CD Review
Joe Callicott
Ain't Gonna Lie To You
(Fat Possum (2003) 80360-2)
12 tracks, 41 minutes.
by Craig Ruskey
Review date: December 2003
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award" Achievement for Blues on the Internet Presented by The Blues Foundation
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Two words best describe the contents of this CD... absolutely beautiful. Mississippi Joe Callicott recorded only two sides in the pre-war years, both Traveling Mama Blues and Fare Thee Well Blues were issued in 1930, following Callicott's discovery by Jim Jackson, who was then performing at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. The dozen sides here were recorded thirty-seven years later in Nesbit, MS by George Mitchell, who also recorded Furry Lewis and others during the 1960s. Callicott was a gentle sounding soul with a wonderfully lilting guitar style and a very pleasing voice that exhibited the occasional falsetto howl often used by Tommy Johnson. At the time of these recordings, Callicott had only been playing again for a couple years (he quit after the death of his close friend Garfield Akers in 1959), but it's obvious he was in fine shape. He revives his Fare Thee Well Blues along with a similar-sounding Fare You Well Blues and is riveting on a lowdown Laughing To Keep From Crying, with repetitive bass notes accompanying his stark rhythm guitar and effective voice. France Chance is simply stunning with rolling guitar, and for the Delta standard, Roll And Tumble, he uses another repeating rhythm figure not unlike his friend, Akers. Down To The River Jordan is relaxing as is the closer, Let Your Deal Go Down, but a couple questions remain. Mitchell recorded more of Callicott (the sessions were issued on both the domestic Arhoolie label as well as an import on Revival) yet a number of titles are absent although there is sufficient unused time to have included everything. Secondly, why were Mitchell's liner notes from 1968 left intact? At the time of these recordings, Mitchell stated that Callicott had just acquired a new guitar student - a ten year old Kenny Brown - who recently released his own CD on Fat Possum. Highly worthwhile.
www.fatpossum.com
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