Music Spotlight - R.L. Burnside

R.L. Burnside, under-appreciated genius

R.L. Burnside (1926-2006) was exposed to his largest audience in 1996, when he put out "Ass Pocket of Whiskey" on Matador Records with The John Spencer Blues Explosion of Brooklyn as his backup band. That was when I first heard his music, and became intrigued with his take on electric blues.

It's a good album, but it's not his best. It does have a fantastic cover, which helped a lot of people notice it, so I am including the cover here.

Prior to being "discovered" by Jon Spencer, R.L. had a long career as a relatively unsuccessful bluesman. This blog post is supposed to be more about his music than his biography, but it's worth understanding that R.L. had a very hard life, he moved from Mississippi to Chicago but after his brother, father and two uncles were shot and killed there, he decided it was too violent of a place, and moved back south.

The topic is covered in his song, "R.L.'s Story" from the 2000 album "Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down", which was his second to last album and is quite good despite him being too sick to play guitar by that point and only providing the vocals. I'll post "R.L.'s Story" at the bottom of the page, so you can check it out.

Before you listen to that, however, I want you to check out some things recorded a bit earlier, because one of the things that makes R.L. so great is his guitar playing. Unlike many of my favorite blues guitarists, who excel as soloists, Burnside's use of rhythm is what makes me such a big fan.

Hill Country Rhythms

This footage from the Alan Lomax Archive, showcases R.L. in 1978, solo with an electric guitar. While his later work is better known, I personally like his earlier work and I find the Alan Lomax recordings to be best at showcasing what makes him so special.

This song, "See My Jumper Hanging On The Line" is a great example. It's his own composition, and showcases the "Hill Country" "hypnotic boogie" rhythm that he is known for.

Some say that this style contains African rhythms that are more complex than most other blues. I am no expert on such matters, but this certainly sounds different to me. There's something very raw and appealing about getting to experience his music with just him and his guitar sitting in a field (or maybe a backyard since he has electricity.)

Here's the same song in a studio session from the 1987 album, "Mississippi Hill Country Blues" on Fat Possum Records. It's still fantastic, and I suggest getting the album, but it is already losing a bit of the "rawness" of the earlier video. Maybe it's also the electric/acoustic change, but I think there's more to it. If I had to guess, I would say that Burnside didn't feel comfortable in the studio and might have been one of those artists who just did better live.

Lomax recorded other performances by Burnside and others, and one can and should lose a day, week or longer on a rabbit hole of that youtube channel.

One video that stands out is of a picnic outside of Como Mississippi, where R.L. is playing solo with an electric guitar and microphone. Notably Mrs. Burnside seems to be holding the mic for him and isn't looking very enthusiastic about the whole thing. Still a great performance of another song that is on the 1987 studio album, "Poor Black Mattie". This looks to have been one hell of a party:

Here's a performance where Burnside is joined for the first two songs by fellow Hill Country Bluesman, Johnny Woods from what looks to be in the early 1980's and certainly before 1990 when Woods died. R.L. seems extremely pleased to be playing with Woods, and they both seem to be having a lot of fun. It makes sense that they would be having a good time, because Woods was primarily known as a partner to Mississippi Fred McDowell who was a mentor to Burnside.

It takes them a moment to get on the same page, but then they really present some quality Hill Country blues. After Woods leaves, R.L. continues to play a few more songs, most of which are also on that 1987 CD that I keep referencing.

As promised, here's "R.L.'s Story" the sad story of Burnside's time in Chicago. Remember that the guitar playing, while really good, isn't Burnside.

If you have caught the R.L. bug and want more, there is a ton available online including some live concerts in Amsterdam bars in the 90's that are worth watching. To the Google machine!