Blind Willie Johnson/Tommy Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
By Xgau Jul 13, 2012 4:18AM
Blind Willie Johnson: The Complete Blind Willie Johnson (Columbia/Legacy '93)
Between 1927 and 1930, in his early thirties and probably his prime, the Texas-based Johnson applied his gravelly voice and dexterous bottleneck to 30 gospel sides. On 19 of these he was accompanied by a female singer, usually his first wife Willie Harris, and in a sense lyrics and melodies are rendered superfluous by the sound of his gruff false bass shadowed and set right by a simpatico soprano: a sane, haunting aural image of suffering and succor that's hard to get too much of. But most of the songs are at least solid in themselves, and refreshingly unfamiliar unless Johnson planted the seed of their renown, as he did with "Motherless Children," "If I Had My Way," "John the Revelator," and the indomitable "Praise God I'm Satisfied." Like most gospel, they value melodic flow and rhythmic momentum more than the Delta blues other Johnsons purveyed. I'm not going to say they rock. But you might. A
Tommy Johnson: Essential Blues Masters (Goldenlane '09)
This Johnson is a Delta legend best appreciated by blues aesthetes like the late great Robert Palmer‑-who hears, for instance, "a slippery, danceable swing" in guitar accompaniments others account regionally generic. Johnson messed with your woman, drank Sterno for breakfast, and claimed meetings at the crossroads with you-know-who. But he only recorded for two years of his 1896-1956 lifespan. Like most collections available, this one preserves 17 tracks and 13 songs, five of which I have now removed from my iPod for reasons of distressed audio, compositional shortfall, or (usually) both. I've also banished three alternate versions, although I kept both scratchy "Black Mare Blues" just to hear New Orleans's Nehi Boys kick in their piano and clarinet, which do Johnson a lot more good than you-know-who. As I hear it, he has two drop-dead classics in his kit: the indelible "Big Road Blues" and the clarion "Cool Drink of Water Blues." The frailing "Maggie Campbell Blues" and the confessional "Canned Heat Blues" are close behind, and the rowdy-to-miserable likes of "Big Fat Mamma Blues" and "Lonesome Home Blues" fill in the blanks. I saved serious bucks by purchasing this iteration as a download. It also includes a posthumously electrified band version of "Canned Heat Blues" designated "an abomination" by the one blues aesthete on the interweb to acknowledge its existence. Personally, I welcome it as a hint of what might have been. B PLUS
146Comments
Jul 16, 2012 11:51AM
Was I "the guy who wanted to throw away his cinema ticket" to Moonrise Kingdom when I read Ryan's Wes Anderson screed? It was a slow day on the comment board. That's just to apologize for "relinquishing my critical intelligence" in acceding to Ryan's way of seeing Anderson; I was merely reminded, by Ryan, of why I often find Anderson looking at the world from a great distance. Moonrise Kingdom is a divertissement; there's nothing wrong with it that figuring out something more constructive to do with 80 minutes wouldn't address, but it does seem to be a world inside a terrarium. There. At times Xgau's format (The Consumer Guide) seems to me a dream of economy in which individual instances of judgment project (or price themselves at market for) too much significance (someone, then, maybe Cam, said Frank Ocean is a "cultural event"), and on this site, where he's posting twice weekly, that's a particular bother. So I think, when I made that remark, apropos Ryan's coming down on Anderson, I was in the spirit of other exigencies. Nor is it my purpose to stand anonymously behind such antagonistic posts. So I'm elaborately, Jeff Hamilton, St. Louis writer and Xgau reader --
Jul 16, 2012 11:35AM
sharp--as one of those people who goaded you into losing your manners, I've no intention of regressing our exchange to its point of origin, but something in my inner ear still gets a pretty strong reading of 'self-righteous' from your post. Frankly it's all the hyperbole, and maybe you'd encounter less immediate resistance to what you're saying if you weren't so exaggerated in your description of behavior which you now concede is probably only applicable to a small percentage of otherwise almost cloyingly individualistic people.
And, when it comes to those few, I think you are mistaken in both your characterization and your treatment of them. Christgau is not just a 'big' figure, he's one of those people who gets wrapped up in the sensibilities of others. If a group of mostly very young people spend a certain amount of time examining the way he thinks, analyzing the way he behaves around music, it's not that they've substituted him for their own individuality, it's that he's becoming a part of it. This is the way all young people (yourself no doubt included) have always become individuals. While I have no doubt about the quality of your intentions, and I certainly respect the tendency to chafe around seeming goose-steppers, it seems to me that more good is done by letting them do their thing. As for the rest of them, young or otherwise, they're mostly codifiers and rankers, and no, they're not sheeple, they just don't think like you.
