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Track Listings
| 1. Leaving Trunk |
| 2. Statesboro Blues |
| 3. Checkin' Up On My Baby |
| 4. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime |
| 5. E Z Rider |
| 6. Dust My Broom |
| 7. Diving Duck Blues |
| 8. Celebrated Walkin' Blues |
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Customer Reviews
His self-titled debut album was recorded in August 1967, and came out just as several established blues stars ventured into psychedelia and rock n' roll at the insistence of their record companies.
But not Taj Mahal. These arrangements may be updated when compared to what Robert Johnson or Willie McTell did thirty-five years earlier, but it's still the blues, genuine, mostly acoustic blues, dominated by harp and howling slide guitar.
These lean, stripped-down arrangements were alien to most record producers at the time, and they are part of the reason why this album holds up so well.
The best of these eight songs count among the best, catchiest, grooviest blues I have ever heard, and I have heard a lot!
Taj Mahal vocals are powerful and confident, he has a great sense of timing and melody, and he is backed by a magnificent band which includes lead guitarist Jesse Ed Davis and the multi-talented Ry Cooder.
(A facsimile of the original LP artwork is included, giving their names as "Jessie Edwin Davis" and "Ryland Cooder". Taj Mahal calls his band "a son of a Texas sharecropper, a Hungarian Jew, a wild-eyed Irishman, and a crazy Swamp Spade!")
Taj Mahal's hard-hitting renditions of "Dust My Broom", "Leaving Trunk" and "Statesboro Blues" are nothing short of magnificent; powerful, strongly rhythmic songs, perfectly arranged. And the nine-minute version of Son House's "Walkin' Blues", which sees Taj Mahal playing both harp and rough, gruff slide guitar, is simply awesome.
The whole record is a compelling amalgam of stylistic and technical achievements, filled with blues influences of the 1920s and 30s, but also making use of stereo sound separation and state-of-the-art recording technology.
One of the best blues LPs of the 60s.
Supporting by a first class band (including Ry Cooder) Mahal energetically grabs these tunes and delivers a well structured and impressive set.
I could spend time discussion the musicianship on this record, but what's particularly noticeable throughout is Mahal's vocal phrasing - his approach to singing certain lines is often unexpected, cramming more words in than usual or following the rhythm of the song and then, for good measure, blowing in to his harmonica to really kick the song up a notch. It's not so much about what he sings, but how he sings it - there are tricks here that you'll still be picking up on after playing this album a dozen times.
Mahal also covers a number of basis here: there is funky, stomping blues (Leaving Drunk), pulsing, driving blues (Stateboro Blues, Checkin' Up On My Baby) and slow, contemplative turns (Celebrated Walkin' Blues). Granted, it sticks to the blues formula, but stretches in many different direction on what is a relatively short (but almost perfect) 30 odd-mintue journey.
If you're new to Taj Mahal then don't automatically buy his best of - sure it's good, but his first three records (or 4 if count Giant Steps and De Old Folks at Home as two albums rather than a double) are all essential, and stand as great purchases in their own right.
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