Gone Woman Blues: The Country Blues Collection

by

Rory Block

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Rory Block is probably at her strongest on country blues and gospel numbers, which show off beautifully the techniques she picked up in childhood, listening to masters like Robert Johnson, Son House, Skip James, John Hurt and many others. (She even studied with many of them.) The "Gone Woman Blues" compilation includes some of her best country blues cuts from a recording career that stretches back to the mid-1970s. She is a master of the guitar and her remarkable vocal range perfectly fits the country blues style, allowing her to rove all over the scale in harmony with the sliding treble notes she coaxes from her instrument. I've seen some reviewers sniff at her for being too white, but I've read the same sily criticism of Taj Mahal and Eric Bibb, and I'm not buying it. Those who like acoustic country blues shoud let this artist take them soaring with her. With a collection of her best, how could anyone go wrong? Definitely a five-star release.

While Rory plays some of the greatest classic blues on this disc, much of the impact is lost because of a very muddy mix on the sound. Country blues is mimimalist music and is best heard in a very clean mix. Several of the songs on the disc sound like they were recorded in a very reverberent church rather then a studio. This is most damaging in that Rory's excellent guitar work is pushed too far into the background where it loses much of its impact. Sound quality aside though, Rory is one of the essential modern blues singers and one of the few to carry on the country blues tradition in the present times. If you pick up this disc and don't already have them you should quickly acquire the original artists renditions of these songs, beginning with Robert Johnson and Son House.