Taj Mahal - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (2013) [15CD Box Set]

Decades before Corey Harris, Guy Davis, and Keb' Mo' wed the Delta blues to various folk forms, there was Taj Mahal. Almost from the very beginning, Mahal provided audiences with connections to a plethora of blues styles. Further, he offered hard evidence connecting American blues to folk styles from other nations, particularly, but not limited to, those from the West Indies and various African countries, bridging gaps, highlighting similarities, and establishing links between many experiences of the African diaspora. The ground floor of all of it lies in the recordings he made for Columbia Records. The Complete Columbia Albums Collection is massive; it contains 16 discs. Sony reissued some of Mahal's recordings in expanded editions in the early part of the century, but this set includes them all. In addition to the 11 albums he cut between 1968 and 1976, are two more: The Rising Sun Collection – from the band featuring Mahal and Ry Cooder that cut tracks between 1965 and 1966; 2012's The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal, that contains a live disc from a Royal Albert Hall concert from 1970, and another with a series of rare cuts recorded between 1969 and 1973. The bonus tracks contained on previous editions have been preserved here. In the case of the live Fillmore recording, The Real Thing, where "You Ain’t No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love the Way You Strut Your Stuff" had been edited for CD by over six minutes, the nearly 19-minute album version has been restored. Each album is packaged in its own mini LP sleeve – the doubles are preserved as such, the sound is rich, warm, and natural, and complete discographical information is supplied in the booklet. In this part of the 21st century it is easy to hear Mahal's internationalist strategy at work, but this wasn't always so. Mahal's blues weren't so well-received by some critics: they considered him to be a revival act at best, and at worst, a man who employed negative stereotypes in black music from the early part of the 20th century. Obviously they were wrong: the albums were the initial proof, and his live shows cemented the truth globally. Mahal's music has always been part of a much larger world view; he weathered the ignorant criticism until his view was understood and embraced by the culture at large. Taken as a whole, this set offers a welcome, even necessary hearing of genius at work. Mahal is one of the most important musicians to come down the pipe in 100 years, and The Complete Columbia Albums Collection proves it.

by Thom Jurek

Taj Mahal Biography

One of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues, singer/multi-instrumentalist Taj Mahal played an enormous role in revitalizing and preserving traditional acoustic blues. Not content to stay within that realm, Mahal soon broadened his approach, taking a musicologist's interest in a multitude of folk and roots music from around the world – reggae and other Caribbean folk, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco, various West African styles, Latin, even Hawaiian. The African-derived heritage of most of those forms allowed Mahal to explore his own ethnicity from a global perspective and to present the blues as part of a wider musical context. Yet while he dabbled in many different genres, he never strayed too far from his laid-back country blues foundation. Blues purists naturally didn't have much use for Mahal's music, and according to some of his other detractors, his multi-ethnic fusions sometimes came off as indulgent, or overly self-conscious and academic. Still, Mahal's concept was vindicated in the '90s, when a cadre of young bluesmen began to follow his lead – both acoustic revivalists (Keb' Mo', Guy Davis) and eclectic bohemians (Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart).

Taj Mahal was born Henry St. Clair Fredericks in New York on May 17, 1942. His parents – his father a jazz pianist/composer/arranger of Jamaican descent, his mother a schoolteacher from South Carolina who sang gospel – moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, when he was quite young, and while growing up there, he often listened to music from around the world on his father's short-wave radio. He particularly loved the blues – both acoustic and electric – and early rock & rollers like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. While studying agriculture and animal husbandry at the University of Massachusetts, he adopted the musical alias Taj Mahal (an idea that came to him in a dream) and formed Taj Mahal & the Elektras, who played around the area during the early '60s. After graduating, Mahal moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and, after making his name on the local folk-blues scene, formed the Rising Sons with guitarist Ry Cooder. The group signed to Columbia and released one single, but the label didn't quite know what to make of their forward-looking blend of Americana, which anticipated a number of roots rock fusions that would take shape in the next few years; as such, the album they recorded sat on the shelves, unreleased until 1992.

