https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birthright-Black-Roots-Music-Compendium/dp/B0BF45ZCN6?crid=EDVM9GIJGQDV&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TGk0p0HZ-wGrHvWMsawIww.TjLG0wJDq3vRK7_Q05UVAMVNaLNKzxDo10PSCip9_sA&dib_tag=se&keywords=888072424869&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733237956&sprefix=888072424869%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=mabasreofcdbl-21&linkId=b5dd982e3a711bf2b139aaf64b2b25e5&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
RATINGS:
Overall ****
Presentation *** to ****
Audio *****
"…Hard Time Killing Floor Blues…"
Tapping into the vast Rounder Records Roots Catalogue (40 songs across 2CDs straddling 1951 through to 2021) – "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" gives you visits to famous collectable labels like Bluesville, Vanguard, Riverside, Smithsonian Folkways, Arhoolie and even Flying Fish Records with the occasional stop off at Specialty and Ron Records along the way. It is roughly a 50/50 split between old and new – the listen encompassing Acoustic and Electric Blues, Mississippi Hill Country Blues, Old-Time String Band Music, A Capella Gospel, Traditional and Old Timey Jazz, Spoken Word, Sung Historical Recordings, Cajun, Louisiana and more.
As you can imagine, the chunky 48-page booklet is a feast of discography info complimented by period photos (from the Concord Archive) and great essays/track-by-track comments from Producer Ted Olsen. This booklet took time and effort – admirable passion invested.
But with such a huge range of artists and periods represented (compilers SCOTT BILLINGTON and TED OLSEN have spread the genre-net wide) – you might think the Audio is great one moment then seriously comprised the next – no – the whole shooting match is beautifully transferred and shockingly clear. These are PAUL BLAKEMORE Remasters and honestly with my love of the Blues et al and his name attached to the project – I was always going to buy "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium". I have found his Audio Engineer work exemplary every time.
Downsides - personally, I think it only half works – too many styles and the truly bland cover art and crappy card digipak also do the huge compendium effort a bad one. But (at four stars instead of five) – I am still digging it. Much to sledgehammer – much to lay down and fly – to the details…
EU released 17 February 2023 - "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Craft Recordings 00888072424869 (Barcode 888072424869) is a 40-Track 2CD Compilation (USA issue is Craft Recordings CR00497) encompassing Acoustic and Electric Blues, Mississippi Hill Country Blues, Old-Time String Band Music, A Capella Gospel, Traditional and Old Timey Jazz, Spoken Word, Sung Historical Recordings, Cajun, Louisiana and more. It plays out as follows:
CD1 (72:19 minutes):
1. Bourbon Street Parade – PRESEVATION HALL JAZZ BAND (2012 CD "St. Peter And 57th St." on Rounder Records)
2. Station Blues – COREY HARRIS and SHARDÉ THOMAS (2003 CD Album "Mississippi To Mali" on Rounder Records)
3. 61 Highway – MISSISSIPPI FRED McDOWELL (1962 Recording first issue 1995 on the CD "Mississippi Fred McDowell" on Rounder Records)
4. Georgie Buck – CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS featuring JOE THOMPSON (Previously Unreleased October 2006 Recording)
5. Ranky Tanky – RANKY TANKY (2017 CD "Ranky Tanky" on Resilience Music)
6. One Dime Blues – ETTA BAKER (1991 CD "One Dime Blues" on Rounder Records)
7. Eunice Two Step – BOIS SEC ARDOIN and CANRAY FONTENOT (1960s Cajun Recording first issued 1976 on the US LP "Louisianna Cajun Music From The South West Prairies Volume 2" on Rounder Records)
8. Automobile Blues - LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS (1961 US LP "Lightnin'" on Bluesville Records)
9. Grizzly Bear – BENNIE RICHARDSON (1965-1966 Texas chain-gang recording first issued 1975 on the US LP "Wake Up Dead Man: Black Convict Work Songs From Texas Prisons" on Rounder Records)
10. Motherless Children – THE STAPLE SINGERS (1963 US LP "This Land" on Riverside Records)
11. Blues Before Sunrise – BROWNIE McGHEE and SONNY TERRY (161 US LP "Blues And Folk" on Riverside Records)
12. Fox Chase – DINK ROBERTS (1998 CD "Black Banjo Songsters Of North Carolina And Virginia" on Smithsonian Folkways Records)
