Mojo Collins
Slide On Oughta Hear
(Jomo Music)
Review Date: October 2007
by Arthur Shuey
Mojo Collins is the Mad Max of East Coast blues performers. He can honestly
be described as tough, unique, compassionate, resourceful, observant,
expressive, savvy, sincere, honorable and legendary, and the list of
adjectives goes on from there. Despite numerous awards and recognitions
bestowed on him over the years, he's not wealthy and globally famous, in
this reviewer's eyes, for two general reasons. One is luck, the single most
important factor in any arts career, and the other is that he doesn't accept
his own stature; he doesn't know how much larger than Life he is, day to
day.
Well, that's a bad thing because it keeps him writing songs from a down and
out perspective when his audience expects him, based on his performance and
his reputation, to see life from an Olympian viewpoint. Well, that's also a
good thing because it keeps him trying new strategies to reach his own,
private definition of success, and we listeners benefit. He transcends
specific styles, meaning that he is one of those rare musicians who achieves
what he attempts. The result is that serious Mojo Collins record collectors
can find over two dozen distinct facets and phases of Mojo Collins on over
two dozen variously styled records dating back to the '60s, and each will
hit whatever nail he's trying to hit squarely and firmly on the head.
This particular release is enjoying very broad attention, with radio play,
fan mail and sales coming in from all over the world. It isn't that it's
better than his other records, but that slide guitar is associated with the
blues, Mojo Collins is associated with the blues, and people are receptive
to simple concepts and connections like that.
In short, it's a wonderful, warm, rewarding record, as are his others, but,
being closer to the center of the blues bell curve than some of his other
releases, it might be a better starting point for new fans and a more
comfortable one for his old friends than some of the others. This critic's
advice is simply this: Work on that Mojo Collins record collection.
www.mojocollins.com
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