Search - Blind Lemon Jefferson :: Classic Sides

That time is now

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 04/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having had this since about 3/23/03, I am ready to review it. I'll start by saying that it has not left my cd player since it arrived. I've listened to 2 or more discs each day every day that I have owned it so far.I don't have that single-disc Yazoo Blind Lemon compilation from a couple years ago, so I can't compare/contrast the sound quality with that, but this does indeed sound better than do the Documents.I do know that the Catfish label will be releasing their own complete Blind Lemon box later in 2003 (yes I know it is listed for sale here but I have e-mailed the label and it absolutely has not been released yet, and will not be until the tail end of 2003) and I am very curious to hear that one also, but I've been loving this one so far.This box maybe isn't the sonic improvement I was hoping for, but I really can't fault it. You're definitely upgrading from your Documents if you purchase this set but I think I will really just have to hear this side-by-side with the new Catfish box for me to make a definitive statement.I know some of you may be wondering why I went ahead and reviewed this already if I feel I have to hear the Catfish box to be sure of what I think of this one. Well, I've really been into this one and just thought some of you who don't own it yet would like to be able to read a review of it to help you decide.So far my review has been geared towards the people who already know Lemon and his music. Now I'll try and write a bit for those of you who may be taking your first crack at him. First, this is an excellent choice for a first Blind Lemon Jefferson purchase. I look at it like this... this box has a great price and you get everything he recorded, thus you can fully immerse yourself in his music and decide from there whether you are into him or not. Blind Lemon's music ranges from mournful to lewd, upbeat to low-down. I suppose that many "first-time Lemon" fans may (or may not) be coming to him from Robert Johnson. All I am going to say is that the world of pre-war blues is a very large world that covers lots of moods and modes of personal expression. RJ is not the end-all and be-all that many would have you believe. That's really all there is to remember. Blind Lemon was his own man with his own unique artistic vision, all of which pre-date RJ by a decade. This box-set collects his entire recorded output. 1926-1929 were some great years for American music!You may also want to consider Jelly Roll Morton's 5-disc JSP box-set. I've had that one for 2 or 3 years now and it just keeps getting better!"

5 Stars because it's Lemon, but not the best sound

Bigthumb | AUSTIN, TX USA | 09/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blind Lemon Jefferson was the greatest of the country bluesmen. (For a measure of my enthusiasm, see my review of the Yazoo set.)



If you dig him enough, or are curious enough, to want his entire output in one place for a budget price, then by all means this is the package to buy.



But completeness and price are the top virtues of this set. If you want to hear these records at their best, with careful attention to making them sound clear and present, the Yazoo one-disc compilation still leads the pack, far and away.



Except for a slightly better mastering job, these four discs mirror the four separate BLJ volumes on Document. In fact, I would not be surprised to learn that these _are_ the old Document masters, run through a noise reduction system. The sound quality is quite uneven: the better-sounding takes sound pretty good, but some of the others are awful.



The version of " 'Lectric Chair Blues," one of Lemon's finest records, as heard here is terribly worn and noisy, to the point of being unintelligible. Also true of the same track on the Document. On Yazoo, it's a wonderful listen and you can hear and understand all of the words.



"Long Lonesome Blues," take 2, is also nearly inaudible. On the Yazoo, it sounds as if they may have been working with the same 78 disc, but the results are much improved.



JSP Records gained a stellar reputation because its earliest roots-and-jazz compilations were mastered by the late John R. T. Davies, who was a genius at resurrecting old recordings and making them sound real. But this is not one of those sets.



So: With Lemon Jefferson, you always get quality music, and with this JSP collection you get nearly all of it. (Several alternate takes are not here.) But if sound quality is an issue, I have to recommend Yazoo's "Best of.""

Two Songs in Particular!

A. I. Liebson | Malta (Saratoga County), NY United States | 09/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ANY Lemon set that features both "Jack O' Diamond Blues" and "Where Shall I Be?" (absolutely immortal--listen to that little guitar intro) has got to start out being superb, and being the "complete" recordings of Lemon, how can it go downhill from superb? It can't. "Jack O' Diamond Blues" is the ultimate in blues shouting, just the best. And "Where Shall I Be?" is absolutely ethereal--what a masterpiece, being on my list of favorites with Tommy Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues" (favorite blues song), Charley Patton's "High Sherrif Blues" (favorite voice), Eddie Anthony/Henry Williams's "Georgia Crawl" (favorite fiddle and duet), Blind Willie McTell's "Scarey Day Blues" (great solo), Lonnie Johnson's "Careless Love" (only the original, on acoustic 12-string, not the later sappy stuff), Sleepy John Estes's "Down South Blues" (as mournful as it gets), Cannon Jug Stompers' "Bring It With You When You Come" (favorite banjo), Sonny Boy I's "Miss Louisa Blues" (maybe the wildest harp, short of George "Bullet" Williams's "Touch Me Light, Mama"), and Sonny Boy II's "Lonesome Cabin" (try to find a more beautiful harp). Get this Lemon box, check out my two favorites, and dig the rest of it--he was one of the coolest."