Search - Brownie Mcghee :: Brownie and Sonny: The Giants of the Blues

Further to...

Matthew Wallis | Iowa City | 12/03/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is clearly a forgotten corner of the Amazon.com catalogue; in the last year nobody has enlightened us on this subject. I may be in a position to do so myself, and with some apologies for my earlier disparaging comments. Based on the track listing of a CD featuring Sonny Terry, with Woodie Guthrie and Cisco Houston, and based on an imaginative assumption of Houston's singing under presumably extremely primitive conditions, it seems that he may be the singer I maligned. Sincere apologies, then, but still no upgrade on the rating on account of the minimal sleeve notes, non-existent performer credits/recording details, and truly excrable sound. [The CD reviewed has the same title and track listing, but different cover. Legacy International CD 368]"

It is important to have this CD

jrv213 | New York, New York | 10/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am, for a better word, 'SHOCKED' at the reviews of this CD and how poor they are. I would have to assume that these reviews are from beginner blues music listeners that really have no clue what they are talking about. It is true that tracks 1-5 and 7 are Sonny Terry and Brownie at their best, but it is however the Blowin' the Fuses concert from the Los Angles Troubadour in 1962. These six tracks are enough to get the CD alone, but songs 6, and 8 to 19 are pieces of US Americana history that are priceless!!!

It is true that the condition of these tracks are fair at best, but it sounds better then the Leadbelly Library of Congress early recordings and how can you say that those recordings are not great. The group of Sonny Terry, Woody Guthrie (who is the bad singer that one of these reviews eludes too. HA, can you imagine that!), Alec Seward, and Cisco Houston sing together in a 'Great Depression' era. These recordings represent a multicultural poor class singing ol' songs to help them forget their extremely troubled lives. The reason why the recording is so bad is because it is most likely the group sitting around one microphone (if not a recording Victrola). I guess one needs to understand the times of a poor, wondering, mixed race class nation to hear the importance in the almost hypnotic/spiritual song "Pick A Bale of Cotton" to appreciate that it is a miracle that something like this was recorded for us to hear in this era. With recordings like these something like production is secondary to the real meaning of the compilation. This is a must have for anyone who really listens to music and contemplates music's true importance in this world. Historically, musically, and spiritually these 'Archive Extras' are pure magic.

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