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Blues music can generally be divided into two categories. There are the rock-informed blues with polished, clichéd solos, going- through-the-motions vocals, and obnoxiously loud and pummeling versions of everything from “Sweet Home Chicago” to “Down-Home Blues” to “Mustang Sally.” Then there are the more idiosyncratic blues that are passionate, distorted, and raw. Kenny Brown’s new double album, Can’t Stay Long, is firmly planted in the second camp. Brown is a native of Northern Mississippi, where he learned from and played with the gods of that minimal chord trance boogie: Joe Callicot, Junior Kimbrough, and R.L. Burnside. One disc is a live, closing set from the wild North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. It’s raucous and rambunctious as Brown and his band roll through such Hill Country classics as “Skinny Woman,” “Jumper on the Line” and “Ms. Maybelle.” The tunes hit hard with Brown’s slide guitar playing sometimes taking them into a new dimension. His vocals are tough yet resigned, especially when he sings the always-true lines “I’m laughing to keep from crying” and “I’m going back to Mississippi / Got to get away from you.”
The second disc is a solo, acoustic session recorded on Brown’s front porch. It is quieter and prettier, but the songs still have a drive to them with a sense of menace and foreboding, accented again by Brown’s precise but unexpected slide work. Even spiritual numbers such as “Denomination Blues” have a metaphorical cloud over them. Both these recordings are excellent and soulful, and they stand out over the less subtle stadium music that most blues have become.
Now that blues legends R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough are no longer with us, I am certain most fans would agree that the North Mississippi Hill Country scene just isn't the same. And this style as a whole would no doubt be in jeopardy of finding itself shelved somewhere in the vast archives of music history, if not for the few remaining artists whose time has come to step forward from the backing bands of the greats to becoming greats themselves. Devil Down Records knows the importance of the continuation of Hill Country blues, as evidenced by the release of two particular albums over the course of this year, first with Can't Stay Long, the two-disc set by blues veteran Kenny Brown, who is known for having played in R.L. Burnside's band, and more recently with Backatchya, an album by Little Joe Ayers, talented bluesman and longtime member of Junior Kimbrough's Soul Blues Boys.
It was only recently that I got my hands on Little Joe Ayers' Backatchya album. Made up of both previously unreleased originals and Hill Country classics, Backatchya isn't just a remarkable collection of songs, it's also a statement of sorts, telling those of us who value this style of music and lament its extinction that the last of the true bluesmen have not gone, that Little Joe Ayers is still here to lay it down with as much soul and grit as they always have.
Speaking of the way it's always been done, while listening to the thirteen songs on Backatchya, one can definitely take note of the way Ayers' sound holds certain similarities to that of the late Junior Kimbrough, along with something altogether his own. In other words, his sound is still a unique version of country blues, with minimial chord changes and unorthodox song structures, the repetition and catchy note work, and a steady groove throughout, coupled with his soulful Southern vocals, cool attitude, and plenty of heart. As with most blues material, Ayers' lyrical content is often centered on real life. The entire album is just Little Joe Ayers playing acoustic guitar and singing; no additional instrumentation, no studio effects, and nothing unnatural to the live song. Indeed these are the type of blues songs that can be played while sitting on the front porch by oneself. Backatchya might as well be an old field recording from the late '50s or early '60s.
"Don't Leave Me Baby," "I'm Sorry," "40 Train," "Keep Your Hands Off Her," "Two Trains Running," ".44," and "I Asked for Water" are just a handful of the songs on Backatchya's tracklisting. It is a truly great the whole way through, though. And it is a must have for any country blues enthusiast. After all, Little Joe Ayers is the real deal. He is the blues.
Will you see Ayers coming to your town on tour? Not likely. Though he is a bluesman, he has no desire to make a career of it. He wants neither the money nor recognition it can bring. In fact, on the album there is a moment between songs where he comments, "I wouldn't play the guitar for a living for nothin' in the world. Wouldn't try it." One would have to travel to Holly Springs, Mississippi and seek Mr. Ayers out, where one would no doubt find him sitting around in his overalls and cap, playing his guitar like it was the end of the world and it was the last song he would ever play, and belting out the lyrics with that big 'ol wavery voice of his.
I have to admit that I appreciate Devil Down Records' efforts in releasing such material, especially since labels like Fat Possum, who almost singlehandly popularized Hill Country blues among the newer generations, are no longer concerning themselves with the blues in any way at all. Personally, I can't wait to see what comes next from Devil Down.
Kenny Brown's new release is a two-record set, one of which is Brown playing live with a full band, the other an acoustic concert called "Porch Songs," which is pretty much what it sounds like: Brown sitting on his front porch and showing off his finger-picking, and reinterpreting traditional folk songs like "Jesse James" (odd that Jesse turns up on this record, too), and traditional country songs like Roy Acuff's old lament, "Wreck on the Highway." Washington Phillips's "Denomination Blues" sounds terrific here, and so does Joe Calicott's "World War I." His full-electric version of Calicott's "Laughing to Keep From Crying" is the highlight of "Money Maker," the live half of this album.
Brown learned from the masters, Calicott and Burnside (he was a guitar player in Burnside's band), and seems well on his way to becoming a master himself. I admit to a certain prejudice here—I've been a fan of Brown's for several years, and I love the country blues. If you don't care for the blues, there's nothing I can say to make you buy this record. But if you're a blues fan, you'll love it.
