Mississippi Fred McDowell CD Review

CD Review
Mississippi Fred McDowell
The Best of Mississippi Fred McDowell
(Arhoolie Records CD 501)
by Dick Houff
Review date: May 2002

1999 KBA Award Winner
Achievement for Blues on the Internet
Presented by the Blues Foundation

And yet another wonderful compilation from Arhoolie's vault! Northern Mississippi is very special to me; friends and relatives dot the area. When I think of that part of the country, Fred McDowell comes to mind. Many years ago, I had the opportunity of seeing him play a bone slide for R.L. Burnside (R.L. studied under Fred). In my last conversation with R.L., I mentioned the countless broken strings from trying to play a bone on the first and second strings-R.L. had the same problem and opted for glass-I chose a steel socket. Fred McDowell was a master with a raw and relentless attack, and on this CD, Arhoolie put together a true showcase of Fred's personal best-check out the track listing: Write Me A Few Of Your Lines / Do My Baby Ever Think Of Me / Levee Camp Blues / When The Saints Go Marching In / My Bottleneck (story) / Fred's Worried Life Blues / Kokomo Blues / Meet Me Down In Froggy Bottom / Good Morning Little School Girl / Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning / Shake 'Em On Down / Going Away-Won't Be Gone Long / I Wish I Was In Heaven Sittin' Down / Fred's Ramblin' Blues / I Looked At The Sun / You Gotta Move / My Baby / Fred McDowell in concert: Introduction A) Shake 'Em On Down, with comments B) Louise
And there you have it; 18 tracks of solid blues the way it was meant to be played-throw out the polish!

Simply click on the CD cover at left to order this CD NOW!

This review is copyright Š 2002 by Dick Houff, and Blues On Stage at: www.mnblues.com, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission.
For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.

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Copyright Š 2002 Ray M. Stiles
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