (drums).

Recorded at Dockside, Maurice, Louisiana; Soundtrack Studios, New York, New York between April 16 and May 31, 1996. Includes liner notes by Frank John Hadley.

Personnel includes: Junior Wells (vocals, harmonica); Alvin "Youngblood" Hart

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.


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