Kenny Brown grew up in Nesbit, North Mississippi living next door to the legendary blues man Joe Callicot and ended up playing with RL Burnside, Othar Turner, Junior Kimbrough and many more who liked to let Kenny rough up their tunes. In fact, RL Burnside virtually adopted him - letting him loose as lead guitarist and slide guitar killer in his band for years. Since Burnside's death in 2005, Kenny has not only presented us with full-blooded interpretations of RL's hill country style but has also brought out versions of songs by Callicot and other blues men along with his own variations of traditional blues songs and older mountain music. On this double CD he demonstrates just how skilful he is on both acoustic and full powered electric guitars with twenty five tracks of blues, gospel songs, hill country rockers and traditional tunes.
Disc one (subtitled ‘Porch Songs') is the acoustic portion of the package and features Kenny powering his way through gems learned from Big Joe Williams, Robert Wilkins, Nathan Beauregard, Fred McDowell and the Carter Family. His use of lap steel on Jesus On The Mainline adds just the right amount of tension to make it something special while his bottleneck guitar fretting gives Back Door Man a real deep rural primitive feel. There's a nice lazy, lonesome sound when he gets into his easy rollin' finger-pickin' mode on his take on Big Joe Williams' Baby Please Don't Go, then the lap steel comes in again bringing some lightness to Washington Phillips masterwork Denomination Blues and there is some beautiful picking-slide interplay on his brisk but respectful adaption of Robert Wilkins' Prodigal Son.
Disc two (subtitled Money Maker) is the electric hill country blues side and is a live recording of Kenny rocking out with a band that could strip the creosote off the barn door. And so it should - that's Duwayne Burnside and Luther Dickinson playing back up guitars! They come on full blast with a pulverising attack that works its magic on songs like Son House's Walking Blues, RL Burnside's Jumper On The Line, Elmore James' Shake Your Moneymaker, Little Milton's If Walls Could Talk and Wilbert Harrison's Let's Work Together. Dunno who wrote Dr Brown but they certainly get it rockin' with screaming dust-my-broom licks from Kenny and red hot moments in the solos when Luther Dickinson joins in with some punchy backup. Doing a heavy job on Joe Callicott's delicate Laughing To Keep From Crying might seem wrong but Kenny Brown's arrangement gives it a great slapping beat behind guitars that rumble around the melody with a set of mesmerising licks and intricate picking while he bawls out those great lyrics in a voice that sounds like a cross between Johnny Winter and Jerry Lee Lewis!
This two CD showcase proves that Kenny Brown understands the blues inside and out. The acoustic ‘Porch Songs' and electric ‘Money Maker' more than illustrate his prodigious talent and I think it's going to be one of those milestone records that we'll still be talking about ten years from now.
North Mississippi Allstars Duo – Live In The Hills 6.26.10
Songs Of The South Records/Devil Down Records
When reviewing “North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic Volume 11”, I commented that the “marching drums, buzzing guitar and declamatory vocals of the North Mississippi Allstars DuoLoco’s “My Babe/Station Blues/Glory Glory – this is Hill Country Blues at it’s most downhome and best” – so I am delighted that the rest of their performance from this date is now available thanks to Devil Down Records.
The duo comprises Cody and Luther Dickinson, and this set is a tribute to their father Jim Dickinson and a host of Hill Country greats including Jr Kimbrough, RL Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Napoleon Strickland and Mississippi Fred McDowell. And, it wouldn’t be the Dickinsons unless they threw in a smidgeon of Jimi Hendrix as well – making them sound like Jimi Burnside (or should that be RL Hendrix) or, alternatively a gutbucket version of Canned Heat. Whatever you call it, it sounds great.
The brooding “Shake (Yo Mama)” with it’s downhome slide, “trashcan” drums and “moaned” harmonies recalls Burnside, the great Kenny Brown and Spam at their finest. The incessant lowdown boogie of “Eaglebird” melds Burnside, Kimbrough and Hendrix to perfection (or should that read imperfection) – whilst the compellingly raucous boogie of “Keep The Devil Down” has Canned “North Mississippi Hill Country” Heat written all over it.
“Back, Back Train” is almost a cowboy song, it’s melancholy mood accentuated by sparse drums and slide permeated with an earthy beauty – “Mean Ol’ Wind Died Down” is a declamatory country drone replete with slashing Mississippi Fred McDowell styled slide – whilst “Down In Mississippi” with it’s hypnotic guitar and vocals is gutbucket blues-rock at it’s finest.
I can only repeat what I said earlier– “this is Hill Country Blues at it’s most downhome and best”.
Rating 9 out of 10
This set was recorded live at The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic in Potts Camp, Mississippi over the days of June 25th and 26th, 2010.
It features thirteen tracks by thirteen different artists/bands that are all steeped in the Hill Country traditions that we know and love through the recordings of the likes of RL Burnside, Jr Kimbrough, Napoleon Strickland, Jessie Mae Hemphill et al.
Regular readers of this magazine will know my passion for NMHCB and believe me, this set ranks amongst some of the finest in that tradition.
Opening with the “hellfire and brimstone” gospel testifying and “wicked” slide of the Rev John Wilkins – through Robert Belfour’s tribal moans on the trance-inducing “Hill Stomp” – via T-Model Ford’s droning “I’m Goin Down – to the marching drums, buzzing guitar and declamatory vocals of the North Mississippi Allstars DuoLoco’s “My Babe/Station Blues/Glory Glory – this is Hill Country Blues at it’s most downhome and best.
Other gems are my good friend Kenny Brown’s slide explosion on “Shake Your Money Maker” – DuWayne Burnside’s churning “Snake Drive” who would make RL proud with this percussive slab of NMHCB replete with wild guitar – the wild slide and harp driven “Georgia Women” by the Hill Country Revue – and Jimbo Mathus’ churning boogie “Little Hand, Big Gun”.
