What Are You Listening To?

[Tiggi]

Some months ago I named Robert Johnson as the most influential "Modern" musician for popularising the Blues. I was taken to task for not considering CP. This is a fair point, and I have virtually none of his music, so bought this 3CD set.

It's really Patton, and not Johnson that popularised the Delta Blues, and Johnson was a few years later.

This collection is unusual in that it intersperses Patton songs with those from other Blues artists to illustrate the development of the form in the early years of recorded Blues. If you think plagiarism is a new phenomenon, think again. They were all pinching ideas for all they were worth.

Considering some of these recordings are over 80 years old, they don't sound too bad.

Excellent introduction.


AllMusic 4/5 stars.