Search - Various Artists :: Atlanta Blues

Another great budget priced set from jsp in england.

fluffy, the human being. | forest lake, mn | 03/21/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"jsp records in london is to be commended for all their great budget price box sets of old-time music. this 4 disc set of atlanta blues is especially notable for all the peg leg howell sides. i have read much about peg leg howell over the years, yet, for some reason, his music was near impossible to find on compilations. i know of no disc dedicated just to his recordings. except for here. disc three on this set is a whopping 25 sides of peg leg howell. 3 more sides are included on the 4th disc. mr howell was a very pleasing blues singer with a relaxed vocal delivery and an easy fluid guitar style. he is even accompanied on a few tracks by violin and mandolin, which you don't hear too often on these old blues tunes. another artist featured on this set is curley weaver, who is by far the most accomplished guitarist on this set. he plays slide guitar with such facile grace and adventuresome rythmn that all slide guitar enthusiasts and blues fans should thrill to his sound. lots of sides by mr weaver here. to me, maybe the highlight of this set was the discovery of a performer i had never heard of before: julius daniels. mr daniels, while not the guitar stylist of the aforementioned artists, is a outstanding blues singer, with a deep confident voice that is amongst the best i have heard in blues from the 20's. there are eleven sides from mr daniels included (4 of them alternate takes), and i would say they are must haves for blues fanatics. there are six other artists/bands included on this set, and they are good in their own right, but it is peg leg howell, curly weaver, and julius daniels that really standout on this package. the sound quality ranges from excellent to bad (a few of the curly weaver tracks are particularly rough on the ears), but mostly it is fine. i highly recommend this set to old-time music fans. for the novice, i would say this is not the place to start (try robert johnson for starters), but a collection to work your way towards. enough said."