Add in Eric Deaton’s RL inspired “I’m Goin Away”, Loose Shoes harp driven Hill Country rendition of Diddley’s “Bring It To Jerome” and other delights from Alvin Youngblood Hart, Blue Mountain and Duff Durrough – crack open a bottle of moonshine and throw some catfish on the Barbie, and you can have a Hill Country Picnic in your own back garden. (www.devildownrecords.com)
Rating 9/10
The North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic is one of my favorite music festivals and the recently released “North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, Volume II” CD from Devil Down Records is a great souvenir of the 2010 festival and a good sampler to entice new fans to the annual event. The Picnic is presented each year by a non-profit foundation created to nurture and promote the unique music of the north Mississippi hills.
The music of several generations is honored here. Mississippi Fred McDowell and Rev. Roy Wilkins received worldwide recognition in the late 1960s and early 1970s due in no small part to the fact that the Rolling Stones recorded a song by each. The music of R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough had worldwide impact in the 1990s due to recordings released by Fat Possum Records and the fife and drum music of Otha Turner was recognized during that time as a priceless link to the past. They have all passed on, but their music lives through their progeny and their disciples.
Another musical hero honored here is the late Jim Dickinson, a record producer who was the power behind many stars and who moved to north Mississippi to embrace the music there and baptize his sons in the hill country sound. Those sons, Luther and Cody, as the North Mississippi Allstars are the most widely known heirs of the amazing north Mississippi music legacy, but heirs from the Burnside, Kimbrough, and Turner families carry on making music that both looks back to the past with respect and charges into the future with great power.
There are also disciples here like Eric Deaton who came to the hill country to play at Junior Kimbrough’s juke joint, and Kenny Brown who grew up in the hill country and whose slide guitar became an integral part of recordings by Burnside and Kimbrough. Kenny Brown and his wife Sara are the organizers of the annual festival which is held in Potts Camp, Mississippi.
The CD opens with Rev. John Wilkins, son of Rev. Roy Wilkins, singing the Mississippi Fred McDowell classic, “You’ve Got To Move.” McDowell’s reminder of the inevitable was slow and mournful, but here it becomes a hand clapping, dance evoking romp topped off with sweet slide guitar by Kenny Brown.
Eric Deaton charges in on cut 2 with an R. L. Burnside song, “I’m Going Away.” Any fan of Burnside’s music will love this song which is played and sung with passion by a man of many musical talents.
When Luther Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Jimbo Mathus teamed up as the South Memphis String Band, they played old timey traditional tunes of death and disaster, but reformed as Loose Shoes they boogie into Bo Diddley’s classic, “Bring it to Jerome, cut 4 on the CD.” Dickinson sings and plays bass, Mathus sings and plays drums, and Hart provides the guitar and harmonica icing.
Cut 5 features Robert Belfour, master of the hill country drone playing “Hill Stomp.” Belfour is a respected native of this country and the music is in his blood.
Grammy award winner Alvin Youngblood Hart grew up in California but visited family in Mississippi frequently. His powerful anthem, “Big Mama’s Door” (cut 5) begs to be played over and over and features Eric Deaton on bass and harmony vocals.
The Oxford, Mississippi based Alt-Country band, Blue Mountain provides cut 6, “Midnight in Mississippi” which is a tale of drunken escapades paying homage to the late Junior Kimbrough’s juke joint as a popular night spot for students from the University of Mississippi.
“Little Hand, Big Gun” by Jimbo Mathus is cut 7. Mathus led the North Carolina based Squirrel Nut Zippers to fame in the 1990s, then returned to his native Mississippi to play what he calls “Mississippi Music,” a little bit of blues, a little bit of country, and a lot of good rocking fun.
Ninety-some-odd-year-old juke joint blues master T-Model Ford still has what it takes as he shows in cut 8, “I’m Going Down,” accompanied on drums by his grandson introduced only as “Stud” and slide guitar by Bill Abel.
The North Mississippi Allstars are a trio, but brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson have toured recently without bassist Chris Chew as the North Mississippi Allstars DuoLuCo, opening for Robert Plant shows. Cut 9, “My Babe/Station Blues/Glory Glory” is a medley of songs which Otha Turner loved to play with his Rising Star Fife and Drum Band. Luther sings and plays percussion by touching the plug on the end of his guitar cable as Cody pounds out tight rhythms on a drum set and members of the Rising Star band (including Sharde Thomas who carries on her grandfather’s fife playing) play snare and bass drums. Kenny Brown adds some beautiful slide guitar toward the end of this touching medley.
Hill Country Revue’s version of R. L. Burnside’s song, “Georgia Women” (cut 10) just plain smokes! Kirk Smithhart plays a hot slide guitar solo followed by fire from Cody Dickinson’s electrified washboard percussion.
Cut 11 features Duwayne Burnside, son of R. L. Burnside, singing and playing guitar on his father’s song, “Snake Drive.” Luther Dickinson adds some guitar licks and vocals, then Duwayne calls his young son to the stage to add more guitar, giving assurance that the hill country sound will carry on for a long time to come.
Kenny Brown plays the Elmore James classic, “Shake Your Money Maker” on cut 12. Brown’s vocals and signature slide guitar are in great form here and this song just makes you want to hear more. (A double CD of Brown’s music recorded at the Picnic is forthcoming from Devil Down Records.) Mark Yacovone adds some nice piano and Duwayne Burnside adds a smooth guitar solo.
The CD ends as it began with religious thoughts when Duff Dorrough leads a southern gospel quartet in cut 13, “Stand By Me,” rounding out a beautiful trip to the north Mississippi hill country where the sun is hot and the music is great.
