Search - Sonny Terry :: Sonny Terry

Lowdown in the downtown: urban blues Sonny

happydogpotatohead | New Orleans, LA USA | 08/06/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was recorded in 1952 (or thereabouts) and although it's just called "Sonny Terry," Brownie McGhee is on here too. However, the focus is pretty squarely on Sonny, so I guess the title is legit.On the negative side, there are a lot of duplicated songs and the sound quality varies widely. On the positive side, "Sonny Terry" has much less of a sanitized feel than the later Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee releases. There's a sense here that they're not aiming this at an audience of white folkies.Sonny's harp playing is terrific, and he sings in a tough, down home style that speaks volumes about his roots. Brownie McGhee even plays electric guitar, in a much different style than many of their fans are used to hearing. It's pretty clear that Sonny, Brownie and the group are all having a good time, too; on "Harmonica Rumba" this is particularly evident.The instrumentation is different here than on other Terry/McGhee releases as well. As mentioned, Brownie plays electric guitar instead of acoustic. On some takes there's even an organ player (!!) and on almost all takes there's a drummer. As a result, this rocks a lot more than some of Sonny and Brownie's other, more folky material. To put it bluntly, this CD doesn't have that Pete-Seeger-Presents smell to it, which is just fine by me.Very worthwhile for someone who already has Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee CD's in their collection. I don't know whether it's a good place to start if you've never heard them before. However, if you want an insight into what Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were like before they cleaned up their act to join the "folk boom," this is exactly the thing. Wonder what this CD would sound like if it were properly remastered, though..."