Say you’re sick to death of blues — same songs, same riffs, same endless, flavorless imitations by big white bands, same cynical pandering to tourists from exurbia. You need this box.
Don’t take my word for it. Hook up to a listening post somewhere. Forswear for now the previously unreleased tracks from the Rolling Stones’ Rock And Roll Circus and the live cuts with backing vocals by the then-practically unknown Pointer Sisters. Resist the stunning revivification of the way-over-covered “Built For Comfort” and any curiosity about the trio of Taj Mahal, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop performing “We Gonna Rock” from Fillmore: The Last Days. Just drop that laser needle right on “Buck Dancer’s Choice”, or try “Railroad Bill” from the 1969 release Oooh So Good ‘n Blues. Simple, pure and utterly elevating, the picking could be by Chet Atkins if he played real country — and meant it.
Next, shift gears with disc three. Try the gentle calypso “Slave Driver” and the minor-key ballad arrangement of the children’s folk song “Little Brown Dog”, followed by the cool, jazzy “Senor Blues”. Finally, head for disc two for “Freight Train”, taped on Austin City Limits. Ever heard a country blues Cajun rumba like that before? With an alto sax no less! Elizabeth Cotten must be dancing in her grave.
Now you’re ready for the blues. Just start with disc one, track one and don’t quit ’til you’re bored. But don’t hold your breath. Taj Mahal is the father of invention.
Mahal is a living history of pan-African influences on American folk, country and rock ‘n’ roll. Liner notes provide a brief autobiography of his musical life, tracing his serial discovery and obsessions with jazz (“At a young age…I understood the dialog between Thelonious Monk and Charlie Rouse.”), the sounds of the Caribbean, ’50s blues, doo-wop, R&B, and folk. (“Folk music meant Burl Ives or the Kingston Trio. I knew there was something under all that.”)
Mahal’s 30-year career has been devoted to unearthing, proselytizing and reinventing what was “under all that.” Recently, the likes of Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart have picked up his trail. “I remember reading Studs Terkel’s notes for a Little Walter album in which he predicts black people will one day realize their musical roots,” Mahal says. “Still waiting for that day.”
