Search - Various Artists :: Dust My Broom - The Essential Recordings Of Mississippi Delta Blues

A fine collection to whet your appetite

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 01/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These 22 tracks offer a very good insight into the blues of the Mississippi Delta as it sounded about seventy years ago.
As usual, Indigo Records has done a great job choosing and compiling songs from various more or less famous bluesmen, ranging from the legendary Robert Johnson and his "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", to more obscure recordings by Ishmon Bracy (a travelling companion and playing partner of Tommy Johnson) and Willie Brown.Among the highlights are Skip James' haunting "Devil Got My Woman", Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go", and Bukka White's intense and powerful "Shake 'Em On Down".The sound quality varies quite a lot; Son House's legendary 1930 recordings "My Black Mama" and "Preachin' The Blues" are entombed in a hailstorm of surface noice, whereas Robert Johnson's contribution might have been recorded in the fifties.
But in spite of the snaps, crackles and pops, this is a very interesting insight into the world of the early Delta blues, and it is highly recommendable to anyone who wants to learn more about this type of music. Maybe after listening to this one, you'll want to go get the recordings by the individual artists.(There's another early blues compilation out there as well, which doesn't stick exclusively to the Mississippi-born bluesmen : "As Good As It Gets - Country Blues" has only a couple of overlaps with this collection, and would be the perfect companion volume.)"

An excellent sampler

M. J. Smith | Seattle, WA USA | 11/08/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe that the tracks are listed without artists. To remedy the situation: tracks 1-3 are Charley Patton; tracks 4-6 are Tommy Johnson; track 7 is Ishman Bracey; track 8 is William Harris; tracks 9-11 are Son House; track 12 is Willie Brown; tracks 13 and 17 is Bukka White; track 14 is Skip James; track 15 is Big Joe Williams; track 16 is Robert Johnson; track 18 is Tommy McClennan; track 19 is Robert Petway; track 20 is Tony Hollins; track 21 is Muddy Waters; and the final track 22 is Robert Lockwood.These recordings range from 1928 to 1941. The remastering is excellent providing a surprisingly clean sound. The major influence on this style of blues was Charley Patton, who is represented by the first three cuts. The brief album notes included with the cd gives a very brief family tree of the relationship of the other artists to Patton - as disciples, as second generation "disciples" or as "influenced by".As several of the artists are well known - Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Robert Johnson, Son House ... this album is especially interesting in allowing one to hear something of the development of the Delta Blues style, and catch nuances of similarity and differences among the artists that escape one's attention when changing cd's.If you enjoy any of the artists included on this album, you will enjoy the entire collection."