Blues Biography: Robert Johnson CD

The man widely known as the father of the Delta blues is well served by this 24-track collection. BLUES BIOGRAPHY doesn't give you the entirety of the (admittedly slender) Robert Johnson catalogue, but it certainly offers a generous helping of that estimable legacy. Johnson's dazzlingly nimble blend of complex fingerpicking and visceral slide offset his simultaneously impassioned and ghostly vocals on a brace of tunes that helped define not just the Delta blues canon, but blues music as a whole. If you find that the complete Johnson recordings are too much to deal with, this selection is an excellent alternative.
Robert Johnson may not have been as innovative in the country blues field as many people think, but as one of the last of the great Delta players to record, he brought a late-era refinement to his material, and with striking songs like "Stones in My Passway," "Hellhound on My Trail," and the assured, brilliant "Love in Vain," he certainly deserves his lofty position in the early blues canon. This 24-track set is a little hit or miss ("Last Fair Deal Gone Down" and "Crossroads Blues," for instance, are not included) and since there are so many Johnson sets on the market (all, of course, containing the same exact sides from the 1930s), there really is no compelling reason to choose this one. ~ Steve Leggett