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 Powerful blues! Mar 22, 2007
What did Bukka White have on his mind when he recorded this session ? A lot. But he managed to put it down into 12 tracks! (plus the first 2 from another session).
This was my first introduction to Bukka White, and also probably my first introduction to classic Blues. It all began with getting Iggy Pop's Nude and Rude, wherein he mentioned listening to Bukka White in his hotel room when he was approached with his 'best of' project. 'Bukka' just got stuck on me somehow and as destiny would have had it, I found this album dumped in the movie section of a store.
It would be another week before I listened to it. At first it sounded all weird, too profound and maybe a bit too earthy. But as I reached to 'Strange Place Blues' I could feel I'm officially hooked. This song had something too personal about it, it just made too much sense to me.... something felt different. Anothe song I'd talk about is 'Sleepy Man Blues' , which is such a powerful song, because it is so simple, it gets right into your head and refuses to leave! And I will omit saying anything about Fixin' to Die, because a lot has been written and said about it, my contribution wouldnt take away or give anything to it.
This album, is one of the most compelling sessions ever recorded. It cant be made to look cheap by clinically comparing it with other recordings of Bukka or any other bluesman.
If you have a knack for good music, then this album would do you good.
Bukka The Poet! Nov 11, 2006
The most common themes in blues are whiskey, women, and hard times.
These themes are often used as metaphors to mean something more profound.
Blues is poetry of the highest order and with that being said, Bukka White was like the T.S. Elliot of the blues.
The Complete Bukka White is an example of Bukka's prolific lyrics and brilliantly complex bottle-neck guitar style.
On this essential compilation, there are 14 tracks recorded between 1937 and 1940. Bukka deals with such themes as serving time, sex, alcoholism, as well as depression. SLEEPY MAN BLUES is on of the earlest and most eloquent songs about the physical reaction to depression. Bukka asks himself; "I Wonder what's the matter with my right mind, it keeps me sleeping all the time." FIXIN' TO DIE BLUES is about the paranoia of death. Bob Dylan covered this tune on his very first record.
All of the tunes on the Complete Bukka White still stand up today. SHAKE 'EM ON DOWN has been covered by everyone from Leadbelly to Mississippi Fred Mcdowell.
The Complete Bukka White should be in any music lover's collection.
He was pure, direct, and way ahead of his time.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 An underrated bluesman Apr 04, 2006
It's too bad that this 14-track collection omits Booker White's earliest sides, including the two religious songs that he recorded for Victor in May, 1930. Catfish's 20-track compilation "Shake 'Em On Down" and Document's similar "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues" are better choices, really, since they include the six non-Vocalion sides that this collection does not.
But having said that, this is indeed an impressive 39 minutes of music. Booker White (his name was misspelled by the label) sang in a loud, very rough baritone voice, and played his steel-bodies National guitar like a stringed drum, and he penned some truly classic country blues tunes. People often forget about White when they throw names like Charlie Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson around, and that's a shame, because everybody with an interest in "classic" country blues ought to hear B.B. King's older cousin Booker White and his powerful, strongly rhythmic guitar playing.
The best of these 20 tunes belong in the all-time pantheon of prewar blues songs, and if anything could ever match the intensity of Son House's razor-edged "Death Letter", it must be the sound of Booker T. Washington White growling the incredibly stark, personal, open-wound lyrics to the desperate "When Can I Change My Clothes" and the hopeless "Parchman Farm Blues" in his ragged, raspy voice.
"Shake 'Em On Down" is another classic, and White displays some impressive slide guitar prowess on the 1939 Library of Congress recording of "Po' Boy"...
Oh no, wait, the L of C recordings are missing as well.
Come on, just get the Document compilation instead.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
A Consumate Blues Man Jan 25, 2004
The first song I heard by Bukka White was 'Fixin' To Die Blues' on a blues anthology disc. With his rhythmic playing and voice that expresses a wide range of emotion, he was one of the consumate blues men. He had quite a story to tell, and there isn't a single song on this disc that doesn't lure you in to his telling of the human condition. A must for anyone that can appreciate what this Black American art form truly is...emotions and strife set to music. Recommended!
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Songs from a Blues Master Nov 15, 2002
I first heard Booker "Bukka" White on a compilation and finally got around to picking up this CD awhile back. What the listener is treated to is good, old-fashioned, country blues, highlighted by White's strong, straight-ahead rhythms and vocal intensity. His raspy/quavery vocals are a perfect accompaniment to his chugging guitar style, and White is backed up on most of these songs, recorded mainly in 1940, by Washboard Sam, who provides strong rhythmic counterpoint to the sound White gets from his National steel guitar. Although I like all the tracks on this CD, "Parchman Farm Blues", the first Bukka White song I ever heard, is still my favorite.
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