Samuel Charters Walking A Blues Road

[Adam Blake]

Calling a reviewer or a critic a pompous prig is a bit of a sport over here. It doesn't really matter whether they are one or not - it just feels so good to say. All professional and semi-professional reviewers get called one sooner or later, sometimes more than once.

[Chris P]

Picked up a CD by Eric Bibb for 50p today.

sample lyric:

Sam Charters from Texas with his wife named Ann
Been spreadin' the word from land to land
Blues faces won't fade away-
One of my heroes, still livin' on - still livin' on

I see Eric Bibb as the Barack Obama of the blues, make of that what you will.

Sam Charter's book on his trip to Gambia (the Roots of the Blues : an African Search) is damn wonderful.

[Alan Balfour]

Sam Charter's book on his trip to Gambia (the Roots of the Blues : an African Search) is damn wonderful.

I'd forgotten all about that little book published by Marion Boyars. Weren't there two accompanying Sonet LPs compiled from his tapes of that West African trip?

[Chris P]

Weren't there two accompanying Sonet LPs compiled from his tapes of that West African trip?

Yes, thanks for bringing that up Alan.
Covers to die for (from http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Classics/Roots.html) :




The CD release petition starts here. Maybe one day when the Afro-beat, afro-funk & West African authenticitie/latin bands, have been fully mined. In fact we must be close to that point now ?

[John Crosby]

I still have a near mint vinyl copy of the first volume of African Journey but am a bit staggered to see a used-but-only-very good, vinyl copy on sale for $250 at http://www.amazon.com/African-Journey-S ... 34&sr=1-11

Sonet was a great label. It's Universal Folk Sounds series included albums that covered music located somewhere between world and modern jazz with people like Okay Temiz, Mongezi Feza and Don Cherry. One I particularly still love is 'Sevda At Fregatten' by Maffy Falay and Sevda (Sonet SNTF665), a heady collaboration between Turkish and Scandinavian musicians, recorded in a local restaurant in Stockholm in the early '70s. The only person I've ever come across who knew of this album was Ben Mandelson (no surprise there!). The lack of CD reissues or availability as downloads has consigned a lot of these recordings to the realm of the rare and expensive. Shame really.