Leon Reviews R. L. Burnside - TOO BAD JIM
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R. L. Burnside - TOO BAD JIM - Fat Possum / Capricorn 42082

R. L. Burnside lays down some of the most funky, low down blues coming out of the Delta these days and Fat Possum is lucky to have grabbed him for their label. This disc is one of my favorites and contains such classics as "Shake 'Em On Down", "Old Black Mattie", "Going Down South", and some John Lee Hooker tunes like "When My First Wife Left Me" and Lightnin' Hopkins' "Short Haired Woman" and ".44 Pistol". All of these are good examples of R. L.'s excellent choice of songs to cover and they are great vehicles for his earthy vocals and gritty electric guitar as well.

With Calvin Jackson on drums, Kenny Brown on guitar and Dwayne Burnside on bass, we have a good mix of solo and band workouts. Producer Robert Palmer really did a great job presenting R. L. in his top form. This is one CD that bears listening to over and over and I found myself doing just that. This is pure Delta Blues with just enough twentieth century chaos thrown in to prove that this man is in his prime and ready for the future. This disc was recorded at Junior Kimbrough's Juke Joint, Chulahoma & Fat Possum World Headquarters, Oxford, Mississippi. Now order this and all of R. L.'s CDs as the rest are excellent too.