VARIOUS ARTISTS
Preachin' The Blues, The Music of Mississippi Fred McDowell (Telarc)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Many blues fans know of Mississippi Fred McDowell as the old bluesman who said on his early 70's Capitol LP I Do Not Play No Rock and Roll: "I do not play no rock and roll, y'all. I just play straight an' natchel blue." Well, some of the best bluesmen and blueswomen in the business have joined together to honor Mississippi Fred's acoustic blues, including Paul Geremia doing "Get Right Church" and Kenny Neal adding a pinch of Louisiana spice in "Fred's Worried Life Blues." Colleen Sexton simmers on "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" and Anders Osborne's picking on "Kokomo Blues" sends shivers up and down my spine just like McDowell's own version did when I first played it on that Capitol vinyl. I'm glad Telarc put together this tribute, a fine acoustic collection, to one of the best country blues players around. One who did not play rock and roll. I'm glad he didn't, but I'm glad he inspired folks like Bonnie Raitt, who's consistently cited Fred as one of her major influences as she was coming up.

Track List:

Get Right Church/Paul Geremia * 61 Highway/Charlie Musselwhite * Kokomo Blues/Anders Osborne * Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning/Colleen Sexton * You Gotta Move/Brian Stoltz * . Train I Ride/Tab Benoit * I Heard Somebody Call/David Maxwell * Frisco Line/Sue Foley * Fred's Worried Life Blues/Kenny Neal * I Rolled and I Tumbled/Steve James * That's Alright/Johnny Sansone * Good Morning Little Schoolgirl/Scott Holt

© 2002 - Eric Steiner