PROGRAM:? It's So Cold In Chicago; Bye, Bye Baby; Greyhound Bus Blues; Louise; Freight Train Blues; Lord, I'm Going Back Home Soon; Kazoo Blues; Jesse James; Feel Like Blowing My Horn; Motherless Child; Ugly Man Blues; Lonesome Blues; I Just Can't Stand It No More; My Mother Prayed In The World One Day; Poor Boy Long Ol' Way From Home?
This CD was released this last Spring, in March or April, 2004.? It presents live recordings made of Robert Pete Williams in concert in Chicago in early 1965, soon after he received his full pardon, and was able to get out of his period of paroled farm servitude.? The recordings come from three different concerts, two at the University of Chicago and one at Lake Forest College, and have been made available by Norman Dayron, who made the recordings.
The program opens with Robert Pete delivering a rambling monologue, the point of which is, "Chicago is cold!"? He sounds in very good spirits, and is really engaging.? From there he launches into his own version of "So Cold In China", relating it back to the frigid Chicago weather.? In his version, it's so cold, birds can't hardly fly!? He follows with "Bye Bye Baby" in E standard, a tune he recorded a number of times, than continues with "Greyhound Bus Blues", a cover of Tommy McClennan's "New Highway 51 Blues".? It is interesting to hear Robert Pete do a cover like this, because his sound is usually so removed from that of other players, but he really does lift a lot of Tommy's licks straight from the record, as anyone learning the tune nowadays might do.? "Louise", which follows next is a real show-stopper.? He is working out of a B position in standard tuning, capoed up, with a B minor tonality, but every time he goes to the IV chord, E, he hits it as a dominant 7th chord.? This puts him in the Dorian Mode, a spooky sound, and one I have come to realize he used quite a lot.? "Freight Train Blues", in E standard, is done with an interesting approach in which he frets the top two strings around the 8th to 10th frets, free-handing and contrasting his fretted notes with the open strings.? It's a complex texture he gets.? "Lord I'm going Home Soon" is in A minor Dorian, with a D major chord.? "Kazoo Blues" is just what it's title would lead you to believe, but it is the fiercest kazoo playing you will ever hear--nothing good-timey about it.? It's hard to imagine where he came up with the ideas for stuff like this.? "Jesse James", in A minor, has particularly interesting lyrics, with a very dream-like quality, talking about Frank and Jesse.? It has the ring of something made up on the spot.? "Feel Like Blowing My Horn" is in G standard, and once again sounds like it comes out of Tommy McClennan country--Robert Pete really leans on the C chord the way Tommy did, and the playing on this one is very splashy and exciting.? On "Motherless Child", in E standard, Robert Pete achieves a tremendous range of tonal variety, and moves through different registers much as did Blind Willie Johnson, sometimes playing the melody in the treble, sometimes in the bass.? "Ugly Man Blues", which Robert Pete recorded as "I Have Grown So Ugly" on "Free Again", on Prestige, is a one of a kind number in sound, lyrical content, or any other quality you might care to consider.? He talks about looking in a mirror, not recognizing himself, and says, "I have grown so ugly, I don't even know myself."? "Lonesome Blues" talks about his bus ride up to Chicago to play the concerts.? "I Just Can't Stand It No More", in A standard, has a catchy boogie figure.? "My Mother Prayed In The World One Day", played in the unusual key for Robert Pete of C standard, has a melody very similar to "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", and the program closes with "Poor Boy, Long Ol' Way From Home", in Spanish.? I realize that in these descriptions of the songs, I have been very guitar-centric, but I don't know if I have the vocabulary to describe Robert Pete's singing.? Throughout the program it is in the moment at every instant, and tremendously expressive.? It often has a chanting sort of sound to it.
Sound throughout the CD is excellent, and the liner notes are interesting and informative.? In listening to the CD, I find myself really impressed with the way Robert Pete tries to connect with the audience in his song introdutions and anecdotes.? I don't recall him being that outgoing the one time I saw him, but he really sounds like he was having a good time here.? I would give this CD a very high recommendation (big surprise!).? I am not a completist by nature, but I think Robert Pete is changing my mind, so far as his own music is concerned.
All best,
Johnm
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