Search - Black Ace Buck Turner :: I'm the Boss Card in Your Hand

Thick legs, hips and thighs... the Black Ace knew what time

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 08/25/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Filed away here under "Criminally Under-Reviewed!" is the ultimate document of Black Ace's art. Here are all but one of the tracks from his 8/14/60 and 9/10/60 Arhoolie recording sessions, as well as all 6 of his pre-war Decca sides from 2/15/37. I assume the 1 track was omitted because it was a giant cluster$#^@ since there's plenty of room here for 1 more track. So really, this is it. This is the whole kit-and-caboodle of his recording career.



This is addictive. Sure there are moments in the 1960 sessions where it's obvious some rust had settled into those old bones, but I don't care. I love his laid-back style. Plus just the fact that he plays in his lap (with a medicine bottle, not a steel bar) on a National hawaiian guitar (the hollow neck!) gives his sound that extra bit of timbral depth and occasional warble. He really hits me in a way no other musician does. When I'm in the mood for Black Ace, it has to be Black Ace. You'll not find yourself mistaking his playing for anyone else.



Like so many other bluesers of the late pre-war era and into present day, Ace seemed to know every bad woman, crazy woman, lazy woman, alcoholic woman, triflin' woman, etc... in town. A true poet ala Lonnie Johnson he was not. His lyrical concerns are common, even cliche, but his sound is his own. His is not an intense sort of blues. Ace's sound is more gentlemanly and calm. Catchy, too. There are days I'm playing Ace-style in my head all day long.



Pre-war he had a steadier beat... no rust... but post-war is really where I find myself hearing what a great guitarist he was. At times he seems to crawl up into a weird frequency that sounds incredibly modern. He extends and rhythmatizes some of his phrases solely with the medicine bottle, almost giving it an effect closer to a couple of the things Hawaiian God of the National Tricone Sol Hoopii did on electric steel.



All in all, a disc I love, and one I think you'll play over and over. He probably won't appeal to modern types of blues fans who want every song to have a screaming, masturbatory electric guitar solo over the generic post-war Chicago beat, but you National fans will eat his tone up."