Audio CD review:
Taj Mahal - In Progress & in Motion: 1965-1998

Taj Mahal - In Progress & in Motion: 1965-1998

Band: Taj Mahal Title: In Progress & in Motion: 1965-1998 Rating: Release Date: 1998-10-13 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond - Taj Mahal, Johnson, Blind Will 2: Corrina - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 3: Checkin' Up on My Baby - Taj Mahal, Williamson, Sonny B 4: Leaving Trunk - Taj Mahal, Estes, J. 5: Buck Dancer's Choice - Taj Mahal, Traditional 6: Going Up to the Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 7: She Caught the Katy (And Left Me a Mule to Ride) - Taj Mahal, Rachel, Y. 8: Ain't Gwine to Whistle Dixie Anymo' - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 9: Stagger Lee - Taj Mahal, Logan, Harold 10: Built for Comfort - Taj Mahal, Dixon, Willie 11: Natural Man - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj. 12: Railroad Bill - Taj Mahal, Work, J. 13: Texas Woman Blues - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 14: Early in the Morning - Taj Mahal, Milton, Roy 15: Dust My Broom - Taj Mahal, Johnson, Robert [01 16: Blind Boy Rag - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 17: Oh, Susannah - Taj Mahal, Traditional 18: Cakewalk into Town - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 19: Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal, Thomas, H. 20: Nobody's Business But My Own - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 21: Sweet Mama Janisse - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 22: Little Red Hen Blues - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 23: Mary Don't You Weep - Taj Mahal, Traditional 24: Sweet Home Chicago - Taj Mahal, Traditional 25: Frankie and Albert - Taj Mahal, Hurt, Mississippi J 26: M'Banjo - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 27: Statesboro Blues - Taj Mahal, McTell, Blind Willi 28: Bye & Bye - Taj Mahal, Patton, Charley 29: Six Days on the Road - Taj Mahal, Montgomery, Carl 30: We Gonna Rock - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 31: Ain't It Funky Now - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 32: Tom & Sally Drake - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 33: Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal, Thomas, Henry [1] 34: Blues with a Feeling - Taj Mahal, Little Walter 35: Freight Train - Taj Mahal, Cotten, Elizabeth 36: When I Feel the Sea Beneath My Soul - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 37: West Indian Revelation - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 38: Eighteen Hammers - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 39: Johnny Too Bad - Taj Mahal, Crooks, Sydney 40: Slave Driver - Taj Mahal, Marley, Bob 41: Clara (St. Kitts Woman) - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 42: Do I Love Her - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 43: Everybody Is Somebody - Taj Mahal, Bailey, Warren 44: But I Rode Some - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 45: Crossing - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 46: Sentidos Dulce (Sweet Feelings) - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 47: The Most Recent Evolution of Muthafusticus Modernusticus - Taj Mahal, Mahal, Taj 48: Curry - Taj Mahal, Fitzpartick, R. 49: Follow the Drinking Gourd - Taj Mahal, Traditional 50: The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) - Taj Mahal, Burgie, Irving 51: Little Brown Dog - Taj Mahal, Traditional 52: Seņor Blues - Taj Mahal, Silver, Horace 53: Ain't That a Lot of Love - Taj Mahal, Banks, Homer 54: Take a Giant Step - Taj Mahal, Goffin, Gerry

