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Masters of Country Blues - Fred McDowell & Big Joe Williams (Part 3).wmv

10mo ago
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Sometimes music is entertainment, sometimes it's history, and sometimes it's both. Among the recent multitude of blues reissues, recent releases from Yazoo are definitely both. Videos from the Masters of the Country Blues series feature brief but welcome performances by some seminal artists - Son House, Bukka White, the Rev. Gary Davis, Sonny Terry, Mance Lipscomb, and Lightning Hopkins. The Seattle Folklore society recorded the material in the late '60s, the tapes were saved, converted to film, and are now available on home video. Each tape features two artists, linked by geography and, consequently, musical approaches. This release features two Mississippi bluesmen: Fred "I do not play no rock and roll" McDowell and Big Joe Williams. McDowell was a slide player who shared many gigs with Bonnie Raitt in her early days, and his style rubbed off on her. His 15-minute set is short but sweet and includes a snatch of his trademark piece, "Shake 'Em on Down." Williams was an itinerant nine-string guitarist and early partner of Sonny Boy Williamson's. He played a heavy, rhythmically complex style, and in 25 minutes he does several verses each of some 13 tunes, including his own standard, "Baby Please Don't Go."