The “North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, Volume II” CD is available from Devil Down Records and the 2011 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic will take place June 24th and 25th.
Peering at tigers behind caged bars just isn't the same as meeting one face-to-face in the tall grass. The same goes for encountering the Brothers Dicksinson--rolling guitarist/singer Luther, tumbling drummer Cody--in their natural habitat: raising a ruckus up Live in the Hills of Marshall Country. That's why this 'official bootleg' of the North Mississippi Allstars Duo tearing up the 2010 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic is such a rush. Their set--essentially, one continuously roaring groove--draws power from the region's modal mojo. Reeking of sex, "Shake (Yo Mama)" snakes on a Junior Kimbrough drone as thick and as creeping as kudzu, before exploding into "Eaglebird." Like a mad-dog Fred McDowell, Luther's flanged slide rips deep bites out of "Back, Back Train." and the suite of "My Babe-->Station Blues-->Glory Glory" sews together local standards that, along with moonshine and goat sandwiches, have fed backwoods frolics around there for decades. But never with such violent collisions of amped-out guitar with bashed-in drums. For the final, neighbords Kenny Brown (R.L. Burnside's longtime slide-guitar wingman) and The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band (the late Otha Turner's polyrhythmic squad) incite pandemonium inside "Goin' Down South," the Hills' anthem. There's no place like home, there's no place like home.
Chapel Hill-based Devil Down Records has thrown down the gauntlet again, challenging audiences to take a bite out of North Mississippi blues and daring them to see if that blues won’t bite back.
The compilation from last year’s Hill Country Picnic in Potts Camp, MS., has a smattering of this and a hefty helping of that — some boogie-woogie here, some hill stomping there, almost equal parts white and black. On the whole it’s electric and loud, though with one quiet, acoustic exception. Among all this diversity there is at least one unifying theme, and that is that all songs and artists show the indelible mark of the Mississippi hills.
The album’s standout tracks come from Alvin Youngblood Hart (“Big Mama’s Door), Hill Country Revue (“Georgia Women”) and Kenny Brown (“Shake Your Money Maker”).
The first two are heavy, hard-edged rock tunes whose blues chords betray the inner softness of men singing about their women -— which conveniently happens to be the subject of both songs. “Big Mama’s Door” is simultaneously seismic and anthemic, crashing like a wave of sound that demands to be put on repeat and left there for a day or two.
“Georgia Women” is further out there. It’s an eight-minute attempt to hammer home one single rhetorical point: the superiority of girls from the land of peaches. To that end, singer Daniel Coburn reminds us that “them Georgia women shake ’em down.” When guitarist Cody Dickinson electrifies a washboard, and then proceeds to shred it into the fourth dimension of redneck sophistication, the resulting sound is so groovy that you can’t help but accept the bands’ thesis.
Kenny Brown’s number is much closer to traditional hill country blues, with fewer distracting heavy rock riffs. It’s just good old fashioned foot-stomping, piano-rolling dance-inducing madness. Word is, Devil Down’s next release will be a double album featuring Brown. If this track is any indication, then you’d do best to keep your eyes peeled for that one.
For such a young label, and one run by a UNC student no less, this Picnic compilation is well-recorded, well-mastered and well-produced. It might be just the thing that the hill country sound needs.
Five Stars--"A Rocking Introduction"
If you have the first compilation from Kenny and Sara Brown's annual North Mississippi Hill Country picnic, you'll want this one; and if you don't, this is a great sampler, with artists ranging from Luther Dickinson and the North Mississippi Allstars to T-Model Ford, who's still making music in his 8th decade and despite a stroke. Rev. John Wilkins gets things off to an excellent start with a beautiful, better-start-dancing version of "You Got to Move"' other highlights include Alvin Youngblood Hart's "Big Mama's Door," which all but turns up the volume by itself, Blue Mountain's "Midnight in Mississippi," and Kenny Brown's keep-the-party-going version of "Shake Your Money Maker." (Rumor has it that Devil Down is bringing out a recording of Kenny Brown's entire live set--if it's all like this, that's going to be the album of the year). The disc has a few novelties--the South Memphis String Band shows up in disguise (electrified, they apparently turn into Loose Shoes), and the NMAS medley starts with Luther playing nothing but a cord (or else sticking a fork in a socket; the amazing thing is, they turn it into music)-and it ends with a surprisingly touching "Stand By Me" by Duff Durrough. All in all, perfect picnic music: fire up the grill, grab a beer, crank it up.
“Times done been won’t be no more.” It’s a haunting and all too true refrain from “Horseshoe,” by the NorthvMississippi Allstars. With Othar Turner, R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough dead and gone, few of the original apostles of the north Mississippi blues style remain.
Luckily, the half-revivalists, half-archivists that are the Allstars work full-time to keep the “hill country” sound alive, and that’s just what they’re doing again on this “official bootleg” from last year’s annual Hill Country Picnic in Potts Camp, MS.
In the first half of their short 40 minute set the Allstars let their heavy blues riffs run wild, playing mostly original numbers from 2008’s Hernando. With Luther Dickinson’s distorted guitar breaking through a wall of sound from brother Cody’s bass drum, this is dirty, angry blues in
the spirit of Burnside. In “Keep the Devil Down,” for instance, Luther puts the sound into words, singing “Them things got me snapping like a fighting dog, drinking gun powder from a rotten log.” You just don’t pick a fight with this kind of blues.
