Melvin “Lil’ Son” Jackson – Blues Come To Texas / Arhoolie CD-409

Description

CD 409

Melvin “Lil’ Son Jackson – guitar & vocals.

Recorded by Chris Strachwitz in summer of 1960 in Dallas, Texas. #s 17-19 previously unissued; # 16 previously on AR LP 1006. All other selections previously issued on AR LP 1004.

1. Blues Come To Texas
2. Cairo Blues
3. Ticket Agent
4. Louise Blues
5. Sugar Mama
6. The Girl I Love
7. Santa Fe Blues
8. Turn Your Lamp Down Low
9. Groundhog Blues
10. Gambler Blues
11. Charley Cherry (Take 1)
12. Charley Cherry (Take 2)
13. West Dallas Blues
14. Rollin’ Mill Went Down
15. Red River Blues
16. Johnnie Mae
17. Buck Dance
18. I Walked From Dallas
19. Rock Me
20. Roberta Blues

REVIEWS

“Like a number of Texas bluesmen, Lil’ Son Jackson had a short-lived music career during the post-W.W.II period when labels like Gold Star put out singles for the rural jukebox trade, only to have the rug pulled out from under him when music tastes shifted to R&B and R&R. For Jackson that meant he went back to making a living as a garage mechanic and occasionally singing in church. But unlike other transitional bluesmen who disappeared into the gap between acoustic and electric music, Jackson had something of a second career when Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie located him during the summer of 1960 in Dallas and convinced Jackson to try recording once again. From these sessions came nearly two dozen songs in the traditional Texas blues style that seems to be an offshoot from the music of the Mississippi delta region. Among the tracks included in this reissue are ‘Blues Come to Texas,’ ‘West Dallas Blues,’ ‘I Walked from Dallas,’ and, in something of a stretch, ‘Cairo Blues,’ a particularly fine performance. This is a fine collection.”

(Bill Wasserzieher — Southland Blues)

“This is essentially a reissue of Arhoolie LP 1004, and it gives us another chance to hear this Texas bluesman in his most old-timey mode. Melvin ‘Lil’ Son’ Jackson falls somewhere between Mance Lipscomb’s loose songster style and Lightnin’ Hopkins’ big city cool. Jackson was a labelmate of Hopkins at Houston’s Gold Star records, playing in a similar style. Here he sounds more countrified, revisiting Blind Lemon Jefferson on the title track and ‘Cairo Blues’ (though the guitar licks still recall Hopkins).

A relaxed singer and player, Jackson’s voice rides easily above his loping guitar figures. His version of ‘Louise Blues’ is beautiful and touching, without the hard edge of desperation familiar from Fred McDowell and Robert Pete Williams’ Delta readings. A few rhythm-heavy dance tunes, like “Sugar Mama,” sound as if Jackson misses having his electric guitar and backing band, but most are perfectly suited to the acoustic approach. He gets a warm, rich guitar sound that perfectly complements his vocals. Like Hopkins, he often falls back on favorite licks, but his background in older styles gives him a range beyond the mainstream of postwar blues. ‘Santa Fe Blues’ in particular shows a vocal agility reminiscent of the old country blues masters, and the instrumental ‘West Dallas Blues’ starts with an odd run that sounds almost like Skip James.

Three previously unreleased tracks are included: a somewhat disjointed instrumental, an alternate take of the title tune trickily listed as ‘I Walked from Dallas,’ and an electric ‘Rock Me’ with understated bass guitar backing. There is nothing here to set the world on fire, but it is consistently soulful and lovely blues in the Texas country tradition.”

(Elijah Wald — SingOut!)

“Lucinda Williams has mentioned Lil’ Son Jackson as one of her favorite musicians, and it’s easy to understand why: there’s a soothing melodicism if his vocals and hypnotic quality to his acoustic guitar playing. This 46-minute release, recorded in 1960, features solo renditions of straightforward Texas blues, including two instrumentals, ‘West Dallas Blues’ and ‘Buck Dance.’ At times, Jackson’s vocals evoke a deep lonesomeness and yearning, as on ‘Louise Blues.’ Three of these 20 tracks were previously unreleased.”

(Mark J. Cadigan — Record Roundup)

“By 1960, when Chris Strachwitz recorded him for Arhoolie Records, Melvin ‘Lil’ Son’ Jackson had already been a commercially recorded Texas country blues artist in the Lightnin’ Hopkins vein (for Bill Quinn’s Gold Star label in the immediate postwar years) and an electric Texas bluesman in the mode of Smokey Hogg and Zu Zu Bollin (for Imperial). When Strachwitz found him, Jackson had pretty much abandoned hope of yet a third shot at the blues’ brass ring. The material on this CD (reissuing Arhoolie LP 1004 with an additional four tracks) has more to do with Jackson’s years as a country bluesman than with his later electric incarnation. Recorded in Dallas during the summer of 1960, the songs are traditional Texas acoustic country blues; they could have been recorded in 1940 just as easily as 1960. Jackson had lost none of his considerable guitar skills, and his voice retained its high, although not falsetto, pitch not unlike that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. Well-recorded and produced, this is an excellent album of traditional Texas blues from a true master of the form.”

(Peter R. Aschoff — Living Blues)