13. Sweet Georgia Brown – MARTIN, BOGAN and ARMSTRONG [Carl Martin, Ted Bogan and L.C. Armstrong] (1972 US LP "The Barnyard Dance" on Rounder Records)
14. Little Liza Jane – GOLDEN EAGLES (1956 US LP "Jazz In The Classic New Orleans Tradition" on Riverside Records)
15. Ay-Tete Fee – CLIFTON CHENIER And His Band (1955 US 45-Single on Specialty SP-522-45, A-side)
16. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues – SKIP JAMES (1966 US LP "Today!" on Vanguard Records)
17. Weary Blues – GEORGE LEWIS NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND (1951 Recording first issued 1956 on the US LP "Jazz In The Classic New Orleans Tradition" on Riverside Records)
18. Yonder Come Day – BESSIE JONES (1973 recording issued 1975 on the US LP "So Glad I'm Here" on Rounder Records)
19. We Will Understand It Better By And By – JOSEPH SPENCE (1978-1980 recording first issued 1991 on the US CD "Glory" on Rounder Records)
20. Best Of All – DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND (2012 US CD "Twenty Dozen" on Savoy Jazz Records)_
NOTES ON CD1:
Tracks 4 is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Tracks 4 is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
CD2 (68:31 minutes):
1. Step In – CEDRIC BURNSIDE (2021 US CD "I Be Trying" on Single Lock Records)
2. Pretty Polly – AMYTHYST KIAH (2017 US CD "Big Bend Killing: The Appalachian Ballad Tradition" on Great Smokey Mountains Tradition)
3. St. Louis Blues – LONNIE JOHNSON and ELMER SNOWDEN (1960 US LP "Blues And Ballads" on Bluesville Records)
4. Money Is King – LEYLA McCALLA (2018 US CD "The Capitalist Blues" on Jazz Village)
5. Polly Put The Kettle On – DOM FLEMONS (Originally 2015 US CD "Prospect Hill" on Music Maker Records, Reissued 2020 on "Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus" on Omnivore Recordings)
6. Diving Duck Blues – TAJ MAHAL and KEB' MO' (2017 US CD "TajMo" on Concord Records)
7. Crying Blues – BOOZOO CHEVIS (2001 US CD "Down On Dog Hill" on Rounder Records)
8. Morning Trail – CAMPBELL BROTHERS (1997 US CD "Pass Me Not" on Arhoolie Records)
9. When I Lay My Burden Down – JOHN LEE HOOKER (Unreleased 1950s Recording first issued 2017 on the Craft Recordings 5CD Book Set "King Of The Boogie")
10. Titanic – LESLEY RIDDLE (1993 US CD "Step By Step: Lesley Riddle Meets The Carter Family" on Rounder Records)
11. Go To The Mardi Gras – PROFESSOR LONGHAIR (December 1959 US 45-single on Ron Records 329, A-side)
12. Candy Man – MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT (1966 US LP "Today!" on Vanguard Records)
13. San Francisco Bay Blues – JESSE FULLER (1963 US LP "San Francisco Bay Blues" on Good Time Jazz Records)
14. Special Delivery Blues – ODETTA (accompanied by Bill Lee on Double Bass) (1963 US LP "One Grain Of Sand" on Rounder Records)
15. Step It Up And Go – JACK JOHNSON (1979 US LP "Step It Up And Go" on Rounder Records)
16. Arkansas Blues – TUTS WASHINGTON (1984 US LP "New Orleans Piano Professor" on Rounder Records)
17. Lo, I Will Be With You – REV. GARY DAVIS (1960 US LP "Harlem Street Singer" on Bluesville Records)
18. Ups On The Farm – INMATE Named PETER (1976 US LP "Get Your Ass In The Water And Swim Like Me" on Rounder Records – Spoken Poems by Texas Inmates)
19. John Henry – CEPHAS & WIGGINS (1986 US LP "Dog Days Of August" on Flying Fish Records)
20. Study War No More – HONEY IN THE ROCK (1986 US LP "We All…Everyone Of Us" on Flying Fish Records)
Setting the Historical scene – CD1 opens with Preservation Hall Jazz Band giving a bit of "Bourbon Street Parade" – a ragtime originally released 2012 in the USA. But I must say it is not my idea of live bliss let alone a good starter. On to something only marginally better – a modern-day Roots duet – Shardé Thomas and Corey Harris doing a 2002 version of a 1930 Mississippi Sheiks 78" classic "Sitting On Top Of The World". Good but again not great. But then it happens – the magic you had hoped for – an astonishing Mississippi Fred McDowell 1962 one-man-and-his-slide-acoustic-guitar recording of "61 Highway" that had remained in the can until it was issued in 1995 on Rounder Records. Complete with foot taps and the occasional cough and recorded at McDowell's home – Blakemore has Remastered the relaxed but mighty Blues Man and his strutting lowdown shuffle into your living room. "61 Highway" made me find every Acoustic Blues (or thereabouts) on CD1 and program/sequence it as such – Tracks 3, 8, 6, 10, 11, 16 and 19. What a listen!
