.jpg)
Rappahannock Blues CD Review and Festival Notification
by Monica Yasher
Posted on 6/10/2010 by Monica Yasher
.jpg)
SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS SPOTLIGHTS BLACK APPALACHIAN MUSICIAN JOHN JACKSON'S 'RAPPAHANNOCK BLUES’ OUT JUNE 15
We are fortunate to have the John Jackson (1924-2002) CD that includes 20 selections from a man who vowed never to play a guitar again. One day in 1946 as he was performing, he survived a house party fight and layed his guitar down. It was twenty years after that date that he was rediscovered as an accomplished guitarist.
Though the blues may be thought of by many as the devil’s music, this CD shows the influence of his mother, a Christian woman, with selections such as “Don’t You Want to Go Up There?“ and “Just A Closer Walk with Thee”.
The feel of this music goes well beyond the Blues genre. It is quite evident the Appalachian influence is through every song played. You can hear a huge Bluegrass influence in all of the selections. And, this influence left the Appalachian Mountains, the United States and continued on a tour through Asia in 1984 with Ricky Skaggs, Buck White and Jerry Douglas.
In summary, thank you to the Smithsonian for sharing his music and sharing a window to the history of blues and bluegrass music. For anyone interested in the roots of Blues music, or specifically in the history of Appalachian music and its region, this CD provides an excellent starting point for further investigations. For those who aspire to understanding the history of the blues, I hope that this CD may serve to stimulate similar studies of other legendary artists. Though there has been much documented history on the Chicago Blues, the Delta Blues and many other subgenres of Blues Music, the efforts of this compilation deserve recognition both for its aspirations and for its considerable achievement of taking the listener to one of the least explored roots of the Blues genre, the Appalachian Blues.
And, though the influence of bluegrass holds heavily within these songs, Mr. John Jackson always wished to be known as a Bluesman. We are proud to have him on our pages of American Blues News.
John Jackson Rappahannock Blues (*denotes previously unreleased track)
Track Listing
1. Rocks and Gravel (John Jackson) *
2. Too Tight Rag (Blind Blake) *
3. Candy Man (Mississippi John Hurt) *
4. Truckin’ Little Baby (Blind Boy Fuller)*
5. Railroad Bill (traditional)
6. Nobody’s Business (If I Do) (traditional) *
7. Don’t You Want to Go Up There (trad.; arr. John Jackson) *
8. The Year Clayton Delaney Died (Tom T. Hall) *
9. John Jackson’s Breakdown (John Jackson) *
10. Red River Blues (traditional) *
11. Brown’s Ferry Blues (The Delmore Brothers) *
12. Cindy (trad.; arr. John Jackson) *
13. You Ain’t No Woman (Bill Jackson) *
14. John Henry (traditional)
15. Diddy Wah Diddy (Blind Blake) *
16. Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Kenneth Morris) *
17. Frankie and Johnny (traditional) *
18. Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (trad.; arr. John Jackson) *
19. Step It Up and Go (Blind Boy Fuller; arr. John Jackson) *
20. West Coast Rag (Blind Blake) *