From there the set is taken over by the kind of bright, resonant songs that characterized the Allstar’s 2005 album “Electric Blue Watermelon.” With spurts of joyous blues chords backed up by the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, Othar Turner’s old outfit, these songs often have the timbre of sunlight coming through a warm southern rain.
And then, as if to end on a hardass note, the Allstars close their set with “Goin’ Down South,” a Burnside original that doubles as some nice sexual slang.
Though it’s probably not the best introduction to the All-Stars or their Mississippi hill country style, this album is a nice live set for those already in the know. Spin it a few times and you’ll be sure to feel like you’re down south junkin’.
The North Mississippi Allstars (NMAS) may be the baddest mo-fo band in the universe, and their live shows jam like no others, just give one of their live albums a spin or check out one of their live shows at archive.org and you will see what the hell I am talking about.
As the North Mississippi Allstars Duo Luther & Cody Dickinson strip it down to the bare essentials, guitar and drums, with their album Live In The Hills. Luther’s guitar is nasty, it is raw and dirty as he tears through some of the tunes that are NMAS staples and he is backed only by Cody’s pounding, eardrum splitting drumming. NMAS classics such as “Shake”, “Goin’ Down South” and “Horseshoe” rock, the guitar solos on “Mean Ol’ Wind Died Down” and “Keep The Devil Down” are effin’ sick, and “Eaglebird”, “Down In Mississippi” and “Back, Back Train” are raunchy juke joint blues straight out of the late Junior Kimbrough’s shack. The gem of the record is the 3 song medley which exemplifies all that is good with a NMAS show. The boys kick off with Little Walters’ “My Babe”, which turns into Cody jamming a drum solo leading into “Station Blues” then into “Glory Glory”. They finish up the tune bringing on Kenny Brown where he and Luther have a guitar free-for-all jam and lay down some serious serious licks before exploding into the afore mentioned “Goin’ Down South”.
This is a damn fine live recording, spotlighting the brothers Dickinson’s talents, Luther’s booming, bluesy vocals, bad-ass guitar playing and Cody’s booming drumming. If you are new to NMAS I would suggest digesting their other albums first, and then come back to the duo for pure blues enjoyment. BUT, if you are in the know, and jam the Allstars on a regular basis, then you will want to add this gem to your collection.
"Come and Found You Gone" Featured in Charlotte Observer Holiday Gift Guide:
"Selected from folklorist Bill Ferris' 1967 recordings of the late great bluesman, this is the first release on UNC Chapel Hill student Reed Turchi's new label. And it's quite a find all the way around: musically first-rate, historically important and craftily assembled."
"Come and Found You Gone" is Blues & Rhythm's CD of the Month for November 2010!
Big Fat Mama Meat Shakin' On Her Bone/ Shake 'Em On Down/ Baby Please Don't Go/ Find My Suitcase/ Letter From Hot Springs/ John Henry/ Hello Darling What Have I Done/ Dream I Went To The U.N./ The Boogie/ Little Red Rooster/ Get Right Church/ Death Came In/ Dialogue/ I Got Religion/ Come And Found You Gone/ Where Could I Go/ You Gonna Meet King Jesus/ Interview with Bill Ferris
Magnificent! Just when you're convinced you'll never hear any fresh McDowell, Bill Ferris dusts off his summer 1967 tapes to make you marvel once again at the most charismatic country blues singer to emerge in the 1960s. Fred's early recordings were mesmeric, even if you'd already heard several versions of his favourite songs. Once that guitar begins to clang out a rhythm and his mournful voice echoed by ululant slide intones above it, a spell descends over you until the song ends.
In her fascinating autobiography, 'America Over the Water', Shirley Collins tells of her first meeting with Fred on a hot September evening in 1959 in Como, Mississippi. 'Towards dusk, a slight figure in dungarees and carrying a guitar appeared out of the trees and walked into the clearing. Lonnie (Young) introduced him. His name was Fred McDowell, he was a fifty-year-old farmer and he'd been picking cotton all day... Fred started to play bottleneck guitar, a shimmering and metallic sound. His singing was quiet but strong and with a heart-stopping intensity. By the time he'd finished his first blues, we knew we were in the presence of a great and extraordinary musician'.
Don't you wish you'd been there? His like will not be heard again nor will we be transfixed by the simple majesty of his music (the prose may be purple but the image is golden). But that's no reason to be downhearted. By the time Ferris arrived, long after the Lomax sessions, Fred had been recorded by Dick Spottswood, Pete Welding (more than once), Chris Strachwitz (several times) and Alan Bates (search out the Blues Collection CD for extra tracks from that December 1965 session) and he'd played at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, so he understood the process. Nevertheless, Ferris captures a subtly different side to his music making, with one or two new (if structurally familiar) songs, as he plays to friends who make their own contributions.
At first, like Big Joe Williams, he's content to play fragments of 'Big Fat Mama' (one of the first songs he learned, played finger-style), 'Shake 'Em On Down' and 'Baby Please Don't Go'. He begins to get stuck in with 'Find My Suitcase' and 'Letter From Hot Springs', before delivering three blistering minutes of 'John Henry'. If I'd been present and he'd played like that for half an hour, I'd have lapsed into a trance and started to speak in tongues. The heat subsides with 'Hello Darling', roughly based on 'My Little Machine'. Then unknown voices sing 'Dream I Went To The U.N.' and 'Little Red Rooster', separated by Napoleon Strickland's harmonica playing 'The Boogie'.
