Summit of all blues summits
Mark Oliva | Muenchsteinach Deutschland | 04/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In 1960 World Pacific Records, once an important jazz label, put four of the great blues masters - Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Big Joe Williams - together with many bottles of whisky in a sound studio, turned on the Ampex tape decks, got out of the way and let the men jam. Afterwards, about half of the tracks available on this new CD were released on the classic but often elusive World Pacific 1298. The recording needs no new rave notices. Such bellwether critics of the time as Leonard Feather and Nat Hentoff already gave it the ultimate canonization it deserves those 41 years ago. There's nothing to add to the praise. No collection of basically acoustic black blues is anywhere near complete without this masterpiece. Several of the cuts that weren't on WP 1298 have been reissued on various albums by the individual artists, but this is the biggest single assembly out of the sessions ever. The Ampexes supposedly wound World Pacific's tapes for several hours on end, so this release too is only a selection, but the biggest yet. The sound quality is superlative, which one came to expect from World Pacific even in 1960. The music - fully improvised, totally jammed bragging dirty blues. Titles like "Wimmen From Coast to Coast" and "You Can Steal My Chickens But You Can't Make My Hens Lay" say it all."
Legends Unplugged!
deepbluereview | SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA | 04/19/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"For almost two years now, this CD has sat on top of my changer begging for more playing time. Last month, I finally placed it in rotation. The disc features Lightnin' Hopkins, Joe Willians, Son Terry and Brownie McGee unplugged in a Hollywood studio sometime in the 1960's. As sometimes happens when legends collaborate on a disc, there is an awkwardness and choppiness in the playing between these individuals and none of them really seem to take charge or distinguish themselves in any way. The notable exception to this is "Wimmin From Coast to Coast" which has a rather loose and upbeat tempo that works extremely well with these individuals. Fans of these individuals will like to add this to their collection. However, those not that familiar with these legends would be better served by exploring other selections in the vast catalogue of these great musicians."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1