VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Tomato Delta Blues Package (Tomato)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

---

When I first discovered The Tomato Delta Blues Package, I wondered why Delta bluesmen like Muddy Waters, Peetie Wheatstraw, Elmore James, or Memphis' Furry Lewis were conspicuously absent. As John Lee Hooker sang "No Shoes" or Little Walter and Otis Rush worked though "Walter's Blues," I began to have second thoughts: the blues are so varied and so diverse that no single CD can entirely capture the musical magic of the Mississippi Delta. There's probably a lot of behind the scenes stuff about licensing or other paperwork drama that prevented many Mississippi bluesmen from landing on this disc, but The Tomato Delta Blues Package is an encyclopedic introduction to the Delta blues with players like Johnny Shines, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, and Howlin' Wolf. It may not have some of my favorite Delta players on it, but this Tomato CD is well worth having as it opens some doors to the blues though Leadbelly, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Louisiana Red. Just listen to Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup sing "That's All Right (Mama)" and you'll see why a young man from Memphis named Elvis Presley changed the tune of popular music, thanks to inspiration found in the music of the Mississippi Delta.

Track List:

No Shoes/John Lee Hooker * Lightnin's Discourse on the Cadillac * Big Car Blues/Lightnin' Hopkins * Talkin' Casey/Mississippi John Hurt * Walter's Blues/Little Walter and Otis Rush * Navaho Trail/Peg Leg Sam * That's All Right (Mama)/Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup * Someday/Mississippi Fred McDowell * Trouble's All I See/Johnny Shines * Walk On/Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee * Walk All Over Georgia/Louisiana Red * Christina/Brownie McGhee * Ride In My New Car Blues/Big Joe Williams * Commit A Crime/Howlin' Wolf * That's Alright/Lightnin' Slim * John Hardy/Leadbelly

© 2002 - Eric Steiner