A sequence of gospel songs follows, with McDowell's voice supplemented by wife Annie Mae and others present. They'd apparently been oiling their larynxes with spirituous liquors, for their precision is none of the best. 'Dialogue' is two and a half minutes of inebriates bragging and bickering. Fred plays the odd slide figure, patiently waiting for quiet to descend. At six minutes plus, the title track is the longest of the evening but it's severely hampered by the approximate howling of an overly marinated individual who plainly thinks he's singing. It didn't bother those present but for home consumption it's as welcome as a kitten crapping on the carpet. The set ends with five minutes of reminiscences by Bill Ferris, followed by a long silence and then ninety seconds of surging slide which only ends when a string breaks. For Ferris, the evening was 'a very exciting and special moment' and he admits he was in awe of the 'very gentle, cordial' Fred. 'When he played it was like an orchestra – or a freight train' as he 'thrashed' the strings. Once again, if only...
There are one or two technical foibles. Every track fades in, which I wish might have been avoided; you always feel as if you've missed something. Then again, 'Hot Springs' fades in the middle of a verse. And there's rumble from the microphone during several songs. But these are minor distractions easily ignored when weighed against the privilege of hearing Fred McDowell away from the concert platform. I've said it before but there are forms of music, like the endless tune the Padstow accordion and drum bands play all night during Mayday Eve, that tap into moribund parts of the brain, drawing forth responses that defy reason. That's where Fred McDowell resides.
Good ol' Jeff Konkel at Broke and HungryRecords (whose entire catalog you should own or be ashamed of yrself) just turned me on to the premier release by North Carolina's Devil Down Records called Mississippi Fred McDowell: Come and Found You Gone- The Bill Ferris Recordings. Recorded over the course of a night in August of 1967 with the assistance of Mr. McDowell's wife Annie Mae and Napoleon Strickland. This is an all acoustic set recorded at the home of a friend of the McDowell's. A field (sans field) recording with all the inherent sounds of life one would find in that type of situation. This recording shines and breaths and welcomes you into the room to sit and hear the north Mississippi master up close and very personal. Close your eyes and, like a 3D movie, you'll feel you can reach right out and touch Mr. McDowell's slide hand as it glides and grinds up and down the neck his acoustic and feel his breath in the mic. Eighteen tracks including an interview with Bill Ferris and a spirited conversation between Mr. and Mrs. McDowell.
From the Devil Down Records site:
These recordings are different from any other of Fred McDowell due to their very nature: rather than conducted with the production of a record in mind, the recordings were made casually over the course of a night. McDowell is here heard at his best, relaxed and energetic, performing many of his most famous songs as well as songs never before heard. With his foot tapping on the hardwood floor and laughter in the background, “Come and Found You Gone” brings the listener into that hot night in August, 1967, immersing them in the world of the blues house party, and guiding them through the night as it unfolded… The 18 track album includes a 16 page booklet featuring liner notes from blues researcher and Rolling Stone Magazine top 10 Professor Bill Ferris, Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, and leading French blues scholar Vincent Joos. This booklet also contains a dozen award-winning photographs taken by Bill Ferris in 1970 at Otha Turner’s 4th of July picnic in Potts Camp, Mississippi.
This is an essential recording that I know all my friends will love.
Now this here’s the first piece I learned how to play when I was a little boy: it’s called the "Big Fat Mama with the Meat Shakin’ On Her Bone.”
So begins Devil Down Records’ inaugural release, Come and Found You Gone: Mississippi Fred McDowell: The Bill Ferris Recordings.Immediately, we are transported back to a night in August, 1967, when Blues scholar Bill Ferris brought together McDowell, friend and cohort, Napoleon Strickland, and Fred’s wife, Annie Mae McDowell, into the home of an “unidentified musician” for a night of recording, drinking, and good, loose fun.
Then again, one could almost call the few opening minutes of this gathering breezy. Three of the first four tracks feature easily identifiable songs of McDowell and his grab bag of traditional tunes, including “Big Fat Mama,” “Shake ‘em On Down” and “Baby Please Don’t Go,” respectively. They come and go with a swift familiarity that McDowell seems almost eager to get behind him. Not until we’re introduced to the fourth track, “Find My Suitcase,” does the mood shift into something a little more focused, if not truly demonstrative of McDowell’s usual prowess and finesse as a bottleneck guitar player. He had always stressed his need for a “feeling” to accompany his playing and singing, and, to my ears, I can’t say that I hear that special confluence of the emotional and the physical until he sort of cat-walks into “Find My Suitcase.” The vamp starts off in a slow, slithering manner until, just a few bars in, the combination of melody and rhythm seems to leap into his voice and send us, the listeners, into a grinning fit of head-bobbing (in my case, also hand-clapping) joy. Up to this point it’s easily the most fluid and loaded number yet. It sounds as though he’s warmed up now; perhaps the whiskey’s starting to hit, and his “feeling” arrives in the amalgamated and masterful way any fan of Mississippi Fred McDowell has come to know and love.
