VARIOUS ARTISTS
God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind
Willie Johnson
Alligator Records
Like many, my
first exposure to Blind Willie Johnson was
via his recording of “John the Revelator,” included on Harry Smith’s Anthology of
American Folk Music, a monumental collection of recordings from the 1920s
and ‘30s that was so influential on the generations of folk-rooted artists that
came to the fore in the 1950s, ‘60s and beyond. The artists on the Anthology – including Johnson – are the
anchor of what Greil Marcus has termed the “old weird America.”
Johnson could have
been one of the deepest sounding of the early bluesmen but was devoutly
religious and only sang the gospel and spiritual songs he wrote or adapted from
earlier sources. He recorded 30 tracks in all between 1927 and 1930 when the
Great Depression effectively killed his recording career – the 2-CD set, The Complete Blind Willie Johnson (Columbia/Legacy)
is highly recommended – but many of those songs have become standards of
revival folk and blues artists from Bob Dylan and Peter,
Paul & Mary to Eric Clapton.
God Don’t Never Change: The Songs of Blind
Willie Johnson is a set of 11 of Johnson’s songs performed by an
interesting group of contemporary artists.
Tom Waits – whose voice on some
of his later recordings seems almost genetically descended from Johnson’s –
leads off the set with a compelling version of “The Soul of a Man,” that is built
on a sampled guitar track taken from a field recording of Smith Casey recorded
by John Lomax and featuring Waits’ wife, Kathleen Brennan, on
background vocals and their son, Casey Waits on drums. Waits returns
later in the album with “John the Revelator.”
Lucinda Williams, who has a deep
understanding of traditional southern music running through much of her own
music, also turns in effective performances on two songs: “Nobody’s Fault but
Mine,” and the title track, “God Don’t Never Change.”
Interestingly, the only African American artists on the album, the Blind Boys of Alabama, turn in the
single performance that seems least influenced by Johnson. Their infectious version
of “Mother’s Children Have a Hard Time” is done in their time-honored style reflecting
the religious joyousness that is always at the heart of their performances.
Among the other highlights are the
call-and-response version of “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning” by Derek
Trucks & Susan Tedeschi; a deeply felt rendition of “Light from
the Light House” by Maria McKee; and a subdued, thoughtful reading of “Dark
was the Night, Cold was the Ground” by Rickie Lee Jones that effectively
brings in a New Orleans-funeral-style horn arrangement near the end of the
song.
MR. RICK
Mr. Rick Sings About God + Booze
One of the Blind
Willie Johnson standards not included on God Don’t Never Change was “You’ll Need Someone on Your Bond.”
However, Mr. Rick – a.k.a. Rick Zolkower – does a nice,
rockabilly-flavored version on Mr. Rick
Sings About God + Booze, a mostly upbeat collection of traditional and
contemporary Saturday night and Sunday morning songs.
Mr. Rick and his
musical friends draw on all manner of roots styles in creating irresistible
versions of such God songs as “Hush,” Blind
Lemon Jefferson’s “One Kind Favor,” and “I’ll Fly Away,” and such boozers as Eric Von Schmidt’s “Champagne Don’t
Drive Me Crazy,” Sleepy John Estes’ “Liquor
Store Blues” and Mr. Rick’s own “Don’t Put My Bourbon Down.”
Perhaps my favorite
track is “Two Little Fishes,” a biblical story song I first heard sung by Josh White, that takes on a klezmer feel
thanks to Jono Lightstone’s clarinet
playing.
Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif
And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif
And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif
--Mike
Regenstreif
