Jeff McCord on the month’s new releases
Multiple Artists
Rhino Handmade
Ahmet Ertegun co-founded Atlantic Records in 1947 and, by virtue of his taste and big ears, turned it into one of the most influential independent labels in history. Don’t expect the down-and-dirty stuff on Atlantic Blues (1949–1970) (Rhino Handmade), a four-CD collection displaying the breadth of Atlantic’s reach; Ertegun’s artists stirred in a liberal dose of swing and created music that would be coined by his future producer Jerry Wexler as “rhythm and blues.” The set has pedestrian packaging, and its liner notes are skimpy, to say the least, but the music is purely magnificent. Ertegun brought black music, previously subjugated to “race records,” to the forefront, and among the label’s practitioners were a disproportionate number of Texans. Stars like T-Bone Walker, Leadbelly, Freddie King, and Esther Phillips join artists like the criminally underrated Floyd Dixon and the mysterious Lawyer Houston to make up nearly a quarter of the eighty selections here. Houston’s and Leadbelly’s early offerings are the closest to traditional blues, and while Dixon’s piano-driven boogie holds its own alongside giants like Joe Turner, the incomparable (and already famous) Walker overshadows even Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Lovers of R&B: You won’t top this one.
Doug Sahm
New West
For a San Antonio–born musician who once pretended to be British, Doug Sahm made music remarkably devoid of pretense. Because of this, the late Texas Tornado’s genre-bending explorations have only grown richer over time. As part of Austin City Limits’ Live From Austin TX CD/DVD series (New West), Sahm’s 1975 taping, which aired in ACL’s first season, doesn’t quite have the production polish of later episodes. But this lends to its charm. Sahm, joined by longtime cohort Augie Meyers, knocks out the hits, covers T-Bone Walker, and hams it up as Elvis in this rough-hewn set. He flies with ease from blues to country to rock—and makes it all sound Texan to the core.
Patty Griffin
ATO
Austin’s Patty Griffin has always branded her work with a certain melancholic restraint, but Children Running Through, released earlier this year, changed that: She loosened up, let the music flow, and scored a real triumph. On the bitterly cold February night of the album’s release in New York, Griffin and band taped a concert DVD, Patty Griffin: Live From the Artists Den (ATO), at a former synagogue on the Lower East Side. The candlelit setting is breathtaking, the music even more so. The band shows excellent form, but Griffin’s voice is the real star, steering song after song to magnificent heights. Among the many standouts: a sumptuous reading of “Get Yourself Another Fool.”
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Epic Legacy
If the conceit of Solos, Sessions & Encores (Epic Legacy)—a collection of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s drop-ins on others’ sessions—is somewhat silly, from a marketing standpoint, no one’s laughing. Does an SRV fanatic really need his 45-second contribution to a Marcia Ball song? Apparently. So we get tracks (some great, some not) with everyone from Albert King to David Bowie. Six are unreleased, including a blistering Albert Collins recording from the New Orleans Jazz Fest. While even a phenomenal talent like Vaughan did not have a bottomless bag of tricks, what’s here will easily satisfy hard-core devotees. More-casual fans might opt for Pride and Joy (Epic Legacy), a video collection (with material like an MTV Unplugged session) that is making an overdue appearance on DVD.
