Topic: RL Burnside on Fat Possum

[Johnm]

Hi all,
In case you have not already seen it, Fat Possum has put out, in the same series as its recent Joe Calicott release, the first recordings of RL Burnside, made by George Mitchell, probably on the same trip as he recorded Calicott; they're from the same year, anyway.  It is really strong stuff, good guitar and some amazing singing.
All Best,
John

[Slack]

Too much to resist - I've now ordered both.

Thanks for the heads up!

[uncle bud]

Some of the Mitchell recordings of RL are also on the Arhoolie that has Joe Callicott.  I'm assuming similar mild overlap on this CD. The stuff is great and I'm not even an RL fan...

[Johnm]

Oops, I erred earlier.  Probably not the same trip for Mitchell.  Calicott was from '67, Burnside from '68.
John

[Johnm]

Hi all,
A friend of mine here in town has been figuring out a number of tunes from this CD, and is interested in picking up another RL CD in which he was either playing solo acoustic or solo electric.  I am not familiar enough with RL's discography to know which of his releases would fall into either of those categories.  Any recommendations?  Thanks.
All best,
Johnm

[Slack]

Hi John,

I highly recommend "Mississippi Hill Country Blues" also on Fat Possum (CD 80341).? Solo acoustic, 19 tracks, all but three recorded by Leo Bruid at Groningen, Netherlands in 1980 and 1982.? The other three cuts recorded by George Mitchell in 1967 (so, little overlap). Great stuff!

cheers,
slack

[lindy]

John:

My recommendation is Acoustic Stories, on the MC label.  Here's a url for a review:

http://www.mnblues.com/cdreview/rl-acoustic.html

Slack's recommendation is a real good 'un. There's a CD with the same name--Mississippi Hill Country Blues--on the Swingmaster label. The liner notes say that the songs were recorded in Denmark, I don't know if they're the same as the Netherlands recording, just with different liner notes.  Whatever, both CDs are great.

Lindy

[Johnm]

Thanks, John D and Lindy, for the information.  I will pass it along and check out these releases myself, I think.  It occurs to me that when I was in England for the European Blues Association's spring week-end, a friend of mine there, Alan Smith, told me of a fellow he knew in the Netherlands who had recorded RL in the early '70s and had 300 (!) unreleased tracks of him.  I wonder if the fellow in the Netherlands is Leo Bruid?  I will try to find out.
All best,
John

[lindy]

I went to the Swingmaster CD site (which I'll add to the links section) and found this description:

No. of discs: 1
Stereo/Mono: Stereo
Studio/Live: Studio

All songs trad./arr. by R.L.Burnside, vocals and guitar. Red Ramsey, harmonica on # 13.
# 1 -12 and 16-19 recorded by Leo Bruin in Groningen, Netherlands.
# 1 -7 and # 11 -12 recorded October 1982.
# 16-19 recorded November 1984.
# 13-15 recorded by George Mitchell near Goldwater, Mississippi in 1967.
# 7, # 11 -12 previously unissued.

Special thanks to Jaap Hindriks, Kent Laundre, George Mitchell and Fred Reining.
Produced by Sem van Gelder and Leo Bruin.


Don't know how the Denmark idea got into my head, but obviously this disc and the one on Fat Possum are the same.

Lindy

[lindy]

As promised, I added the Swingmaster label to the record company page in the links section.

If you go there, don't just click on the "Blues vinyl" link on the left-hand side of the Swingmaster page, also go to their catalog page.  They've got CDs from Burnside, Henry Townsend, James Son Thomas, a guy named Big Boy Henry (who Lightnin' Wells used to gig with), and a few obscurities that look tempting.

Lindy

[Johnm]

Hi Lindy,
Thanks for checking that out.  Leo Bruin is denitely the guy I was thinking of.  Also among his vinyl releases is one I picked up when I was in England.  It is an album of Turner and Marvin Foddrell, two guitar-playing brothers (now deceased) from the Virginia Tidewater area who were very good friends of John Jackson.  The brother's names may not ring a bell, but they did some really nice East Coast-style picking.  I probably should have sprung for the Henry Townsend album and one of George and Ethel McCoy, too.
All best,
Johnm

[HardLuckChild]

I'm not a big fan of Burnside. Though he looks like a bluesman and was born around the right time, I feel that his musical, lyrical, and vocal abilities are lacking. I know this may seem like an over-symplified statement, but I feel like he is just half a Fred McDowell.

I should say that I'm not satisfied with Fat Possum's cd's in general. I like the Furry Lewis one, the Fred McDowell w/Johnny Woods one, and the Joe Callicott one is pretty good. However, my Furry and Callicott cd's have poor and brief liner notes. I don't like Paul "Wine" Jones, T-Model Ford and the rest of those guys. I hope I don't sound ignorant or anything- I just don't like the majority of the company's output.

[GhostRider]

HLC:

I appreciate your opinion. Negative reviews are just as valid as positive ones as long as they're heartfelt.

Alex

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I just picked up the "Mississippi Hill Country Blues" on Fat Possum (licensed from Swingmaster), and Lindy and John D., you are right--it's a real winner.  A few cuts duplicate those put on the more recently released first recordings on Fat Possum.  I think this is great stuff, and I particularly like his singing. 
Re RL's merits or lack thereof as a Bluesman, I can certainly understand him (or anyone else) not being somebody's cup of tea.  I'm surprised to see his pedigree as a Blues player questioned, though.  To me he is a Blues singer/player through and through.  If it's not blues, I don't know what it is!  I remember hearing him sing "Pony Blues" at the first or second PT festival.  God, it was great.
All best,
Johnm 

[lindy]

In case you haven't heard...

Kenny Brown's assistant reported that Mississippi hill country blues legend R.L. Burnside suffered two heart attacks and a stroke last week and is in a hospital in South Haven, Mississippi.  Here's to wishing R.L. and his family all of the best during this trying time.

More information from Kenny's assistant Veronica...
"Please check the www.blues.org website. I am working on getting a Fundraiser together to help pay for R.L.Burnsides hospital bills. R.L. has been in ICU since Thursday, and we are hoping he will be released to another room, Monday
I will continue to update as I get the news. The Blues Foundation will be donating a cash dollar amount of approximately 1,000."

"I spoke with Linda Burnside, R.L.'s daughter.
He is still in ICU, although he is doing much better, he is now sitting up and eating a little."

For Donations, please make checks payable to Mrs. Alice Mae Burnside.
Send Cards and Donations to: R.L. Burnside, P.O. Box 5021, Holly Springs, MS 38634
Thank you for your prayers,
The Burnside Family

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hope we can all be generous to the Burnsides,
Lindy