Search - R. L. Burnside :: Too Bad Jim

In Short, The Blues

Mark Eremite | Seoul, South Korea | 02/05/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is unshaven, dusty, floor-board blues, something to drink a beer to under a spidery, greasy, yellowed light bulb. R. L.'s weathered voice rides through the gritty lyrics with as much wavering siltiness as his metal guitar slide. The back bass and beat are played straight-faced and without frills, raw and undiluted. Thankfully the producers chose to play it hands-off with this one; every hang-nail, every skitter and skip, and every raggedy edge is left intact, meaning that these blues sound exactly the way they are: authentic.



For a live performance, however, this CD is remarkably short. Remarkably. Just as the performers are pulling you into their boot-tappin', head-shakin' world, the songs stop. If there weren't other, longer Burnside records out there, this would be a five-star album. As it is, though, its lamentably short time makes it a wonderful footnote to an already stellar and long-toned career."