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Average: 4.5 (8 ratings)
- Date Released: October 21, 2003
- Genre: Blues
- Style: Traditional Blues
- Label: Yazoo - Shanachie Records / The Orchard
Boasts, railroad songs and sexual taunts — all the stuff that legends are made of.
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We Say...
Gravel-voiced Charlie Patton might be remembered as "The King of the Delta Blues," but his repertoire ranged widely across the entire spectrum of Southern song. This collection — one of the best single-disc retrospectives available — includes hokum tunes ("Shake It and Break It") and descriptions of natural disasters ("High Water Everywhere Pt. 1"), as well as the boasts, railroad songs, sexual taunts and laments that virtually define the country blues as an art form. A direct influence on blues and gospel stars like Howlin' Wolf and Pops Stables (both of whom learned at Patton's feet), and an icon for rock & roll revivalists like Eric Clapton, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Jack White, Patton was no less remarkable in his own right. Every one of his songs is essential listening for anyone interested in the history of American music.
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They Say...
Were Charley Patton alive today, he'd most likely be pleasantly surprised by the durability of his records. Who could've imagined that the musings of a Delta guitarist, recorded for Paramount in the late 1920s and early 1930s, would be treated as relics of art 60 and 70 years later? The Best of Charley Patton includes 23 cuts, 70 minutes of music, and offers an excellent introduction to those not quite ready to spend the big bucks on the available box sets. There's "High Sheriff Blues," a song recalling Patton's arrest in Belzoni, Mississippi for drunkenness, and "Pony Blues," his signature song that dated back to the beginning of his career in 1910. He's joined by fiddler Henry "Son" Sims on "Going to Move to Alabama," and plays some mean bottleneck guitar on "Mississippi Bo Weavil." Yazoo reserved a paragraph of the liner notes to address the problems of transferring Patton's music from worn-out 78s. A certain level of noise, it seems, is a fact of life with these recordings. Yazoo achieves a balance here, cutting down as much surface noise as possible without sapping the dynamics of the performance. The cleanest cuts comprise the first half of the album and two cuts, "High Sheriff" and "Jersey Bull," appear at their proper speed for the first time on this collection. The Best of Charley Patton is a fine, one-stop collection by the "King of the Delta Blues."
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Down The Dirt Road Blues |
2:56 |  |
| 02. | |
It Won't Be Long |
3:22 | |
| 03. | |
High Water Everywhere Pt. 1 |
3:07 | |
| 04. | |
High Sheriff Blues |
3:10 | |
| 05. | |
Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues |
3:08 | |
| 06. | |
Lord I'm Discouraged |
3:08 | |
| 07. | |
Shake It And Break It |
3:10 | |
| 08. | |
Rattlesnake Blues |
2:47 | |
| 09. | |
Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues |
3:06 | |
| 10. | |
A Spoonful Blues |
3:13 | |
| 11. | |
Pony Blues |
3:00 | |
| 12. | |
Magnolia Blues |
3:11 | |
| 13. | |
Moon Going Down |
3:16 | |
| 14. | |
I'm Goin' Home |
3:05 | |
| 15. | |
Elder Green Blues |
3:02 | |
| 16. | |
Jim Lee Blues Pt. 1 |
3:04 | |
| 17. | |
Banty Rooster Blues |
3:04 | |
| 18. | |
Jersey Bull Blues |
3:09 | |
| 19. | |
I Shall Not Be Moved |
3:05 | |
| 20. | |
Going To Move To Alabama |
3:02 | |
| 21. | |
Pea Vine Blues |
3:05 | |
| 22. | |
Green River Blues |
3:09 | |
| 23. | |
Bird Nest Bound |
3:09 | |
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Credits
- Charley Patton - Main Performer // Charley Patton - Main Performer // Robert Vosgien - Digital Mastering // Don Kent - Liner Notes // Richard Nevins - Producer // Richard Nevins - Remastering // Stephen Calt - Liner Notes
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