Alan Lomax - Land Where the Blues Began (CD)

All Music Guide

This CD (the audio accompaniment to an episode of Alan Lomax's American Patchwork series on American roots music) examines the roots of Mississippi Delta blues. Recorded between 1933 and 1959 by Alan Lomax, Lewis Jones, John W. Work, John A. Lomax, and Herbert Halpert, the CD reveals much about the sources for Delta blues musicians' styles and the environment in which they lived (and live). This goes all the way back to fife-and-drum bands and the one-string diddley bow to illustrate the style's deep roots, through the use of contemporary electric instruments. Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters make contributions, as well as other musicians whose names will be unfamiliar to all but the most diligent blues scholars.

- All Music Guide, All Music Guide