Blues Harp

This week I've been listening to some blues records, starting with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson and Son House. All of those are great. But today I happened to listen to Sonny Boy Williamson! What is so special with him is that he is very good at playing blues harp. He's the best I've heard yet, but I haven't heard much yet. I've played harmonica for almost a year, but I've only been inspired by Bob Dylan. That has been a big mistake... I haven't even learned to play that cross-harp style that's used when playing the blues. But now I will start to listen those great harp players. If you know any great harp player(s), feel free to comment here and make suggestions. I appreciate that.

Here's some Sonny Boy Williamson for ya. Sonny Boy Williamson – His Best
I think it's a great compilation. You really hear how great he plays the harp; better than Bob Dylan.

Finally My Dusty Road by Woody Guthrie was in Spotify

My Dusty Road, the album that I had waited a year to hear was finally available to listen in Spotify.  Of course I started listening to it right away. When the first track "This Land Is Your Land" came on I thought that the sound quality really was as great as they had claimed. It was incredible. Never before had I heard a  clear sounding Woody Guthrie song. It was hard to stop listening to the album when I was about to go to sleep.

The recordings were found in 2003 by a Sicilian woman in Brooklyn. They had been in her basement.  The recordings were made in 1944 and are now released for the first time. Back then Woody recorded 125 songs in five days. 54 of them are on the four discs of My Dusty Road. The discs have different themes. The first, Woody's Greatest Hits contains some of his best known songs like "This Land Is Your Land" and Pretty Boy Floyd, but some hits are missing, for example "Do-Re-Mi" and "So Long It's Been Good To Know. The second disc is named Woody's Roots. It features traditional songs like "Buffalo Skinners" and "Stewball". "Woody the Agitator" is the name of the third disc that includes anti-fascist songs and union songs. The last disc "Woody, Sisco & Sonny" features Woody jamming and playing some songs with Cisco Houston and Sonny Terry.

My Dusty Road doesn't offer very much new from Guthrie, except for the sound quality that is remarkably better than on previous releases. There's also one never before released song called "Bad Repetation". The clear sound makes us hear, clearer than ever how great Guthrie was. Bob Dylan wrote in his Chronicles that Guthrie's voice was like a stiletto and that the way everything just rolled of Guthrie's tongue just about knocked him down. My Dusty Road is worth a listen if you like Woody, and who wouldn't like him after a listen?

Link to My Dusty Road in Spotify: Woody Guthrie – My Dusty Road