R. L. Burnside

At the time these tracks were cut, 1967 and 1968, R.L. Burnside was working on a plantation in Coldwater, MS, cutting silage. Folklorist George Mitchell was on a mission to record unknown blues singers down South. Mitchell heard about Burnside and paid him a visit, asking if he could record him. That night Mitchell returned to Burnside's place with a case of beer and some whiskey. Ten months later, Burnside had his first release. While these 14 tracks didn't jump start Burnside's career, they are stark, organic, and timeless, just Burnside and his acoustic guitar running down mainly traditional material that he arranged. This is an absolute treasure for Burnside aficionados and casual blues listeners alike.

On this recording, Burnside presents the blues in its original and purest form. His music is not very different from the Southern blues of the 1900s. Five songs from this recording, ‘Jumper hanging on the line’, ‘Long-Haired Doney’, ‘Poor Black Mattie’, ‘Catfish Blues’ and ‘Rolling and Tumbling’, are versions of traditional blues pieces that are known to everyone in the State of Mississippi. These songs date from before the blues structures with standardised texts and harmonies; they are close to the ‘hollers’ and the vocal line is supported by the repetition of the musical phrase on the guitar. The other songs are adaptations, by Burnside himself, of hits of the 1950s. Other blues artists from Mississippi and Texas perform these songs: Robert Nighthawk, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Elmore James and John Lee Hooker…

R.L. Burnside - Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down (2000) {Fat Possum Records 80332-2}
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© 2000 Fat Possum Records / Epitaph | 80332-2
Blues / North Mississippi Blues / Delta Blues / Modern Electric Blues

Like jazz, the blues has its share of late bloomers – artists who didn't start recording or didn't become well-known until they were well into their 50s or 60s. R.L. Burnside is very much a late bloomer; the Mississippi bluesman was born in 1926, but it wasn't until the 1990s that he started to enjoy the publicity he deserved. Recorded in 2000, Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down finds the veteran singer continuing to be fairly unpredictable at 73. Essentially, this CD falls into the Mississippi blues category – Burnside maintains the earthy, down-home rawness that people expect from Mississippi country-blues. But Burnside certainly isn't without urban influences, and this CD illustrates his appreciation of John Lee Hooker and early Muddy Waters as well as the Texas blues of Lightnin' Hopkins.

R.L. Burnside - Mississippi Hill Country Blues (2001) {Fat Possum Records 80341-2 rec 1967, 1982}
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© 1967, 1982, 2001 Swingmaster / Fat Possum Records | 80341-2
Blues / Delta Blues / Modern Acoustic Blues

It's a pleasure to hear R.L. Burnside's early acoustic blues played the way he learned them in the hill country of Northern Mississippi. Three of these tracks date from 1967 and were recorded in Coldwater, MS by folklorist George Mitchell, while the remaining 16 were recorded in the early '80s by Swingmaster operator Leo Bruin in Groningen, Netherlands. This is Burnside playing solo (and mainly) acoustic country blues with the only addition to his guitar and voice being the harmonica of Red Ramsey on "Rolling and Tumbling."

R.L. Burnside - A Ass Pocket of Whiskey (1996) {Matador Records OLE 214-2}
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© 1996 Matador Records | OLE 214-2
Blues / North Mississippi Blues / Delta Blues / Modern Electric Blues

Although he had been playing for years, it wasn't until the 1990s that R.L. Burnside's raw electrified Delta blues were heard by a wide audience. His new fans celebrated his wild, unbridled energy, so it made sense for him to team with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the warped indie rock band that's all about energy. However, the very purists who celebrate Burnside hate Spencer, believing that the latter mocks the blues. As the blistering Ass Pocket of Whiskey proves, Spencer may not treat the blues with reverence, but he and his band capture the wild essence of juke-joint blues. And that makes them the perfect match for Burnside, who knows his history but isn't burdened by it. Together, Burnside and the Blues Explosion make raw, scintillating, unvarnished blues that positively burns.

For the first time, the 1982 recordings in Groningen, Netherlands with Leo Bruin have arrived on vinyl. Here you find R.L. Burnside, alone with only his guitar and his voice. Showing off his skills even in his younger days, in the vein of John Lee Hooker and Fred McDowell.