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BIG JACK JOHNSON & THE OILERS
Roots Stew
M.C.Records
Big Jack Johnson is one of the greatest blues singers and guitarists in Mississippi and the Oilers may well be the tightest, toughest blues band still working out of the Delta. On this disc, they do what I'd expect, delivering jumping numbers like the aptly-titled Jump For Joy and snarlers like Hummingbird.
But there's lots of surprises too. Like an instrumental version of Since I Met You Baby that sounds like Johnson's slide guitar was filtered through both the western swing dance halls of depression-era Oklahoma and the blues bars of post-war Chicago. Then, on a couple of cuts, Johnson lays aside his electric guitar and plays some great blues mandolin that recalls Yank Rachell at his best. And on Going Too Far, Johnson and the Oilers create a great blues jam by combining the expected, Baby Please Don't Go, with the totally unexpected, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain. ****
-Mike Regenstreif
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