360 records from 2000: 28. R.L. Burnside: Wish I was in heaven sitting down

Country: US
Artist: Male solo artist
Career: recording since 1992
Language: English
Genre: Electric Blues


Awesome Burnside-ness. A voice that cuts through bullshit, telling his truth over righteous blues grooves. Some reviewers complained about the ‘modern’ production (sure, a little bit of scratching, a loop here or there, nothing that hasn’t been done for a couple of decades). I like it. Yeah, R.L. sounds as old as the hills, that doesn’t mean nothing can grow there anymore. The man sounds like he’s having a lot of fun in these grooves. (My copy has three bonus tracks showing the singer in a more natural, ‘live in studio’ setting, and well, they’re kinda boring. Stick with the original album.)

Burnside is not an evil blues singer, but he’s most definitely wicked and intent on getting it his way. A wicked old man having fun in a modern world, haven’t we learned from Dylan’s last couple of albums, that it’s a hell of a sound? In fact, a couple of these grooves (say, ‘Miss Maybelle’, ‘Too many ups’, ‘Bad luck city’) sound like they could easily have ended up on Dylan’s ‘Love & Theft’ the following year (without the scratching of course). In case you’re wondering, that’s a compliment. How a record with a truly unsettling story on it about the death of what sounds like most of R.L.’s relatives, can also end up one of the most irrepressibly fun albums of the year, I don’t know. That’s the blues for you. It sets you free.

At its best: Hard time killing floor, Got messed up, Miss Maybelle, Too many ups, Nothin’ man, R.L.’s story