Wow, Blues From Far Away, But The Real Deal
Michael Z. Jody | NYC & East Hampton, NY United States | 11/24/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I never meant to be a chauvinist, but I thought you had to be American to play great blues. Boy was I ever wrong. Hans Theessink is the real deal, despite being Dutch. His blues is exactly what the blues is supposed to sound like: full of heart and sadness. On this album (his best by far IMHO), he does a number of traditional blues songs including a tremendous St. James Infirmary, a melancholic song which has never been done better, despite being covered by Louis Armstrong, Dr. John, Doc Watson, Lou Rawls, and Dave Van Ronk (if you wanna know a few more versions check out my list of great versions of St. James Infirmary on Amazon).
Theessink, whose Dutch accent is almost undetectable, does versions of "My Girl" (Leadbelly), John Fogerty's "One Hundred and Ten in the Shade", some Robert Johnson, Skip James, and etc. Real blues, often done with solo acoustic guitar accompaniment, and nothing but his deep, DEEP baritone. Beautiful album."