R.L. Burnside - A Bothered Mind

[Stefan Wood]

Picked this one up recently. One thing I have to say about Burnside -- he never rests on his laurels, never relies on the Mississippi Delta Blues sounds that formed his and many generations of other blues artists' music. He just flat out boogies till the cows come home! John Lee Hooker, while not as experimental, had that mastery of rhythm and drive that makes his music so funky. On this cd, Burnside has samples, mixes it up with DJs, guest artists (Kid Rock, whom I dislike), as well as acoustic solo guitar. What is fine about all this is that he never compromises his music -- the groove is always there, never hidden, his vocals are strong and vibrant, and it's always about the blues. He is clearly having a lot of fun, now in his 70's and better than ever. Will he be seen as the last great Delta Blues artist? Who knows, but he is clearly pushing the boundaries and making a case for a new, contemporary sound of the blues, without having it so bound to the sounds of the past.

Not really a review, I know, but I can't get past track 6 -- it it sooooo funky!

Edited September 14, 2004 by Stefan Wood

[7/4]

Sounds interesting, I wasn't going to get it, now I'll HAVE TO!

The North Mississippi Allstars play some of his tunes. They're amazing, really dig them.

[Chrome]

Stefan: You should pick up Burnside's "Come on in," too. He did the same kind of thing on that disc, with the same excellent results.

[Dr. Rat]

From what I hear Burnside doesn't really have much input on the sampling and looping and stuff. More a Blue Note remix deal, I hear.

Burnside won't be the last of the great musicians out of the delta, there's plenty of good stuff coming from down there. Bobby Rush (who has a great new cd out) still tours the chitlin circuit, for instance (Bobby ain't a guy from the sticks, but his music still got some Yazoo water in it.)

Check out Living Blues. They'll keep you apprised of what's coming out.

--eric

[7/4]

Burnside won't be the last of the great musicians out of the delta

I didn't think he's from the Delta, I thought he's from the North Mississippi hill country.

[Dr. Rat]

Right you are.

How far are these two regions apart?

--eric

[7/4]

Good question, I'll see if I can find out.

Quick guess, the Delta is at the Southern end of the state and hill country is up North.

[7/4]

Good question, I'll see if I can find out.

Quick guess, the Delta is at the Southern end of the state and hill country is up North.

Apparently it includes the whole region of Mississippi, Lousianna & Alabama clear up to Kentucky & Ill.

But the blues of the hill country (apparently the area east of the river south of Memphis) is different from the Delta blues. Mississippi Fred McDowell is hill country music.

Folks are encouraged to correct me, I'm no authority.

[chris olivarez]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Stefan Wood]

I have heard Come on In. This is better.

I'll check out Bobby Rush -- thanks for the info!

For what it's worth, I think Burnside's "Mr Wizard" is one of the best blues albums of the past 30 years.

[chris olivarez]

I heard his collabriation with the Jon Spencer so called Blues explosion and really didn't care for it at all but I will give RL another try.

[Dr. Rat]

Good question, I'll see if I can find out.

Quick guess, the Delta is at the Southern end of the state and hill country is up North.

The delta, I believe, refers to the Yazzo River delta (where it meets the Mississippi) in the Northwest part of the state. Lots of drainage work in the late 19th/early 20th century turned into a profitable capitalist farming district.

The MS part of hill country is more North Central and North East from what I can figure.

The blacks who moved there for work came from all over the South, and it was out of this confluence of people that the blues emerged to white folks.

At least that's the story I got.

--eric

[John B]

I heard his collabriation with the Jon Spencer so called Blues explosion and really didn't care for it at all but I will give RL another try.

I reallyenjoy RL Burnside, but I would recommend avoiding his albums with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and any albums that feature electronics or a DJ and start out with one of his grittier trio albums. My favorites are the live Burnside on Burnside, Mr. Wizard and Too Bad Jim.

[Chrome]

I agree with John B ... if you're only exposure to R.L. is his discs with the sampling, etc., you're missing out on something special.

And if you like the more "primal" Burnside, you should check out Junior Kimbrough, too.

[kh1958]

https://bittersoutherner.com/as-real-as-the-mississippi-hills-cedric-burnside-hill-country-blues

Article on Cedric Burnside, grandson of R.L. Burnside.