Frustrated, Mahal left the group and wound up staying with Columbia as a solo artist. His self-titled debut was released in early 1968 and its stripped-down approach to vintage blues sounds made it unlike virtually anything else on the blues scene at the time. It came to be regarded as a classic of the '60s blues revival, as did its follow-up, Natch'l Blues. The half-electric, half-acoustic double-LP set Giant Step followed in 1969, and taken together, those three records built Mahal's reputation as an authentic yet unique modern-day bluesman, gaining wide exposure and leading to collaborations or tours with a wide variety of prominent rockers and bluesmen. During the early '70s, Mahal's musical adventurousness began to take hold; 1971's Happy Just to Be Like I Am heralded his fascination with Caribbean rhythms and the following year's double-live set, The Real Thing, added a New Orleans-flavored tuba section to several tunes. In 1973, Mahal branched out into movie soundtrack work with his compositions for Sounder, and the following year he recorded his most reggae-heavy outing, Mo' Roots.

Mahal continued to record for Columbia through 1976, upon which point he switched to Warner Bros.; he recorded three albums for that label, all in 1977 (including a soundtrack for the film Brothers). Changing musical climates, however, were decreasing interest in Mahal's work and he spent much of the '80s off record, eventually moving to Hawaii to immerse himself in another musical tradition. Mahal returned in 1987 with Taj, an album issued by Gramavision that explored this new interest; the following year, he inaugurated a string of successful, well-received children's albums with Shake Sugaree. The next few years brought a variety of side projects, including a musical score for the lost Langston Hughes/Zora Neale Hurston play Mule Bone that earned Mahal a Grammy nomination in 1991.

The same year marked Mahal's full-fledged return to regular recording and touring, kicked off with the first of a series of well-received albums on the Private Music label, Like Never Before. Follow-ups, such as Dancing the Blues (1993) and Phantom Blues (1996), drifted into more rock, pop, and R&B-flavored territory; in 1997, Mahal won a Grammy for Senor Blues. Meanwhile, he undertook a number of small-label side projects that constituted some of his most ambitious forays into world music. Released in 1995, Mumtaz Mahal teamed him with classical Indian musicians; 1998's Sacred Island was recorded with his new Hula Blues Band, exploring Hawaiian music in greater depth; 1999's Kulanjan was a duo performance with Malian kora player Toumani Diabate. Maestro appeared in 2008, boasting an array of all-star guests: Diabate, Angelique Kidjo, Ziggy Marley, Los Lobos, Jack Johnson, and Ben Harper.

by Steve Huey

Генри Сен-Клер Фредерикс (англ. Henry Saint Clair Fredericks; 17 мая 1942, Гарлем, Нью-Йорк), более известный как Тадж Махал (англ. Taj Mahal) — американский музыкант, певец, мультиинструменталист-самоучка, один из выдающихся (согласно Allmusic) исполнителей блюза конца XX века. Тадж Махал, с одной стороны, сыграл ключевую роль в возрождении и сохранении традиционного акустического блюза, с другой — в своем творчестве расширил стилистические границы жанра, использовав мотивы карибской, африканской, полинезийской музыкальных культур.
Несмотря на то, что в своём исследовании блюза как части общемировой музыкальной культуры Тадж Махал никогда не отрывался от кантри-блюзовых корней, многие специалисты критически отызывались о его экспериментах, называя их излишне «самонадеянными», «чисто академическими». Признание блюзмен-экспериментатор получил лишь в 1990-х годах, когда у него появились последователи (Keb' Mo', Гай Дэвис; иногда к их числу относят Кори Харриса и Элвина Янгблада Харта).
Тадж Махал 9 раз номинировался на «Грэмми» и дважды (в 1997 и 2000 годах) становился обладателем этой награды. Оба раза он получал её за победу в категории «Лучший альбом современного блюза»: сначала с Senor Blues, затем — c Shoutin' in Key.

Their lone single and unreleased album form the core of this 22-track reissue, which features imaginative rearrangements of standards like "Corrine, Corrina," an obscure Dylan cover ("Walkin' Down the Line"), rocking originals, a confident performance of Goffin/King's "Take a Giant Step" (later Mahal's signature tune), and nifty guitar interplay between Mahal and Cooder throughout. Overall, it sounds a lot more like it belongs in 1967-1968 than 1965-1966. This archival release has value above and beyond historical interest.

by Richie Unterberger

Tracklist:

01. Statesboro Blues 02:25
02. If The River Was Whiskey (Divin' Duck Blues) 02:42
03. By And By (Poor Me) 03:33
04. Candy Man 02:05
05. 2:10 Train 04:11
06. Let The Good Times Roll 02:44
07. .44 Blues 03:24
08. 11th Street Overcrossing 02:13
09. Corrin, Corrina 02:57
10. Tulsa County 02:43
11. Walkin' Down The Line 02:15
12. The Girl With Green Eyes 02:15
13. Sunny's Dream 03:02
14. Spanish Lace Blues 02:14
15. The Devil's Got My Woman 03:06
16. Take A Giant Step 02:55
17. Flyin' So High 03:06
18. Dust My Broom 03:05
19. Last Fair Deal Gone Down 02:39
20. Baby, What You Want Me To Do? 02:56
21. Statesboro Blues (Version 2) 02:25
22. I Got A Little 03:22

Tracks 18-20 contain new vocal tracks recorded by Taj Mahal, June 1992 in New York City
Track 22 is a Mono recording

Taj Mahal's debut album was a startling statement in its time and has held up remarkably well. Recorded in August of 1967, it was as hard and exciting a mix of old and new blues sounds as surfaced on record in a year when even a lot of veteran blues artists (mostly at the insistence of their record labels) started turning toward psychedelia. The guitar virtuosity, embodied in Taj Mahal's slide work (which had the subtlety of a classical performance), Jesse Ed Davis's lead playing, and rhythm work by Ry Cooder and Bill Boatman, is of the neatly stripped-down variety that was alien to most records aiming for popular appeal, and the singer himself approached the music with a startling mix of authenticity and youthful enthusiasm. The whole record is a strange and compelling amalgam of stylistic and technical achievements – filled with blues influences of the 1930s and 1940s, but also making use of stereo sound separation and the best recording technology. The result was numbers like Sleepy John Estes' "Diving Duck Blues," with textures resembling the mix on the early Cream albums, while "The Celebrated Walkin' Blues" (even with Cooder's animated mandolin weaving its spell on one side of the stereo mix) has the sound of a late '40s Chess release by Muddy Waters. Blind Willie McTell ("Statesboro Blues") and Robert Johnson ("Dust My Broom") are also represented, in what had to be one of the most quietly, defiantly iconoclastic records of 1968.

by Bruce Eder

Tracklist:

01. Leaving Trunk 04:50
02. Statesboro Blues 02:59
03. Checkin' Up On My Baby 04:55
04. Everybody's Got To Change Sometime 02:57
05. E Z Rider 03:04
06. Dust My Broom 02:39
07. Diving Duck Blues 02:42
08. The Celebrated Walkin' Blues 08:51

Taj Mahal's second album, recorded in the spring and fall of 1968, opens with more stripped-down Delta-style blues in the manner of his debut, but adds a little more amplification (partly courtesy of Al Kooper on organ) before moving into wholly bigger sound on numbers like "She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride" and "The Cuckoo" – the latter, in particular, features crunchy electric and acoustic guitars and Gary Gilmore playing his bass almost like a lead instrument, like a bluesman's answer to John Entwistle. Most notable, however, may be "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til Your Well Runs Dry)" and "Ain't That a Lot of Love," which offer Taj Mahal working in the realm of soul and treading onto Otis Redding territory. This is particularly notable on "You Don't Miss Your Water," which achieves the intensity of a gospel performance and comes complete with a Stax/Volt-style horn arrangement by Jesse Ed Davis that sounds more like the real thing than the real thing. "Ain't That a Lot of Love," by contrast, is driven by a hard electric guitar sound and a relentless bass part that sounds like a more urgent version of the bassline from the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'." The fall 2000 CD reissue includes a trio of bonus tracks: a faster-paced rendition of "The Cuckoo" with a more prominent lead guitar, the slow electric lament "New Stranger Blues" featuring some good mandolin-style playing on the guitar, and the rocking instrumental "Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine," which is a killer showcase for Davis' lead electric guitar and Taj Mahal's virtuosity on the harmonica.

by Bruce Eder

Tracklist:

