Devil's Music, The (3CD Set)

The Devil's Music is the three-disc soundtrack to a BBC television documentary on American blues that aired originally in 1976 at the height of the punk explosion in Britain. What makes this an important set are the many old blues artists captured here doing new live versions of their signature songs; and since many of them have since passed on, The Devil's Music is a particular treasure. The collection opens with Sam Chatmon singing "Stop and Listen," a version of Tommy Johnson's "Big Road Blues." Big Joe Williams revisits his Depression-era classic "Providence Help the Poor People" and delivers a wonderful, charming "Watergate Blues." Bukka White chugs through "Aberdeen, Mississippi" and the incomparable Victoria Spivey sings a stylish "T.B. Blues." Alone at his piano, Little Brother Montgomery performs his trademark "Vicksburg Blues." Disc two features a six-song mini-concert from James De Shay and his band, while disc three captures brief live sets from Memphis Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Matt Murphy recorded at the 1963 European Blues Festival. The Devil's Music is a valuable document from a time when many of the old hands were still around to show how the blues was really done. ~ Steve Leggett