An amazing early seventies set of Blues, Soul, Folk and Gospel from the incomparable Brownie Mcghee and Sonny Terry. This album is a big departure from their usual acoustic duo perfrormances. On this record they really stretch out using a full studio band with guest apperances by John Mayall, John Hammond Jr., Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Arlo Guthrie and Michael Franks (who also wrote three songs on the album). Interestingly, the album cover was designed by Dean Torrence of Jan & Dean fame.
Yes, you will get your fill of straight ahead blues, "Sonny's Thing", "Walking My Blues Away" and the humorous "White Boy Lost In The Blues" but it is the electicism of the material I find most interesting. The album was produced by the legendary Maurice Rogers and, perhaps, he had a hand in pushing the duo to explore more contemporary and experimental material. They cover a couple of Soul classics; Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" and Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me" plus a couple of great Gospel songs; "Jesus Make it Right" and the powerful and playful "God And Man" (written by producer Rogers). The highlight of the album may be their stunning rendition of Randy Newman's anti-slavery anthem "Sail Away".
Although they play with band accompainment throughout the recording, the production is laidback and tasteful giving Brownie and Sonny plenty of room to shine. The duo laugh and banter throughout especially on the final track, a cover of the old blues classic "On The Road Again" where they reminisce about their many years traveling the world together.
I've read that despite outward apperances, Sonny and Terry did not get along well off stage. Legend has it that Sonny Terry had been against recording with drums and electric instruments and was unhappy with the results. Things eventually got so bad between the two that though they continued touring they refused to appear on stage together, each bringing their own accompianist and performing without the other.
It's a shame the two couldn't work things out.. It would have been intersting to hear more recordings in this vein. Still it is a great lost blues album of the Seventies and well worth a listen.
--Casey Redmond
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