First Recordings (2003)
14 tracks, 37 minutes
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R.L. Burnside was one of the big names in the 90s/00s blues revival and punk blues scenes. He was the real deal. He grew up in rural Mississippi, learning all of the roots blues styles along the way –fife and drum, gospel and country blues, which he learnt from Mississippi Fred McDowell; spent some time in Chicago playing with Muddy Waters before returning to the Delta as an itinerant worker and bluesman on the side. He even did a spell in Parchman Farm for killing a guy with a bullet to the face. He was one bad motherfucker – and his story also happened to tick all the boxes for what a ‘real’ delta blues musician should be. On top of that, he’d also developed a penchant for loud, noisy blues that 90s punks, desperate for an ‘authentic’ sound, latched on to. He became the poster-bluesman for Fat Possum Records and worked with everyone from the Jon Spenser Blues Explosion to the Beastie Boys.
That material is still super interesting, if occasionally dated at the points where his music gets the hip-hop remix treatment, but it’s his First Recordings that I always come back to. As you’d expect, these 14 tracks were the first time Burnside had had his work put on tape, by George Mitchell in 1968. By that time Burnside’s playing technique and compositions were recognisably those he continued with in his later work, but here he’s in all-acoustic country blues mode. Recorded in an easy setting – at home in his living room and with a few crates of beer and some whiskey – gone is the bombast and in-yer-face masculinity. What remains is Burnside’s subtle and soulful vocals and nimble guitarwork.
I love the sound of that acoustic guitar here. When he gets a groove going, it’s as solid and unstoppable as a freight train, but when he picks out melodies, they’re incredibly evocative. To my ears, it sounds as if his guitar is really loosely strung, allowing him to get some mad bends going on as well as giving those low bass-notes a chunky, buzzy percussive element when they’re struck, almost acting like an exclamation point at the end of each riff. The first track, ‘Just Like a Bird Without a Feather’, is a great way to kick off the album and sets up the rest perfectly: heartfelt vocals that take in the whole of his range and some simple but elegant guitar that bends around so much you’d almost think he was using a slide.
First Recordings is a very different album from those that brought him fame in his late-60s and 70s. Those are very fun for a rollicking, headbanging time, but in many ways I think these raw, down-home recordings show off his musical talent even more. But no need to pit them against each other – both of his styles work in complement to each other, so let’s just enjoy more good music!
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