Search - Lightnin Hopkins :: Swarthmore Concert

The best solo Texas Blues performance I have ever heard!

09/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Whether you like hard-driving rock-n-roll or down-and-dirty blues, you will thoroughly enjoy this live performance from 1964 featuring Lightnin' and his pulsating acoustic guitar. Lightnin's unique skill with the true Texas style of blues guitar playing proves that it does not take a three or four piece band to either rock the blues or get soulfully low-down on a blues ballad. This CD has it all: rockin' rhythms, great melodies, soulful moanings, great lyrics, and Lightnin's quick country wit and interaction with the audience. After listening to Lightnin' play the opening guitar solo to "Baby,Please Don't Go" it is apparent that he has an understanding of how to play some incredibly deep sounding blues with the guitar that few, if any, modern artists are capable of recapturing today. "My Black Cadillac" and "Come Go Home With Me" are perfect illustrations of how Texas Blues have been a heavy influence on modern day rock-n-roll. On these two songs Lightnin' lays down a heavy Texas Blues beat with his acoustic guitar that is at the very foundation of rock-n-roll. In a slight contrast, "The Twister" is a ballad that also moves and grooves, but with more of a true blues than rock-n-roll feel. "It's Crazy" and "Mojo Hand" are classic examples of how the lyrics of a song can thoroughly entertain an audience while at the same time being powered by the classic Texas blues beat. "My Babe" and '"Mean Old Frisco" are medium-tempo songs with memorable melodies that you swear you know you have heard somewhere else and you know you will always remember. "Sun Goin'Down and "I'm A Stranger" are slow, mournful blues played and sang the way you always thought blues should be rendered. After listening to this CD it is obvious that Lightnin's voice and his guitar playing perfectly complement each other and blend together to produce some of the deepest, most powerful blues ever performed."