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Deepest blues

Jerome Clark | Canby, Minnesota | 10/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Pete Williams, who died on December 31, 1980, in Rosedale, Louisiana, was one of the South's great deep bluesmen. This Fat Possum reissue of field recordings -- the crowing chicken and passing train in the background testify to the literalness of that phrase -- is more than a welcome reminder of the power and passion Williams brought to his music. It is also the finest recording, artistically and acoustically, released under his name. Though the titles are largely familiar from the folk-blues canon -- "Farm Blues," "Matchbox Blues," "Railroad Blues" -- they have little in common with the songs ordinarily associated with those names. Backed only by acoustic or electric guitar, sometimes with slide, Williams improvises original lyrics and incorporates traditional ones into a distinctly personal, roughhewn storytelling style. There is not, it must be said, a lot of melodic variation here, but Williams's intense, no-prisoners approach overwhelms and moves the listener. It's hard to imagine a more wrenching, touching tribute to another bluesman than "Goodbye, Slim Harpo." One of the most compelling blues recordings I've ever heard, it elevates Williams into the ranks of such seminal deep-blues figures as Howlin' Wolf and Mississippi Fred McDowell. One complaint, however: the liner notes are barely more than useless. Dated February 1971, they leave the impression that Williams is still with us, and worse, they tell us little, failing even to note the remarkable parallels between Williams's life as murderer-freed-to-sing and that of another towering figure in Louisiana folk music, Lead Belly."

Robert Pete Williams: New Orleans acoustic blues at its best

Mark Mauer | Los Angeles, CA United States | 09/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By now the story of Robert Pete Williams is quite familiar to blues fans throughout the world. Born in Zachary, Louisiana in 1914, he has lived in and around this Baton Rouge area all his life and now lives in Maringouin. He was convicted of murder in 1956 and was sent to Angola State Prison. In 1959 Robert Pete was paroled primarily through the efforts of a Denham Springs farmer who had been deeply impressed by his first Folk-Lyric album ?Angola Prisoners? Blues.?
Since his full pardon in 1964 Robert Pete has toured extensively the folk and blues festival circuit across the U.S. In 1966 he toured Europe but was recently denied a return trip by the British Government because of his prison record. (One wonders why he was allowed entry in 1966). Lately he has gained popularity with underground blues followers by his appearances at the Ann Arbor and Berkeley blues festivals. Despite this activity, he has not been recorded since 1967 and until now most of his past recordings have been unavailable.
Robert Pete probably has the most unique blues style of all active bluesmen. Neither his guitar work nor his singing can be categorized into any established regional style such as ?East Coast,? ?Mississippi Delta? or ?Texas Blues.? His music and lyrics are spontaneous and original. No major influence of other bluesmen can be found in his idiosyncratic, intensely personal performances. Blues scholar Pete Welding described his music as ?tough, mean, and, above all, impassioned like the man himself.?
On this album Pete plays in several different techniques both acoustically and electrically. Electric bottleneck work is on ?Got Me Way Down Here? and ?You Used to Be a Sweet Cover Shaker Woman But You Ain?t No More.? He says that he is ?still learning to play ?in Spanish? (open E tuning).? Although the lyrics here are somewhat traditional, he shapes and phrases them so that they sound exclusively his own. Also in ? Sweet Cover Shaker? and ?Rub Me Until My Love Come Down? for the first time he presents songs with humorous sexual imagery. The lyrics to the latter seem to be wholly new to the vast domain of traditional blues verses. Evident also on this set is a greater wandering spirit than found in earlier recordings; he seems to be trying to repress this wandering feeling, in spite of ?Freight Train Blues?, ?Railroad Blues? and ?Matchbox Blues.?
Easily the outstanding performance on this set, however, is the slow and personal ?Farm Blues? which recounts his parole life on the Denham Springs farm. Here then are eleven new songs spontaneously performed in his home by Robert Pete Williams, a man who musically relates his personal feelings in truly profound fashion."

It Doesn't Get Much Better

paco0819 | Bedford, NY United States | 01/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"He lacks Robert Johnson's technique, but Robert Pete Williams probably is the most sublime blues guitarist since the Master. Don't be put off by the chunky, clunky playing - listen deeply. His musical vocabulary is wholly original (and a powerful influence on Captain Beefheart) and his sense of form and structure is unparalleled. The interplay between voice and guitar is extraordinary.These essentially are field recordings and sound like it. But the immediacy and sense of time and place are a big part of the power of this record. And it is very powerful. This is the real thing."