My final point would be that Christgau developed the 'grade' as a way of talking about music very deliberately. People are now using it, on his blog, to talk about music. I, for one, am not surprised. It is not an empty system, and it is not an empty form of communication. It is simply a way of talking about music in shorthand, where the emotional register of the listening process is given highly specified form, in order to more directly communicate it to other people. If the benefits of this kind of communication have not been apparent to you over time, which I'm not sure about one way or the other, I would nevertheless submit that your experience has not been universal.
Otherwise, are you just so dissatisfied that people take Bob's word as seriously as they do, and can people taking someone else's opinion seriously do nothing but impinge on their own individuality, especially when it's a behavior they adopt only a fraction of the time? I don't think so, and I certainly don't see that happening here.
Jones, on that note--It should never be a constant, but part of the whole point of a 'consumer guide' is helping you decide what to spend money and time on. You can't listen to everything, and there's no reason to assume that your 'critical intelligence' is at stake, let alone someone else's, if you or they make a judgment call based on someone else's judgment. I don't know how you get through your life without doing it, really, Bob or no Bob. You spend most of your listening time, just by virtue of choosing something, rather than something else, relinquishing your 'right' to use your critical intelligence. You're going to spend your life, from now until its ends, refusing to use your critical intelligence on things. It does not mean you're not using it elsewhere, or that your fellow commenters aren't.
Jul 16, 2012 10:14AM
So Tommy Johnson was way down my list of late blues guys to get to, but the above review helped me get a fix on him. The asserted classics and close-behinds sound correctly classified, and it's always useful to have cover to skip the scratchy stuff after one dutiful play.
Uhh since this is turning into an "Xgau wuz right" post I should add that the overdubs on "Canned Heat Blues" do sound like they were recorded in Abominable Manor.
Jul 16, 2012 9:36AM
Jul 16, 2012 9:13AM
What, not a word about Azaelia Banks' latest barrage of messiness, FANTASEA?( Thank you, Kevin John). I imagine Xgau was drooling profusely in anticipation of this. Not only because rap mixtapes often turn him on, but this coming from the artist responsible for his most pleasureable music thus far this year. And I must say the inventive rhythms, flow, underlying musical blips and blaps,rhymes she emits on this new mix keep beckoning me back for further listens. And isn't that when music listening becomes exciting, when the messiness starts to clear, and you want to return to it ad nauseum. I'm not convinced yet these will turn into persistently pleasurable tunes, but they might.
Jul 16, 2012 9:09AM
Duck lip aside, and upon much re-listening and reflection, I've decided that Lana Del Ray is an original. With a range as limited as Bob Dylan's she similarly conveys multiple layers of irony in a single song, the darkest one being the middle class listener's relish in parsing the misery of the wealthy now that most of don't stand a chance of getting there ourselves. (Which may also, in part, explain the smoldering appeal of channel ORANGE.)
Jul 16, 2012 8:18AM
Jul 16, 2012 7:56AM
The only person I've been pissy with is Ryan. Ryan: I probably did overreact to you calling Wes Anderson a dumb f*ck, but I thought that was an overreaction myself, and I stupidly felt compelled to say something (you said you were sensitive. I think you're a wiz with words, and I don't want to f*ck with your confidence, so I'll say please keep writing, and also rudely make the suggestion that you'll be the better writer if you go for impact. That long and winding way of spelling out your argument is faultless, but it's also kind of flat). As for L.B. I have seen a few times (the guy who wanted to throw away his cinema ticket) commenters here too readily relinquishing the experience and enjoyment that comes with putting your critical intelligence to good use. I'm not interested in finger-wagging. I am interested in my own mind, and the idea of giving up such an important part of it is offensive to me. It's a form of brain-death to concede it. Although I'm sure that's not absolutely the case here, it can't be healthy being in that mindset.
Final note: Thumbs-up for Ryan's last post. I thought Beak and Claw was great, too.
Final note: Thumbs-up for Ryan's last post. I thought Beak and Claw was great, too.
Jul 16, 2012 6:28AM
Have been meaning to say that if you take Jason's recommendation on Kindred by Burial and add it to the O and E 013 (Instrumentalities), you will end up with a solid hour and a half of very pleasurable and mind-expandingly diverse Sound.
