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The Complete Bukka White
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| Price: |
16 new or used available from $18.97
Average customer review:
Track Listing
- Pinebluff, Arkansas
- Shake 'Em on Down
- Black Train Blues
- Strange Place Blues
- When Can I Change My Clothes?
- Sleepy Man Blues
- Parchman Farm Blues
- Good Gin Blues
- High Fever Blues
- District Attorney Blues
- Fixin' to Die Blues
- Aberdeen Mississippi Blues
- Bukka's Jitterbug Swing
- Special Streamline
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #171229 in Music
- Released on: 1994-05-10
- Number of discs: 1
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Using the simplest melodies as his canvas, Delta bluesman Bukka White painted vivid pictures of his own life in the rural South, punctuating his words with a highly percussive steel-guitar attack. Among his subjects: trains, booze, sex, prison, and death. After shooting an old Mississippi rival during a roadside showdown, White had allegedly jumped bail to record his first two songs in 1937. The bawdy "Shake 'Em On Down" was a hit, but White spent two years in prison for his indiscretion. When White returned to Chicago in 1940 to record again, producer Lester Melrose rejected his roster of cover tunes, giving him two days to come up with his own material. Under the gun, White created the 10 autobiographical gems that round out this collection. --Marc Greilsamer
Customer Reviews
Songs from a Blues Master
I first heard Booker "Bukka" White on a compilation and finally got around to picking up this CD awhile back. What the listener is treated to is good, old-fashioned, country blues, highlighted by White's strong, straight-ahead rhythms and vocal intensity. His raspy/quavery vocals are a perfect accompaniment to his chugging guitar style, and White is backed up on most of these songs, recorded mainly in 1940, by Washboard Sam, who provides strong rhythmic counterpoint to the sound White gets from his National steel guitar. Although I like all the tracks on this CD, "Parchman Farm Blues", the first Bukka White song I ever heard, is still my favorite.
A Consumate Blues Man
The first song I heard by Bukka White was 'Fixin' To Die Blues' on a blues anthology disc. With his rhythmic playing and voice that expresses a wide range of emotion, he was one of the consumate blues men. He had quite a story to tell, and there isn't a single song on this disc that doesn't lure you in to his telling of the human condition. A must for anyone that can appreciate what this Black American art form truly is...emotions and strife set to music. Recommended!
A brilliant recording of Mr. Booker White in his prime.
If you are looking to identify one Bukka White CD to own, this is the one, IMHO. He was a legendary slide guitar stylist with an ability to compose great blues songs for his style. He was a notable singer. This recording captures him in peak form, and, in addition, represents one of the last important country blues recording sessions to have taken place before WWII.
By the early 40's, musical tastes were changing. Electric guitars, big bands, pre-bebop, etc. were all hitting. There was a huge exodus of southerners from the rural south to northern cities, and the country blues was out of fashion as a musical form.
To his credit, Booker, when presented with this opportunity to record, stuck to what he did best and did not get trendy. The result was a legendary country blues session, and this CD documents that.
Every song on this recording sounds great, & the sound quality is pretty good to boot (compared to other early blues recordings). The thing that always gets me is the rhythmic creativity. Even though this was an old time country blues recording, Mr. White was a true funkster, & his rhythm sense still sounds contemporary & exciting.
