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Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues
 
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Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues [Box set]

~ Various Artists (Artist)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Price: £33.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues + Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey [DVD] + Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey
Price For All Three: £59.19

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Product details

  • Audio CD (3 Nov 2003)
  • Number of Discs: 5
  • Format: Box set
  • Label: Sony Jazz
  • ASIN: B0000C6JTT
  • Other Editions: DVD
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,964 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

    Popular in these categories:

    #5 in  Music > Blues > Texas Blues
    #15 in  Music > Blues > Chicago & Urban Blues
    #53 in  Music > Blues > Delta & Country Blues

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Disc: 1
1. Shortnin' (Henduck) - Othar Turner & The Rising Star Fife & Drum Band
2. Long John - Lightning & Group
3. Crazy Blues - Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds
4. St. Louis Blues - W.C. Handy
See all 25 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Devil Got My Woman - Skip James
2. C.C. Rider
3. Baby, Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams
4. Dirty Mother For You (don't You Know) - Roosevelt Sykes
See all 25 tracks on this disc
Disc: 3
1. Mother Earth - Memphis Slim
2. Please Send Me Someone To Love - Percy Mayfield
3. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston & His Delta Kings
4. Dust My Broom - Elmore James
See all 25 tracks on this disc
Disc: 4
1. Hide Away - Freddie King
2. Drivin' Wheel - Junior Parker
3. Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker
4. Frosty - Albert Collins
See all 21 tracks on this disc
Disc: 5
1. The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King
2. Dallas - Johnny Winter
3. Have You Ever Loved A Woman - Derek And The Dominos
4. Give Me Back My Wig - Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers
See all 20 tracks on this disc

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely fantastic, highly laudable collection. Hard to imagine who they expect to buy it, though, 31 Jul 2004
By Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This five-disc, 6½-hour box set is by far the most thorough and well-researched overview of the genre.
The 59-page booklet is exceptionally well written and extremely informative, and almost every major blues artist from the 1920s to the 1990s is represented, from Mamie Smith's 1920 recording "Crazy Blues" over Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, to Keb'Mo' and Shemekia Copeland.

Disc 1 covers the earliest acoustic blues and "blues-related" material by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jimmie Rodgers. Disc two focuses primarily on the slightly more urban blues forms of the 30s and early 40s. Disc 3 and half of disc 4 is primary electric 50s and 60s blues, and the rest of this admirable collection is devoted to more contemporary blues artists, both black and white.

It's almost too much, actually. Newcomers will perhaps find that 116 songs, some of which were recorded 80+ years ago and suffer from horrible fidelity, are too much. And longtime blues fans will own much of this music already.
But there is no denying the quality of the music assembled here. The compilers obviously knew what they were doing when they assembled this, and they have chosen some of the very best songs from the genre's masters. While this certainly isn't everything you'll ever need to know about the blues, "Martin Scorsese Presents" certainly manages to capture the power of men like Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Johnson, Son House, Otis Rush and numerous others.

Lightnin' Hopkins isn't here, and neither are Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, or Big Walter Horton (not as a featured performer anyway). But a hundred other guys (and gals) are represented by some of their finest work: Muddy Waters' thumping "Hoochie Coochie Man", Elmore James' omnipresent "Dust My Broom", John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom", Howlin' Wolf's awesome "Killing Floor", the witty "Don't Start Me To Talkin'" by Sonny Boy Williamson (II), Otis Rush's smouldering slow burner "So Many Roads, So Many Trains", T-Bone Walker's "They Call It Stormy Monday", Robert Johnson's eerie "Crossroads Blues", the classic "Statesboro Blues" by the masterful Georgia guitarist Blind Willie McTell, and Son House's razor-edged Delta blues "Death Letter" all rank among the most impressive blues tunes ever cut.

Proto-rock n' roll numbers like "Hound Dog" (Big Mama Thornton's original recording, not Presley's more sugary cover), "Rocket '88", and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love" are here as well, along with juicy R&B by Smiley Lewis, Fats Domino and Ray Charles, and 70s, 80s and 90s blues and blues-rock artists like the Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Taj Mahal, Keb'Mo', and Susan Tedeschi. All bases are covered, really, so if you are looking for a collection of 116 blues tunes, some of which are quite obscure and very much less accessible and radio-friendly than Muddy Waters or B.B. King, this is it.
I have almost all of this music already...which is why I've borrowed "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" at my local library. I would never buy it. It is a thoroughly impressive piece of work, surprisingly good, even, but it is also one which longtime blues fans may appreciate more than newcomers who are in danger of choking on reed pipes, violins and bad acoustics before disc 1 has even run out.

And that is the problem with this box set as I see it: who is its audience supposed to be? Casual listeners probably won't buy a five-disc box set unless they have money to burn, and seasoned blues collectors may admire the quality of "MSPTB", but they won't buy it 'cause they already have a hundred of these 116 recordings.
But then again - maybe I'm just underestimating the taste of the record buying public and this set'll sell a million units like the Robert Johnson box set ;o)
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction, 12 Jan 2004
People new to the blues are faced with a daunting prospect - where do you begin when faced with one of the most important musical art forms of the 20th century?

There are numerous sub-standard blues collections out there, but this box-set, released to coincide with a huge documentary series and America's Year of the Blues, is a pretty good place to start. Arranged chronologically, some of the recordings date back as far as 1920. The first couple of discs range from Bessie Smith's impassioned jazzy wailings to the legendary country blues men such as Son House, Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. The final disc features some new stuff recorded especially for the series by the likes of Keb' Mo', Bonnie Raitt and, incongruously, Los Lobos, none of which is particularly essential. However, disc three is as perfect a blues compilation as you're ever likely to have, capturing the golden age of electric blues with some choice cuts from Bob Diddley, Muddy Waters, Elmore James and numerous other big names. And as this is as much historical overview as straight compilation, you even get Elvis and Chuck Berry thrown in for context. 25 tracks, and not a dud in sight, even if the selections tend to be a tad on the obvious side. Not that that matters when the source material is this good.

The handsome booklet boasts some erudite notes and great photos, although it would have been good to have included more of the British bands who did much to popularise blues again in the 60s. I suppose licencing precluded the Stones being on there.

Disc 1-3 are the motherlode. Disc 4 is okay, but could have been better, and disc 5 doesn't gain anything from the new tracks. In conclusion, a flawed but never the less worthy collection - a great introduction for novices and a nice way of replacing getting some classics together in one place for those already in the know.

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