He performs solo throughout the first seven numbers before our “unidentified musician” takes the vocal on “Dream I Went to the UN.” Strickland follows with a hot solo harp piece called “The Boogie.” McDowell then accompanies the homeowner on a wandering version of “Little Red Rooster” before we move right into the spiritual mood of the evening, beginning with “Get Right Church,” which is far and away the most somber but moving moment on the CD. McDowell delivers a weary and sad opening, but the others, as though prompted by the tone, take up the call and deliver a mesmerized, "slain in the spirit” performance. The melody is ominous and fearful, indicative of some great underlying menace that can only be relieved by a collective rising of voice and faith. It also instigates a pivotal shift in the entire recording: only now is everyone truly involved; they are engaged in a purpose. The tenor of the evening has switched to a collective outpouring of voices and emotions that hadn’t yet been exposed. Now we hear Mae’s beautiful punctuations as well as Strickland’s and the homeowner’s presence driving the overall performances into a realized recording. It’s not that any fun is gone. It’s just that they’re all in tune with one another, and the ensuing tracks that take us into the end of Come And Found You Gone find a special accent and grace. A track called “Dialogue” (No. 13) gives the recording some additional potency. It features some testy, marital back-and-forth between Mae and Fred that the homeowner has to subdue with a very diplomatic “You’re singing fine” to Mae. It signifies a high point in the group’s general demeanor. They’re all ready, animated--- this is a party after all--- and the banter flying about the room is quick and sharp. The track keeps rolling on for another minute and a half while Fred plucks and tunes, getting ready for the next number. But Mae isn’t giving in. She ribs and taunts Fred like she wants some of the spotlight, too. It’s a great little moment in the CD that reinforces the sense of being in a very particular time and place.
Ferris’s intention was clear: to capture a great musician in a casual, down-home environment. All the material is performed acoustically, and throughout the CD we can hear the room itself, the air, and in quieter numbers the soft penetration of background talk. All of these elements produce a very intimate recording. Sadly, though, some of the songs’ performances fall short or flat. One of McDowell’s many attributes is his ability to create tension. His mastery of melody and rhythm, for which there are few equals, usually has time to be developed and carried through his performances. In Come And Found You Gone many songs sound truncated, rushed, or are cut off too soon, which could be a case of something perhaps a little too intimate. One could chalk this up to a tendency among many posthumous recordings, in which, for the sake of showcasing an early or less polished performance, a listener is allowed to hear a different or less-cured approach to a song or batch of songs. I wonder if the project was compromised by a limited recording value or if McDowell himself just began to grow a little distracted, bored or tired.
Don’t get me wrong--- a lack of industry polish is also a very welcome thing. I would think that this recording is only being released now because bigger, established labels may have passed on it. Not a shame at all, I say. It’s out now, and Devil Down's founder, Reed Turchi, should be commended for it. A captured night of tape in McDowell’s hometown of Como, Mississippi should demand the attention of a new and old fans alike. Unfortunately, for all the CD’s attention to the region’s invaluable musical legacy and traditions, the underlying anthropological aim to this CD is more a credit to the region and its customs than it is to a night of decent Fred McDowell recordings. A collection of photos within the CD package artfully displays the environment of The Hills (an area in northeastern Mississippi that McDowell both lived in and in whose musical traditions he was a product of), and liner notes supplied by Ferris, Luther Dickinson, and “eminent French blues scholar Vincent Joos” are by turns elegiac and informed pieces of a package intended to not only entertain but to educate its listeners as well.
At first I was a bit distracted by this. I thought, What should a live recording be but a document in and of itself? A live recording should effectively conjure a singular spirit whose existence takes its shape and sound from a body of music. As such, further listening and reading encouraged me to appreciate the effort Turchi has taken to release this recording. He’s obviously a very knowledgeable and avid fan of Fred McDowell, and he has commandeered three other astute fans to help him elaborate and present a labor of love. But I can’t help asking myself: Are there better, more resounding McDowell recordings in the world? Yes. Even so, I really don’t think Come and Found You Gone was meant to be presented as the very best. It is, above all, an evocation of a humble night in which listeners are invited to participate in an integral and enriching grasp of the Blues. We get all of the fundamental ingredients: the pain, the fear, the anguish; alternatively all the fun, humor, and abandon to be found in the Blues. This record is a friendly and highly respectful homage to a person whose status resides in a pantheon reserved for only the finest and most revered Blues artists of all time.
18 tracks, 55 minutes. Essential. It would be simple enough to summarize the importance of this disc by saying discoveries of this nature just don’t come along very often, but that would hardly do justice to the shimmering beauty and down-home brilliance of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s music, nor would it carry anywhere near the superlatives due this amazing document. Born in Rossville, Tennessee, somewhere around 1904 to 1907, McDowell was playing guitar by the time he was in his twenties, although he was not recorded until he was in his fifties. This incredibly relaxed and loose set of previously unissued music stems from the summer of 1967. With the now long-running popularity of Mississippi Hill Country Blues thanks to multiple recordings from artists like R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Robert Belfour and others, musical descriptors and phrases like hypnotic, droning and trance-like have become commonplace, which is something they weren’t when McDowell was helping to lay the foundation the aforementioned guitarists would rely on for influence. McDowell’s bottleneck approach wasn’t lyrical like that of Robert Nighthawk or Earl Hooker, yet it was beautiful in its simplicity. His playing had its share of rough edges, with the slide on his left hand frequently rattling over the frets, and yet the acidic notes that rose from his strings were somehow wonderfully soothing. While there are some songs present that became familiar staples in Fred’s repertoire following his ‘discovery’ in 1959 (Baby Please Don’t Go/Get Right Church/John Henry/Shake ‘Em On Down) everything here is to be treasured. The careening Find My Suitcase is riveting, while Death Came In, I Got Religionand You Gonna Meet King Jesus are deeply felt and passionate. Napoleon Strickland’s The Boogie is a stomping solo harp performance and the unknown singer on Dream I Went To The UN had obviously heard Red’s Dream by Louisiana Red. Fred’s wife, Annie Mae joins in on vocals and thankfully the banter back and forth between everyone was left intact and included. Bill Ferris recalls meeting the McDowells and the ensuing session, as well as discussing Fred’s importance on the closing track. While the recording itself isn’t perfect, it wasn’t meant to be. This is a true ‘live’ recording and as such there’s some audible tape wobble and microphone noise, but these imperfections don’t at all detract from the performances. Hearing this impromptu session for the first time some forty-odd years after it was made is eerily similar to rediscovering blues all over again. Devil Down Records has certainly made their entrance and presence felt with their initial release, and as a team they are well-deserving of praise and applause for issuing this fabulous article. The digi-pak layout is wonderfully designed and boasts a handsome folk-art cover. The accompanying 16-page booklet is both in English and French with a nice assortment of photos. A hands-down winner and an essential item from a revered master!