And re: Frank O indirectly since I've had other interests at the momo -- Heard Russell Thompkins, Jr. honor someone for making him feel brand new yesterday again and was reminded that sweet soul with a dollop of conviction has always been an aural treat.
And re: Frank O indirectly since I've had other interests at the momo -- Heard Russell Thompkins, Jr. honor someone for making him feel brand new yesterday again and was reminded that sweet soul with a dollop of conviction has always been an aural treat.
Jul 15, 2012 10:58PM
Jul 15, 2012 9:56PM
These damn mobile devices......
What I've been trying to write against my better judgment for the last fifteen minutes is a brief follow-up to some of the very sensible points sharp and others have raised, although I think the former is misreading Cam's stance. One major reason I've refrained from going on at length in praise or otherwise for albums Our Dean has not mentioned (yet or ever) is thanks to his generous decision to include a direct link to my blog. I'm under no delusions regarding my readership, which is largely made up of some of the same people reading this note right here (although pretty sure Jessica Hopper didn't find out about it through EW). So, I generally feel there's little need to fill up space over here on such matters. And while I'd agree that having critical disagreements with literary influences can sure smart, I'd also note that my current A albums of 2012 include Vijay Iyer, Burial, Steve Lehman Trio, Patti Smith, and (sure looks like) Frankie O. I'd be surprised if my favorite rock critic gave any of these save the Ocean anything more than a B+. And I'm fine with that.
Jul 15, 2012 9:25PM
"Maybe people are still soaking it up" - this is almost always true for me. I just rarely immerse in new releases and like to take my time, so I really don't know what I think for quite a while. I feel some temptation to play a new release heavily just to form an opinion. But then I remember that I'm not a pro or even amateur rock critic so I take my time, and often play a new record once a week at the most.
Jul 15, 2012 9:14PM
Jul 15, 2012 9:07PM
All this well-constructed fingerwaggy wisdom over a harmless little L.B. ra-ra for a legitimately terrific album -- articulately overreacted to by Jones, who you don't have to look too closely to notice has been a little pissy over the last couple of days, to which a few also-smart folks whose sense of independent thought has never seemed shaky offered some polite defense. There's an unnecessary air of shoulder-chip here it's probably not unfair to acknowledge, so long as we're adjudicating -- just because the brilliant gimmick Bob's used for years means a little on-its-own something to some people doesn't mean anybody's sheeping it up at the moment.
And by the way, I'm as eager to see Nick's eloquent espousal of cO's excellence as anybody (FTR, he was the first to notice there was something, if you'll excuse the adjective, A+ish about it over in Facebookland), but why we gotta wait for him to "get a dialogue going"? Joey, myself, sharpsm (first & best) (oh hey) and more have all put forth more than a few cents re: Ocean's second in hopes of a wider weigh-in over the last few days, so it's not like no one's trying. Yet talk has been sparse, it's true, bar a couple smart and less-than-smart bandyings about re: O's coming out. Maybe people are still soaking it up; maybe everybody's waiting for the physical copy, which in an intriguing reversal of recent trends has a bonus track the iTunes version doesn't. Since I spent money on the album I felt OK about thieving the bonus cut; f*ck if I'm spending $12 on Tyler the Creator. Sounds to me like the least interesting or invested song of the bunch, and rather spoils a certain effect by coming after "Forrest Gump". On the very thinly melodic addition, he goes from the chin-up guy-guy heartbreak of the current coda to addressing a "Golden Girl" with none of his nostalgia, ULTRA thoughtful-romantic conviction (not to mention the eccentric soul Stevie poured out for his Lady), and gives the goblin the last word. But pretty pretty, as excrescences go.
On another note, the underrated Beak & Claw, seemingly a little too sincere and woozy for a few folks around here, makes a marvelous companion piece to Orange -- play one before the other and they'll bring out the best in each other. They're sonic spiritual cousins, you see, and though Serengeti's sagacity puts a comparative spotlight on Frank's... not solipsism or self-absorption, but perhaps youthful self-prioritization... in the end they're both concept albums about modern kids overflowing with as much intelligence and modesty as poignancy and aural beauty.
Jul 15, 2012 8:57PM
Jul 15, 2012 8:21PM
Patrick: I know you've been fighting the good fight for independent thought--a lot more entertainingly and effectively than I ever could, which is one reason I've felt comfortable backing off. And you're certainly right that the Bobettes (if I can coin a polite term) are a "small (but occasionally quite vocal) minority of regulars here". But reading Jones125 make the same reasonable points you and I have been making forever in response to the very same Christgau Guessing Game is, to say the least, dispiriting.
