The Complete Recordings

Review The forty-one tracks Robert Johnson recorded in Dallas and San Antonio in 193~37-his entire known recorded legacy collected by Columbia on two discs-provide the astonishment of seeing the Taj Mahal float by on a purple cloud. His tenor and falsetto tell you of the complicated emotions harbored by an acutely perceptive blues musician in the denigratory South; so does his guitar playing, which amazingly often mixes leads with chords. Johnson’s thematic lyrics-further bespeaking his restlessness, fatalism, and defiance-are stately in their imagery. Twelve alternate takes are as stunning as the originals. The music, somehow, further benefits from the digital restoration and engineering of one Frank Abbey. Incidentally, the value of the forty-two-page accompanying booklet is subject to debate — (c) Frank John Hadley 1993 — From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD