Search - Various Artists :: Slide Guitar: The Streamline Special

There's just something about slide guitar when it's done right, and it's definitely done right here. Streamline Special is something of a history lesson, as well; everyone from Robert Johnson ("Preachin' Blues") and Blind Boy Fuller ("Homesick & Lonesome Blues") to Muddy Waters ("I Feel Like Going Home") to Taj Mahal, whose "Country Blues" rendition is one of the highlights of this collection. There's the deceptively down-tempo "Two Timin' Woman" from Casey Bill Weldon, and Bukka White's "Special Streamline," where he does a train sound with his guitar that puts Aerosmith's "Train Kept a-Rollin'" to shame. Allen Shaw really does moan on "Moanin' the Blues," and Tampa Red and Georgia Tom's "No Matter How She Done It" is a smart, sassy, and frequently hilarious song. This isn't a definitive collection by a long shot, but it's an excellent introduction to the expressiveness and versatility of slide guitar. --Genevieve Williams