Robert Nighthawk's restless, itinerant spirit led to great gaps in his recording career, and as a result, he's not nearly as well known as he should be. He learned guitar from
Houston Stackhouse, knew
Peetie Wheatstraw, was playing with
Sonny Boy Williamson and
Big Joe Williams in the '30s, and has even been credited with teaching
Muddy Waters how to play slide, yet his name is probably unknown to most casual
blues fans. Another problem is that previous
Nighthawk recordings tended to focus on a specific recording session or label affiliation, so mainly only
blues scholars and fanatics understood what a pivotal personality
Robert Nighthawk was to the development of
electric blues from the acoustic Delta sounds. Prowling With the Nighthawk is the first major overview of
Nighthawk and his various performing aliases, covering a 15-year time span and recordings on several different labels. Chronologically, these recordings start out in the Mississippi Delta (though they were all recorded in Illinois) with acoustic guitars and harmonica, then start to move into modern
blues territory when
Nighthawk electrified his guitar in the early '40s and began to develop his signature style of slide playing. The most recent recordings, dating to the early '50s, add a full rhythm section and even approach the sound of
rock & roll on a couple cuts. Rather than present it chronologically, however, the folks at Document made the decision to program this as an album rather than a scholarly review of singles. So while the sound quality jumps around a bit (and this is the best most of this material has ever sounded), the variety of material from different times ultimately makes for a better listen than presenting each session in order. Once you've heard
Nighthawk's mature slide style, there's no mistaking it for anyone else, and it's quite interesting to trace his development as a player over time, from the acoustic forays of the '30s to the fantastic electrified solo on "Return Mail Blues" in the late '40s. Despite his lack of name recognition,
Robert Nighthawk was one of the greats, and Prowling With the Nighthawk is a great collection of some truly vital material. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide
