Sam Chatmon
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Sam Chatmon certainly had a blues pedigree. A member of Mississippi's legendary Chatmon family, which also included Lonnie Chatmon and Bo Carter and seemingly dozens of other talented musicians, Sam could also cite blues great Charley Patton as his half-brother. A key member, along with Carter, of the delightful jug and string band the Mississippi Sheiks in the 1920s, Chatmon also enjoyed a brief solo career in the '30s before he dropped from the public eye. Rediscovered during the great blues revival of the late '50s and early '60s, Chatmon recorded a series of folk-blues albums for various small labels, including this one, which was recorded in a single session in 1976 at Chatmon's home in Hollandale, MS. His voice on these tracks still sounds strong and able, and his guitar playing is only slightly less so as he works his way through 11 classic blues pieces, and given that he was nearly eighty-years-old when this session was held, Chatmon sounds pretty vibrant. But he was always at his best when working as part of a small blues ensemble, and going solo like this exposes him as somewhat one-dimensional, however charming he is on unabashed love songs like "I'm Fool About Your Loving" and "Used to Be." It's nice to have these recordings, but they aren't anywhere near as essential as his work with the Sheiks, which is really where one should start to get a true sense of what Chatmon was all about. Steve Leggett, All Music Guide Tracks:
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Sam Chatmon|
Member Of: Mississippi Sheiks More >> Similar Artists: Lonnie Chatmon Sleepy John Estes Charley Patton More >> | Influenced By: Lonnie Johnson Bo Carter Blind Lemon Jefferson More >> |
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