The Complete Recordings

Rolling Stone (p.86) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[The set] transports us deeper into the mythic and all-too-real world his music evokes." Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.52) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Rolling Stone (10/18/90) - 5 Stars - Classic - "...No other bluesman left a studio portrait that seems to come moaning and howling from the darkest recesses of his soul. The music has a power that age cannot dim..." Q (2/91) - Recommended as one of the five best blues releases of 1990 - "...Easily the most significant re-issue of the past year, THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS resolves many of the mysteries of Johnson's life while rendering the uncanny power of his work more mysterious than ever..." Q (8/94, p.126) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...Without a doubt a man mummified in his own legend, but these 41 recordings - Johnson's entire output - remain essential nonetheless..." Down Beat (2/97, p.55) - 5 Stars (out of 5) - "...the great country blues man and his classic 41 titles...cause us to step back in slack-jawed astonishment..." Down Beat (2/91) - 5 Stars - Excellent - "...Johnson's use of harmonics and chording was eons before his time, and his delivery and lyrics remain standards by which blues intensity is measured. The intimacy is eerie; you're in the literal presence of genius..." Time Magazine (12/31/90) - Rated as one of the 10 best recordings of 1990. - "...This isn't just music; it's American mythology, recorded in the mid-1930s and brought alive for the first time on two CDs. The blues found no deeper mystical expression than in Johnson's composing and singing..." Mojo (Publisher) (4/01, p.44) - "...If there have to be legendary bluesmen, Johnson is as well fitted for the role as anybody....[This is] a treasury that seems to grow more valuable year by year..."