And it still bugs me, particularly the grade-talk, and I suspect my objections are similar to Milo's objections to the over-abundance of polls: it sucks the air out the room, it trivializes something of very great importance, it crowds out more substantial and rewarding conversations (come to think of it, those sound like Milo's objections to me personally). But there's something even more insidious at work here: a constriction of the very possibility of artistic discrimination. Whatever Cam says about "acknowledging a general principle around here" (I guess my copy of the board bylaws got sent to an old e-mail address), I have no doubt that one of the reasons people tend to shy away from discussing records Bob hasn't dealt with yet is a simple fear of ending up wrong, whatever that means. Gushing aloud that an album is a timeless masterpiece and that it's changed your life and then seeing Bob slap it with a B Plus (or even, shudder, a **) is like getting a failing grade in life. This attitude isn't normal, or healthy. It certainly isn't very rock and roll.
As for my receipt of my @ss, it was early in my residency hereabouts, but if you want anything more specific than that you're going to have to look it up yourself (I've never deleted any of my posts, so I'm sure that exchange is buried somewhere in there). It was a very unpleasant exchange, not one of my prouder moments--I kind of lost my temper and forgot my table manners-- and I have no desire to revisit it.
Jul 15, 2012 5:50PM
[Just discovered that a "Best of PUNK" {magazine} anthology is coming out the first week in November. Back when John Holmstrom was a honcho at High Times they put out a PUNK collection that I found oddly unsatisfying. Why not just reprint the whole shebang? If they can do it with "Humbug" ... Anyway, I think the feel of the 'zine comes across best in whole issues rather than excerpts. Though it's obscure now, I suppose, one of the best ways to "sense" what the counterculture scene was like in the Bay Area is to page through the reprinted pages of the "Oracle" underground newspaper. Always seemed a bit the same way with PUNK, mutatis mutandis.]
Jul 15, 2012 5:20PM
"Got my big white a** handed to me by practically everybody here, so I gave up trying to talk people out of their Bob's-always-right-and-I-wish-he'd-tell-me-what-to-think aesthetics"
Oh yeah sharpsm, I never complain about that. Like, ever. FWIW though, even though I bitch about it to an almost cartoonish degree, I think the "I can't/won't tell the difference between Xgau's tastes and mine" mindset really only applies to a small (but occasionally quite vocal) minority of regulars here
(EDIT: I'm kind of curious as to *when* you got your @ss handed to you after decrying EW's clone-like tendencies - you'd think I'd remember that)
Oh yeah sharpsm, I never complain about that. Like, ever. FWIW though, even though I bitch about it to an almost cartoonish degree, I think the "I can't/won't tell the difference between Xgau's tastes and mine" mindset really only applies to a small (but occasionally quite vocal) minority of regulars here
(EDIT: I'm kind of curious as to *when* you got your @ss handed to you after decrying EW's clone-like tendencies - you'd think I'd remember that)
Jul 15, 2012 5:06PM
Jul 15, 2012 5:05PM
Thanks to Walter and GMort for the props. I played Note of Hope quite a bit this week to mark the centenary, the Studs Terkel track is another big highlight for me. Greg, have you heard the original of "Big Time"? I'll play it sometime.
I don't think it's necessarily wrong to hope for an A+ for an album. If you love a record, you're going to hope someone who's opinion you respect will love it too, and you hope s/he will point out something you haven't noticed yourself or illuminate it in some other way - and as Ryan says, you're likely to get that from our host, which is why many of us are here, I suspect. I haven't listened to Channel Orange as much or as attentively as some other Witnesses, but I am enjoying it so far.
And best of luck to Irene for tomorrow.
I don't think it's necessarily wrong to hope for an A+ for an album. If you love a record, you're going to hope someone who's opinion you respect will love it too, and you hope s/he will point out something you haven't noticed yourself or illuminate it in some other way - and as Ryan says, you're likely to get that from our host, which is why many of us are here, I suspect. I haven't listened to Channel Orange as much or as attentively as some other Witnesses, but I am enjoying it so far.
And best of luck to Irene for tomorrow.
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Starting in 1967, Robert Christgau has covered popular music for The Village Voice, Esquire, Blender, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and many other publications. He teaches in New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, maintains a comprehensive website at robertchristgau.com, and has published five books based on his journalism. He has written for MSN Music since 2006.
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