Devil Down Records boldly throws their hat into the distribution ring with a great debut release; a previously unheard collection of “Mississippi” Fred McDowell recordings titled COME AND FOUND GONE: THE BILL FERRIS RECORDINGS.
Taken from the official press release:
“This release, the first from Devil Down Records, provides never before heard recordings of McDowell, and also include his wife Annie Mae, friend Napoleon Strickland (a legendary blues harmonica and fife player in his own right), and another unidentified musician. These recordings are different from any other of Fred McDowell due to their very nature: rather than conducted with the production of a record in mind, the recordings were made casually over the course of a night. McDowell is here heard at his best, relaxed and energetic, performing many of his most famous songs as well as songs never before heard. With the his foot tapping on the hardwood floor and laughter in the background, COME AND FOUND GONE brings the listener into that host night in August, 1967, immersing them in the world of the blues house party, and guiding them through the night as it unfolded.”
Given the circumstances of the recording, the sound quality is surprisingly good. Aside from the occasional bit of mic noise, one would never guess that these intimate performances were never intended for official release. McDowell and company are in fine form, serving up a collection of fantastic acoustic blues; with a raw and often fun energy that simply will never be duplicated. These are fascinating recordings that beautifully capture a moment in time.
In addition to 16 musical performances listeners are treated to an entertaining bit of banter between the musicians and a worthwhile audio interview with Dr. William Ferris; the world renowned blues scholar that is responsible for these recordings. The CD also features gorgeous packaging, wonderful photographs and informative liner notes from Dr. Ferris, Luther Dickinson (of the North Mississippi Allstars) and distinguished French blues scholar Vincent Joos.
This is a great first effort from Devil Down Records. If they put this kind of effort into their future releases, blues fans will have a lot to look forward to.
"Wow--love the sound quality on this. Very immediate, intimate..."
August 8th, 2010
". . . it's really, really good, kids. this CD is absolutely recommended. hard to believe these recordings have remained under wraps for so long. it's all very nicely recorded (with just enough sonic anomolies to reveal its field-recording credentials but not so many as to lessen the impact of the music). the album features a couple of lesser-recorded songs from fred's repertoire. napoleon strickland contributes harp to a couple of songs and vocals to one. an unnamed musician sings on another track.
these are wonderfully loose, informal recordings of a master bluesman still in his prime. if you like mcdowell, you need to get this."
--Jeff Konkel
August 12th, 2010
"When everything seemed said and done, here comes this amazing, limited edition CD (printed in the US), featuring 12 UNISSUED tunes along with the “special guest” appearances of McDowell’s wife, Annie Mae, and of the great Napoleon Strickland, the latter for the first time on an official Fred McDowell’s recording. This particular tune is a real gem, potentially making this CD one of the most important Blues (and not just Blues) releases of 2010, a CD bound to become a landmark."
"Come and Found You Gone", Mississippi Fred McDowell-The Bill Ferris Recordings, is now out and available for sale at devildownrecords.com. This cd has never before heard recordings of Fred McDowell, and his wife Annie Mae, friend Napoleon Strickland and another unidentified musician. Beautifully atmospheric, they were made casually over the course of a single night by Bill Ferris. McDowell is heard here relaxed and energetic, performing many of his most famous songs, as well as songs never heard before. With the his foot tapping on the hardwood floor and laughter in the background, “Come and Found You Gone” brings the listener into that hot night in August, 1967, emersing them in the world of the blues house party, and guiding them through the night as it unfolds.."
Chapel Hill’s Devil Down Recordings has announced the release of “Come and Found You Gone”, The Bill Ferris Recordings, a new CD featuring over an hour of previously unreleased Mississippi Fred McDowell recordings made by Bill Ferris in 1967. From the Devil Down website:
These recordings are different from any other of Fred McDowell due to their very nature: rather than conducted with the production of a record in mind, the recordings were made casually over the course of a night. McDowell is here heard at his best, relaxed and energetic, performing many of his most famous songs as well as songs never before heard. With his foot tapping on the hardwood floor and laughter in the background, “Come and Found You Gone” brings the listener into that hot night in August, 1967, immersing them in the world of the blues house party, and guiding them through the night as it unfolded… The 18 track album includes a 16 page booklet featuring liner notes from blues researcher and Rolling Stone Magazine top 10 Professor Bill Ferris, Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, and leading French blues scholar Vincent Joos. This booklet also contains a dozen award-winning photographs taken by Bill Ferris in 1970 at Otha Turner’s 4th of July picnic in Potts Camp, Mississippi.
The SFC was proud to provide Devil Down with access to the original field recordings housed in the William R. Ferris Collection. You can stream tracks or purchase the CD at the Devil Down website.
"18 compositions, dont 12 titres inédits inédits enregistrés par Bill Ferris, un livret complet de 16 pages, des photos prisent en 1970, les fans de Mississippi Fred McDowell sont comblés ! "Come And Found You Gone" est disponible ici . Au cours de la session Annie McDowell épaule son époux, Napoléon Strickland lui est à l'harmonica. Une interview de Bill Ferris est également présentée. Un vrai bonheur avec la complicité d' ABS Magazine et Il Blues...."