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Blind Blake - Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker Audio CD

A fair review of the Blind Blake "Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Blind Blake reviews here, or go back to the Blind Blake tabs.

Blind Blake Band: Blind Blake
Title: Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Blind Arthur's Breakdown 2: C.C. Pill Blues 3: Black Biting Bee Blues - Leola B. Wilson 4: Hard Pushing Papa 5: Black Dog Blues 6: Georgia Bound 7: Hastings Street 8: Skeedle Loo Doo Blues 9: Rope Stretching Blues, Pt. 1 10: Chump Man Blues 11: Diddie Wa Diddie 12: Sweet Jivin' Mama 13: Itching Heel - Irene Scruggs 14: Too Tight Blues, No. 2 15: Southern Rag 16: One Time Blues 17: Playing Policy Blues 18: Hey Hey Daddy Blues 19: Sweet Papa Low Down 20: Police Dog Blues 21: Wilson Dam - Leola B. Wilson 22: Come on Boys, Let's Do That Messin' Around 23: You Gonna Quit Me Blues 24: Let Your Love Come Down - Bertha Henderson 25: Bad Feeling Blues 26: Righteous Blues 27: Down the Country Blues - Leola B. Wilson 28: Seaboard Stomp

Pickin' Man
That is where Blind Blake comes into view. Before the blues began to dominate the black Southern country music scene there was a transition period where the previously dominant ragtime commingled with the emerging blues picking sound. This CD shows off his masterly picking style but also shows that he gets the new blues country beat, as well. This CD has liner notes that are very informative (as are most Yahoo liner notes) about these evolutionary moves. As to the music highlights here are Southern Rag, Hard Pushing Papa, Sweet Papa Low Down and a classic rendition of Rope Stretching Blues (with the classic anti-death penalty line 'in a couple of days I will not be singing this song'). Get this if you need a nice clean country blues pick.
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Superhuman Guitar
Before purchasing this, I had heard only a couple of Blind Blake tunes and was very impressed. . but as some other reviewers have said, this is a revelation! The guitar playing is simply mind blowing. Few fingerpickers could stand in the ring with Blind Blake. I pride myself on being a very good blues guitarist, but I can't even dream of being able to play like Blind Blake, the speed, complexity (balancing of different voices on the guitar, and various other aspects of his playing are simply beyond compare and beyond belief. The sounds that Blind Blake and his guitar make together are truly amazing; at times it is hard to believe that it is one guy. . . and that he sings so well over such complex and beautiful guitar. I recommend this about as highly as one can recommend anything; if you love blues or love great guitar, you can't go wrong with this! .


Essential
Suffice it to say that if you care anything at all about music, of any genre, you must acquaint yourself with the brilliant guitar work done by Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller and a handful of other men from the south who picked up guitars and showed the world something truly amazing. I fell silly giving this a 5 star rating - who am I to rate work like this? It's peerless and on a level entirely its own.

Many of the collections from the 20's suffer from really terrible sound, which is unavoidable. This album is extremely listenable. Some of the cuts are so perfect they sound like they were recorded last month. Others (especially Playing Policy Blues) are nearly unlistenable due to surface noise. But by far, the good outweighs the bad, and the brilliant, dancing shimmering music will live, literally, to the end of human history.


A revelation
Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Jorma Kaukkonen I am astounded to learn from this record that virtually everything they did was done not only first by Blind Blake, but better. As a fingerpicker and long-time fan of Rev.
Brilliant, beautiful, indispensible!.


Guitar picker ambrosia
If you like guitar, this is ambrosia. As a worshipper of Django, Robert Johnson and other guitar legends, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know about Blind Blake. It's like being a baseball fan and hearing about Shoeless Joe Jackson for the first time.


You can see a complete list of all Blind Blake discography, or go back to the Blind Blake tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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