Search - Bukka White :: Revisited

A must-have for blues fans

DrDanny | Sunnyvale, CA United States | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, you know the story, right? Bukka White had a semi-successful recording career but essentially disappeared in the mid 40s. In 1963, John Fahey and Ed Denson wanted to find him and addressed a letter to "Bukka White, Old Blues Singer, c/o General Delivery, Aberdeen, MS" and it actually got to him, even tho he actually lived in Memphis! (Was that pre-zipcode?)
They met, Fahey recorded Bukka and released this album on the Takoma label. It sparked his comeback, Bukka finally got his due, and was active musically nearly until his death in 1977. If you've not heard Bukka White before, this is an excellent place to start: in fact, it's some of his best in some ways, because you can actually make out most of the lyrics. (Bukka had a tendency to mumble, no matter how loudly he sang .) For most, his stand-out quality is the sense of rhythm in his guitar playing: there's an incessant locomotive-like drive that I suspect made him a big hit with dancers. If you know Bukka, this is a mandatory addition to your collection. If you don't, what are you waiting for?"