Search - Rory Block :: Angel of Mercy

White suburban housewife grooves on Rory Block's music

quercus@isoc.net | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 12/28/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have been listening to Rory Block's music for over fifteen years. I think her song writing, guitar playing, and singing just keep getting better. She is a student of Son House and has been playing blues guitar like the very best traditional blues men since she was a teen ager. Her years of continued development of her talent shows through on this set of songs. The title track is awesome. The sheer force this skinny white woman is able to project through her voice and guitar can't truly be appreciated until you have seen her play live, but still this song is truly one of her best songs ever. The rest of the songs are very good,too. I don't read the label, so I can't quote them off the top of my head. I just play the CD and clean or drive or whatever with spirit and intensity inspired by the incredibly powerful music Rory Block creates.I get teased a lot about how much I listen to my various Rory Block CD's (Confession of a Blue's Singer, Angel of Mercy, Tornado, Mama's Blues, and When a Woman Gets the Blues, Best Blues and originals 1, High heeled Blues, etc) but I find Rory's strength and sincerity spiritually edifying.Even though, my review is about how personal her music is to me,I promise to not stalk Ms. Block -- just in case you were getting worried.To me, Rory Block is a sorely under appreciated blues guitarist and song writer in our country. She has had cd's that have gone gold, but in Europe."