The Best intro to Taj I've found I bought my first Taj Mahal LP sometime around 1968 and have kept tabs on the dude ever since. . because my vinyl collection shows signs of wear (to be expected after 40 years of repeated play) I went looking for replacements for my many Taj recordings, something like 20 total records, and was hard-pressed to find a collection that represented what I felt was his best material. This three-disc offering comes nowhere near covering it all, but is a fine place to start. Over the years many people have tried to "turn me on" to Taj as someone they just discovered, largely through the many so-called Greatest Hits releases under his name. . . many folks have the impression that he's a Mississippi blues man, a roots-cliche sharecropper's son whose showcase tunes are things like "Fishin Song," "She Caught the Katy and Left me a Mule to Ride," etc. This is good for a chuckle to anyone who knows the man and his work. . . Facts be told, Taj Mahal hails from Springfield, Massachusetts and never picked cotton. . . the son of middle-class professionals, his father was a musician's musician who though not a well-known name was highly respected by those in the know, who nicknamed him "The Genius" not just for his musical accomplishments, as the man also spoke seven languages. Taj's mother was also steeped in music and held a master's degree in early childhood education. Taj graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, studying science, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine. . . not a typical background for a blues artist, some would say, and critics have stated that his music isn't truly blues and lacks "purity," whatever that means. . . a ridiculous claim since the blues historically has been a fluid style, marked by improvisation and interpretation, and Taj Mahal has experimented with styles all his career. . . he's an artist who defies labels and pigeon-holes. One of his signature tunes (and one of my favorites no matter how many times I hear it) is "Take a Giant Step. " This Brill Building/Carole King song was originally a bubble-gum ditty recorded by The Monkees, believe it or not. Keeping the same tune and lyrics Taj renders this irritating and forgettable Top Ten '60's a. m. radio number into something very special and poetic. That's the kind of magic the man has. Many of his musical ventures can't be labelled as anything but pure Taj Mahal. His recordings range from delta-style acoustic guitar and harp to sophisticated urban electric blues. Some of his best is pure Reggae. Some is island music, calypso. Some is Rhythm and Blues, and some is buttkickin' Rock and Roll. He's ventured into Motown-style Doo-Wop. Some of his stuff is pure jazz. Sometimes his only accompaniment is his own acoustic guitar, and sometimes he plays backed by orchestras, or by full brass sections. He plays two-piece numbers with his guitar backed by tuba ("Cakewalk Into Town" is one song that always makes me grin). Almost without exception his music works. . . he never short-changes his audience and although his album releases number in the dozens I'm hard-pressed to find a single mediocre cut. Whatever he does, whatever gutsy new approach he takes, his music never sounds experimental or contrived--it's instantly recognizable as pure Taj Mahal, and even in his darkest blues numbers his music is somehow joyous--articulate, witty and a master musician, the cat never fails to bring a smile to my face. In any case, if your only exposure to Taj has been one of the single-disc "Greatest Hits" or "Best Of" collections, you've never heard even a basic sampling of the man's vast body of work. In this three-disc set you still get only the barest of introductions, but it's the best starter collection I've come across and will steer you towards more of what he has to offer. For those unfamiliar with Taj Mahal I'm a little envious--you've got a lot of joy lying ahead. A must for Taj Fans Disc 1 gets it going right away; Disc 2 takes a strange spin with help from the Pointer Sisters; Disc 3 simply blew me away. A great collection of live and studio music. Very clean recording with slick engineering (less is more). Taj takes advantage of the full spectrum of sounds. Highly recommend sitting on your back deck one night and listening to In Progress & In Motion from start to finish. . Taj's Roots This 3 CD set is a fantastic collection of his music that explains how he's managed to span those thirty years and continually be fresh and new. I've been a fan of Taj ever since I first saw him in concert over 30 years ago. Taj can- and does- find and develop the Blues roots in just about any type of music. Nowhere is that culture-spanning ability shown as crisply and clearly as it is on this retrospective set. An absolute must for any Taj fan. A Musical Master Blues with a flute? Tuba???? Taj Mahal can do it all. Blues with the guitar and harmonica, sure. Love some of the old chestnuts all in one place. The new "Fishin' Blues" took a little getting used to, but it definitely grows on you. The live stuff with the Pointer Sisters is great. I love listening to this guy! The only negative thing I can talk about here is the nebulous liner notes. All in all, a great buy. One of the Seven Wonders... They hated everything. Old timers may remember that in the early 70's Flo and Eddie (of The Turtles)wrote a column in Creem magazine reviewing records. When they reviewed Taj Mahal's Mo' Roots album they lampooned his assimilation of Carribean music and accused him of being a bandwagon jumper. ". . . we can't wait until Taj discovers Swiss yodeling and starts wearing a Tyrolean hat",they wrote. Actually it was pretty funny, but what they didn't realize is that Taj's paternal family were West Indians, so this music was his birthright,just as much as the spirituals,slave hollers,and blues he heard from his mother's rural southern upbringing were. It's his music and it comes to him as natural as breathing. This comprehensive 3 CD set is an excellent place for novices and old pros alike to welcome the music of Taj into their homes. From The Rising Sons,Taj's seminal 60's band that included Ry Cooder, romping through "Statesboro Blues", down through the great Jesse Ed Davis led Tulsa Roadhouse band,the tuba years (yes!),and finally the steel drum laden Carribean kiss, this set is not to be missed. Yeah the liner notes are scanty, but it's the steak, not the sizzle, that matters here. Any guy that can jam the blues with Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop live at the Fillmore and hold his own ,on pennywhistle yet, is okay by me. So Taj, if you want to try Swiss yodeling that'll be cool too. You wear that Tyrolean hat with pride and I'll throw in a pair of lederhosen. Bring the tubas with ya. You can see a complete list of all Taj Mahal discography, or go back to the Taj Mahal tabs