The next half-decent track is Etta Baker plucking her acoustic on the self-penned "One Dime Blues" – another gorgeous recording done in 1990. But again, even that is whomped by the real deal – influential Bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in 1960 – his fantastic voice and menacing shuffle bemoaning the fact that his former lover is now driving around town with her handsome at the wheel. The fabulous "Automobile Blues" literally shuffles around your Stereo with a barely contained jealous rage whilst emoting the kind of cool white guys with guitars would kill for. Way down in Louisiana Bennie Richardson is leading the Chain Gang as they sing to pick-axe rhythms – seriously eerie stuff to hear. Nice then to catch the familiar healing sound of The Staple Singers – Pops and his distinctive shimmering guitar song while the ladies double-up on the vocal responses (hush now baby, don't you cry). Long-time heroes of the Blues Duet format – Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry sound so damn good on their Harmonica and Acoustic Guitar "Blues Before Sunrise" – and such fabulously clean audio that lets it breathe. Other goodies include a rapido Banjo plucking Dink Roberts trying in vain to "Fox Chase" – Accordion Bop with Clifton Chenier on Specialty Records and a truly amazing Skip James oozing pain on "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" with a Guitar and Voice (how many white Rock Bands dug this and turned it into Led Zeppelin and Cream type Rock-Blues).
CD2 opens with a 2021 muscle-recording barnstormer – Cedric Burnside laying into a ZZ Top-ish slide guitar boogie – a child crying at night asking the Lord to his "Step In". Back to roots-basics with the grim-hardship tale of "Pretty Polly" - Amythyst Kiah and his banjo recalling in gruesome detail the story of a young girl leaving her family and loved ones behind forced by a bad man to endure an abusive pig who eventually kills her (literally a knife in her heart) – but her ghost gets revenge of sorts. Lonnie Johnson gleefully informs that he's got 99-women and only needs one more in his philanthropic "St. Louis Blues" (we know what you feel Lon – stay strong brother). Leyla McCalls lays out the rules of life in her unnervingly jolly "Money Is King" – if a man has money today – he can commit murder and get off free – her roots band plucking Violas, Banjos and Trumpets adding a menace to the lyrics. The Traditional "Polly Put The Kettle On" gets a Vocals and Harmonica going over by Dom Flemons and his band of Roots players. Better and beautifully recorded – Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' give it some National Steel and Acoustic guitar on a 2017 croaking vocal duet of the Sleepy John Estes Blues Classic "Diving Duck Blues" (Taj is going to love his baby until the Moo Cows come home).
Incorporating Creole and Cajun lyrics/rhythms – I can't understand a word the wonderfully-named Boozoo Chavis is saying throughout the near six-minutes of "Crying Blues" - but the music is joyous and genuinely uplifting in a Van Morrison at-his-best type of way and destined for a mix tape (a highlight on CD2 for me). Time for some shouting Gospel-type Vocals alongside wild Pedal Steel Guitar – Campbell Brothers giving us an energetic 1997 rendition of the Traditional "Morning Train". John Lee Hooker is gonna wear Holy Slippers when he reaches the Golden Land – all his troubles over "When I Lay My Burden Down" – a fabulous late 50ts unreleased Guitar and Vocals recording first issued on the 2017 Craft Recordings 5CD Book Set "King Of The Boogie". Husbands, Wives and Children all lost their lives in the cold abyss – put in the inescapable belly of the poorly riveted 1912 cruise liner – Lesley Riddle and his lone slide acoustic guitar recounting the maiden-voyage tragedy of the "Titanic".
Old-timers Mississippi John Hurt and Jesse Fuller impress with their slinky 60ts tunes "Candy Man" and "San Francisco Bay Blues" - but are seriously outgunned by a full-throated Odetta as she her guitar and the Double-Bass of Bill Lee (both are pictured on Page 39 of the booklet) beat "Special Delivery Blues" into submission. The hugely personable John Jackson attacks his Acoustic Guitar for "Step It Up And Go" – a 1979 jolly-Blues foot-tapper from 1979 on Rounder Records. Other old-timey winners include Rev. Gary Davis getting serious about his beliefs with "Lo, I Will Be With You Always" and a fantastic cut from Cephas & Wiggins doing the Traditional "John Henry". And on it goes to Sweet Honey In The Rock overdoing it a bit on the Holy Roller front - it has to be said.
On the inside flap of CD2 is a 2021 quote from modern Bluesman Corey Harris filling us in on what this sonic 2CD compendium is chronicling – "…where we've been and where we are headed…". I have no doubt about that – but the sheer number of genre hops makes for a disjointed and ragged listen and the dull-as-dishwater artwork on the outside does a major disservice to the audio magic contained within.
I have seen this Craft Recordings twofer for as much as £30 or more – not worth that. But if you see "Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium" for below a ten-spot – dive in and enjoy those gorgeous remasters – especially on the Vanguard and Riverside Records 50ts and 60ts originals. And frankly anything that Paul Blakemore masters – I need to own it...
