On Last Fair Deal, Rory Block again retraces her steps and emerges with a
collection of country blues material having it's origins in the Mississippi
heartland.
Block's confidence as a songwriter comes in spurts. On Fair Deal she pens a
good portion of cuts and tries her hand at acoustic slide more then ever.
She doesn't completely ignore her benefactors. Son Houses' "County Farm
Blues" is given a proper treatment. Robert Johnson's "Last Fair Deal Gone
Down" becomes a slide boogie reworked into a country blues stomp.
Blues isn't the only genre Rory stays in. Gospel and spiritual angels make
their presence felt in "Declare" "Cry Out Loud" and the old church
traditional "Amazing Grace." Rory doesn't sing "Amazing" as she finds
contentment in the joys of letting her guitar act as her voice.
Block's job of translating Robert Johnson's songs into her own chemistry is
always success without fail. "Traveling Riverside Blues" with Rory's slide
guitar recaptures the spirit of the old recording by Johnson.
What can be admired about Block is how she balances blues and gospel without
losing her footing. Sometimes even telling a sad story with slide backdrop
as shown in "Two Places at A Table." Recording in weird tunings has its
moments for Rory. Loose slide dabbling leads to a creation of "Awesome
Love." And when she focuses, "Old Friends" can be a reflection of old
Americana slipping away.
On her original songs, Rory can footstomp with the best of them. "Gone
Again" is street-corner Saturday night fish fry blues. "Sookie Sookie" is
thick as dust coming off plantation fields and a journey to an era of levee
camps and field hollers.
Rory Block is one of the few performers in today's blues circuit who can
take the works of Robert Johnson, Son House, Charlie Patton and others into
fresher realms but still maintaining the clarity and soul these gentlemen
sought in the first place.
Rory Block's website is www.roryblock.com
Telarc Records www.telarc.com
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