Not the Same Old Blues Crap Album Review

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Not the Same Old Blues Crap (1997)

Not the Same Old Blues Crap (1997)

8

T-Model Ford – I’m Insane / Junior Kimbrough – Meet Me In the City / 20 Miles – Come Right In / R.L. Burnside – Snake Drive / The Neckbones – Crack Whore Blues / Junior Kimbrough – Lonesome Road / Jelly Roll Kings – Have Mercy Baby / R.L. Burnside – Come On In / Elmo Williams – Been Here and Gone / Robert Cage – Little Eddie Blues / Hasil Adkins – Your Memories

A cheap priced sampler (I paid about 4.50 euros/dollars for a new copy) that includes stuff by Fat Possum key artists R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, as well as “new” discoveries like Elmo Williams and Robert Cage, who both debuted in the late ‘90’s in their sixties. Finally, there are also tracks by anomalous bands 20 Miles and The Neckbones, who are white, young, and play trashy punk-blues of the kind that’s got a lot in common with the dirty grooves of the “more experienced” men on this compilation. Opening act T-Model Ford – perhaps the dirtiest sounding artist on the label - immediately sets the tone with his juvenile lyrics (“I put my foot in your ass, I’m gonna kick your ass, I’m gonna put my foot in your ass, I’m gonna beat the hell out of you”), the grating tone of his guitar slashing and a monolithic drone that takes no prisoners. Equally dirty is also newcomer Elmo Williams’s contribution “Been Here and Gone,” that’s basic and greasy, just like you’d expect. The most popular proponents of the label both are represented by two tracks: Junior Kimbrough’s lengthy “Meet Me in the City” makes clear why his debut album for the label was considered a seminal modern blues album, while also “Lonesome Road” contains some nice guitar playing and singing, which is basic, but also less scruffy than the generally rawer stuff on the label.

The great R.L. Burnside contributes one of the highlights here: his version of “Snake Drive” from Mr. Wizard, just like the one on A Ass Pocket of Whiskey, is positively incendiary and an example of his noisier persona. His other songs “Come On In,” in the booklet regarded as “previously unreleased” would be the centrepiece on the Come On In album, released during the year after this compilation was made. The song by the Jelly Roll Kings is the most elaborated on the album, with the most conventional structure and the presence of some organ. The last two songs of the album are acoustic ones, and while Robert Cage’s song (the lyrics of which are basically “Tututu tututu tutu, etc”) easily fits in with the rest, the contribution by one man-band Hasil Adkins stands out. Sparse and folky, with a dragging tempo, it has more in common with country than hypnotic drones, and of course I’m not implying it’s bad or anything, although it’s not very memorable either. Left are the songs by 20 Miles (band of The Blues Explosion’s Judah Bauer) and The Neckbones: while “Come Right In” by the former has a lot in common with the vicious approach of Burnside and T-Model Ford, it’s “Crack Whore Blues” by the latter that is the better track. It has a lousy sound, with the false vocals way in the background, but it’s simple and really trashy, oozing out the essence of dirty-ass rock ‘n’ roll. Considering its ridiculously low price and the fact that the compilation offers a glimpse of the variety (?) of music the label promotes, it’s highly recommended as an introduction to the primal blues of Fat Possum. Owner/producer Matt Johnson said “(…) there are only two kinds of blues records that are made today: Fat Possum records, which don’t suck, and all the others,” and while that mocking statement is of course an intentional provocation, he’s right to the extent that FP is to be held responsible for releasing an irresponsible amount of excellent blues music these days.