Search - Sonny Boy Williamson :: I Ain't Beggin Nobody

Another re-re-release rip-off

political idiot | california | 05/03/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Don't get me wrong as this is disc contains outstanding Sonny Boy material. I am critiquing the release --not the artist. If you are new to Sonny Boy Williamson II, and/or, you are looking for a single disc of his fantastic Trumpet recordings then I guess this one will do (the Collectables release from a few years ago "Trumpet Masters Vol. 5..." is virtually identical and a decent single disc choice as well.) However, I would strongly urge you to consider buying the excellent Trumpet series discs "Goin' In Your Direction," and "Clownin' With The World," re-released on Alligator records in the early nineties and still available. This release attempts to highlight the best of his Trumpet recordings but misses the mark as one single disc cannot adequately capture all of his great, raw early fifties Trumpet material. Furthermore, and most frustrating, there is no noticeable improvement in sound quality. They even used the same cover photograph from one of the Alligator discs. I ain't beggin' nobody, I tellin' them record companies so eager to rip off the few of us left actually purchasing music; stop releasing the same material over and over with no improvement to breadth or sound quality."

Essential music but is the the way to get it?

Steven R. Sims | Australia | 08/26/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with last reviewer but have to say it's still a great CD.



Just on the music itself, no doubt it's essential - if you like what SBW did in Chicago & Europe, then do yourself a favour and hear this earlier Mississippi/Memphis sound. Worth the price for the guitarists alone; such as Joe Willie Wilkins, Lester Williams, James Williams, JV Turner, and some young guy in Memphis called Riley B. King. Super stuff.



I used to have the 2 Alligator CDs as mentioned. I got this CD as a replacement, but if I had my druthers I would probably get the JSP box set "Cool Cool Blues" with 4 CDs covering SBW II 1951-54 (though I haven't heard it yet).



Still this CD has great music, and well worth it at the right price if you only want a "best of" CD of SBW II pre-Chicago."