Leadbelly

To celebrate Robert Plant's foray into the Country Rock scene, Mojo presents 15 original blues classics which influenced him and many other landmark acts. Featuring songs from Muddy Waters, Memphis Minnie, Jimmy Reed, Son House, John Lee Hooker and many more.

John Fahey - Railroad (1983) {Takoma ‎CDTAK7102 rel 2007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 260 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 92 Mb | Full Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1983, 2007 Takoma Records | CDTAK 7102
Finger-Picked Guitar / Contemporary Folk / Folk Jazz / Folk-Blues / Progressive Folk

I purchased this "album" in 1984. I still have the album. I then purchased the cd which was promptly stolen and there was a gap in time where the cd was out of print. The older I get the more I love and appreciate this cd. With John Fahey following through on a variety of themes on any one of his volume of albums this particular album is clear and focused. The aural quality of his guitar is clear, sharp and sometimes haunting. The first few phrases of the lead song "Frisco Leaving Birmingham" are a flagship for a journey led by a folk guitar playing melodies distilled from distinctly American influences such as Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, Bukka White along with other relatively unappreciated blues/folk guitarists.

This reissue combines two of Simone's Colpix albums, Folksy Nina (1964) and Nina with Strings (1966), onto a single CD. Though it was taken from the same performance as 1963's Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall, Folksy Nina duplicates little of the material found on that prior album. It isn't just unworthy leftovers, but a strong set in its own right, concentrating on material that could be seen as traditional or folk in orientation. It's not exactly strictly folk music, in repertoire or arrangement. However, there was an uptempo piano blues (Leadbelly's "Silver City Bound") and covers of the Israeli "Erets Zavat Chalav" and "Vanetihu" which served as further proof that Simone's eclecticism knew no bounds. There are also the kind of stark, moody, spiritually shaded ballads at which she excelled, like "When I Was a Young Girl," "Hush Little Baby," and "Lass of the Low Country," the last of which is as exquisitely sad-yet-beautiful as it gets…

Ry Cooder has always believed in the "mutuality in music," and this may be no more evident in his career than with his fifth album, Chicken Skin Music (a Hawaiian colloquialism, synonymous with goosebumps). Even more than usual, Cooder refuses to recognize borders – geographical or musical – presenting "Stand By Me" as a gospel song with a norteño arrangement, or giving the Jim Reeves country-pop classic, "He'll Have to Go," a bolero rhythm, featuring the interplay of Flaco Jimenez's accordion and Pat Rizzo's alto sax. Elsewhere, he teams with a pair of Hawaiian greats – steel guitarist and singer Gabby Pahinui and slack key guitar master Atta Isaacs – on the Hank Snow hit "Yellow Roses" and the beautiful instrumental "Chloe." If Cooder's approach to the music is stylistically diverse, his choice of material certainly follows suit. Bookended by a couple of Leadbelly compositions, Chicken Skin Music sports a collection of songs ranging from the aforementioned tracks to the charming old minstrel/medicine show number "I Got Mine" and the syncopated R&B of "Smack Dab in the Middle".

Four CD box set from the Folk/Blues/Gospel singer, actress and activist containing seven of her albums: The Tin Angel, My Eyes Have Seen , Odetta Sings Ballads And Blues, Christmas Spirituals, At The Gate Of Horn, Ballad For Americans And Other American Ballads and Odetta At Carnegie Hall…

John Martyn's On the Cobbles is the warmest of folky blues, consistently impressive despite being recorded in eight different studios across England, Ireland and the USA. Occasionally, as with the sparse and haunted Ghosts, he even reaches the atmospheric peaks of his classic Solid Air. As is the fashion, there are several auspicious guests–Mavis Staples, Paul Weller and the Verve's Nick McCabe–but, really, none of them add much to a set that's alternately tortured, spacey and hugely romantic. Martyn is unarguably the star of this show, excelling both as the gruff blues moaner and soft balladeer, but also testing different ground with the Pink Floyd ambience of "Go Down Easy", the spiritual jazz of "My Creator" and the dark, rootsy "Cobbles", the latter's mournful backing vocals recalling those of Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds.