Taj Mahal-The Real Thing-Remastered-CD-FLAC-2000-THEVOiD

                              DRIFT INTO THE VOID
 Info   
     Artist  | Taj Mahal
     Title   | The Real Thing
     Genre   | Blues                                Format  | Album
     Source  | CD                                   Time    | 66:50
     Label   | Columbia Records                     Store   | 2000
     Catalog | CK 65859                             Rip     | 2020
     Bitrate | 822 kbps                             Size    | 416.40 MB
     Freq    | 44.1 kHz                             Encoder | FLAC 1.3.1
 Tracks 
     01. Fishin' Blues                                               2:57
     02. Ain't Gwine To Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')                      9:11
     03. Sweet Mama Janisse                                          3:32
     04. Going Up To The Country And Paint My Mailbox Blue           3:24
     05. Big Kneed Gal                                               5:34
     06. You're Going To Need Somebody On Your Bond                  6:13
     07. Tom And Sally Drake                                         3:39
     08. Diving Duck Blues                                           3:46
     09. John, Ain' It Hard                                          5:30
     10. She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride (Previously  4:08
         Unreleased)
     11. You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love The   18:56
         Way You Strut Your Stuff
 Notes  
     One of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues,
     singer/multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal played an enormous role in
     revitalizing and preserving traditional acoustic blues. Not content to stay
     within that realm, Mahal soon broadened his approach, taking a
     musicologist's interest in a multitude of folk and roots music from around
     the world - reggae and other Caribbean folk, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco,
     various West African styles, Latin, even Hawaiian. The African-derived
     heritage of most of those forms allowed Mahal to explore his own ethnicity
     from a global perspective and to present the blues as part of a wider
     musical context.
     Yet while he dabbled in many different genres, he never strayed too far
     from his laid-back country blues foundation. Blues purists naturally didn't
     have much use for Mahal's music, and according to some of his other
     detractors, his multi-ethnic fusions sometimes came off as indulgent, or
     overly self-conscious and academic. Still, Mahal's concept was vindicated
     in the '90s, when a cadre of young bluesmen began to follow his lead - both
     acoustic revivalists (Keb' Mo', Guy Davis) and eclectic bohemians (Corey
     Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart).
     Taj Mahal followed up "Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home" (1969) with
     another double-disc concert platter whose title pretty much sums up
     the contents. "The Real Thing" (1971) is drawn from a mid-February
     run of shows at the Fillmore East in New York City where he, Spencer
     Davis, the Chambers Brothers, and Roberta Flack, among others,
     shared the bill. Mahal, doing vocals, banjo, guitar, harmonica,
     arrangemeny, fife, harp, steel guitar, and harmonica, is supported
     by an interesting extended aggregate with a brass section consisting
     of Joseph Daley (tuba/horn/trombone), Bob Stewart (horn), and a pair
     of former Charles Mingus bandmembers, Earl McIntyre (horn) and
     Howard Johnson (horn).
     While at times they tend to overpower the usually intimate nature of
     the performances, that is certainly not the case for the majority of
     the arrangements. The opener, "Fishin' Blues," is a solo with Mahal
     accompanying himself on banjo. "Ain't Gwine to Whistle Dixie (Any
     Mo')" is significantly lengthened from the form found on Giant Step
     (1968) as it stretches nearly nine minutes and allows plenty of room
     for interaction, offering up a spirited fife interlude from Mahal.
     In addition to providing an overview from his back catalog, "The
     Real Thing" contains a few new compositions. The full ensemble gets
     a workout on the funky "Sweet Mama Janisse" and the toe-tappin'
     rural flavor of the instrumental "Tom and Sally Drake" is lightly
     augmented by a sole tuba - presumably that of Johnson. Sleepy John
     Estes' "Diving Duck Blues" arguably submits the most successful
     incorporation of brass, sporting a driving, full-throttle rhythm and
     soulful interpretation. This 2000 CD reissue was extended to fit the
     entire live set, adding the previously unavailable "She Caught the
     Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride," matching the intensity of the
     sizeable bluesy, closing jam "You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey
     But I Do Love They Way You Strut."

444K	00-taj_mahal-the_real_thing-remastered-cd-flac-2000-thevoid.jpg
4.0K	00-taj_mahal-the_real_thing-remastered-cd-flac-2000-thevoid.m3u
12K	00-taj_mahal-the_real_thing-remastered-cd-flac-2000-thevoid.nfo
4.0K	00-taj_mahal-the_real_thing-remastered-cd-flac-2000-thevoid.sfv
17M	01-taj_mahal-fishin_blues-thevoid.flac
56M	02-taj_mahal-aint_gwine_to_whistle_dixie_(any_mo)-thevoid.flac
22M	03-taj_mahal-sweet_mama_janisse-thevoid.flac
22M	04-taj_mahal-going_up_to_the_country_and_paint_my_mailbox_blue-thevoid.flac
30M	05-taj_mahal-big_kneed_gal-thevoid.flac
39M	06-taj_mahal-youre_going_to_need_somebody_on_your_bond-thevoid.flac
20M	07-taj_mahal-tom_and_sally_drake-thevoid.flac
24M	08-taj_mahal-diving_duck_blues-thevoid.flac
29M	09-taj_mahal-john_ain_it_hard-thevoid.flac
27M	10-taj_mahal-she_caught_the_katy_and_left_me_a_mule_to_ride_(previously_unreleased)-thevoid.flac
117M	11-taj_mahal-you_aint_no_street_walker_mama_honey_but_i_do_love_the_way_you_strut_your_stuff-thevoid.flac
398M	total