01. Good Morning Miss Brown 03:16
02. Corinna 03:03
03. I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll 03:14
04. Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue 03:38
05. Done Changed My Way Of Living 07:04
06. She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride 03:30
07. The Cuckoo 04:16
08. You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til Your Well Runs Dry) 04:26
09. Ain't That A Lot Of Love 04:11
10. The Cuckoo (Alternate Version) 03:21
11. New Stranger Blues 05:41
12. Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine 03:17

In less than 24 months, Taj Mahal (guitars/vocals/banjo/harmonica) had issued the equivalent of four respective long-players. The electric Giant Step (1968) was released alongside the acoustic and decidedly rural De Ole Folks at Home (1968). The nine cuts on Giant Step feature support from the instrumental trio of Jesse Ed Davis (guitar/keyboards), Gary Gilmore (bass), and Chuck Blackwell (drums). They back Taj Mahal on a wide selection of covers ranging from Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" to the upbeat and soulful reading of the Huddie Ledbetter blues staple "Keep Your Hands Off Her." The arrangements are unique and offer the artist's distinctive approach. Nowhere is this more evident than the practically jovial midtempo "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" or the freewheeling abandon brought to the 18-wheeler anthem "Six Days on the Road"." Similarly, it recalls the version of "Ain't That a Lot of Love" from Taj Mahal's preceding LP Natch'l Blues (1968). Additionally, Blind Willie Johnson's "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" stands out with a strong and soaring gospel-flavored arrangement. The project concludes with "Bacon Fat," a number attributed here via Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson of the Band. That said, it may be better-known from the man they called Mr. Rhythm, Andre Williams, whose scattered down-home spoken interludes punctuate his February 1957 Top Ten R&B hit – which incidentally was created under the working title "Diddle, Diddle Womp, Womp." Enthusiasts should note that while specious fidelity accompanied seminal pressings of De Ole Folks at Home – the previously mentioned "unplugged" counterpart to Giant Step – the sound on the CD has been significantly improved. Parties searching for an apt introduction when discovering Taj Mahal's voluminous catalog are encouraged to consider Giant Step as a highly recommended reference point.

by Lindsay Planer

Tracklist CD1:
Giant Step

01. Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie (Any Mo') 01:03
02. Take A Giant Step 04:18
03. Give Your Woman What She Wants (From The Motion Picture 'The April Fools') 02:32
04. Good Morning Little School Girl 03:46
05. You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond 04:58
06. Six Days On The Road 03:02
07. Farther On Down The Road (You Will Accompany Me) 04:40
08. Keep Your Hands Off Her 02:16
09. Bacon Fat 06:42



Tracklist CD2:
De Ole Folks At Home

01. Linin' Track 01:42
02. Country Blues #1 02:39
03. Wild Ox Moan 02:48
04. Light Rain Blues 03:23
05. A Little Soulful Tune 02:40
06. Candy Man 02:57
07. Cluck Old Hen 02:33
08. Colored Aristocracy 02:07
09. Blind Boy Rag 04:14
10. Stagger Lee 03:26
11. Cajun Tune 01:59
12. Fishin' Blues 03:10
13. Annie's Lover 03:33

Taj Mahal followed up Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home (1969) with another double-disc concert platter whose title pretty much sums up the contents. The Real Thing (1971) is drawn from a mid-February run of shows at the Fillmore East in New York City where he, Spencer Davis, the Chambers Brothers, and Roberta Flack, among others, shared the bill. Mahal (vocals/banjo/guitar/harmonica/arranger/fife/harp/steel guitar/ harmonica) is supported by an interesting extended aggregate with a brass section consisting of Joseph Daley (tuba/horn/trombone), Bob Stewart (horn), and a pair of former Charles Mingus bandmembers, Earl McIntyre (horn) and Howard Johnson (horn). While at times they tend to overpower the usually intimate nature of the performances, that is certainly not the case for the majority of the arrangements. The opener, "Fishin' Blues," is a solo with Mahal accompanying himself on banjo. "Ain't Gwine to Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')" is significantly lengthened from the form found on Giant Step (1968) as it stretches nearly nine minutes and allows plenty of room for interaction, offering up a spirited fife interlude from Mahal. In addition to providing an overview from his back catalog, The Real Thing contains a few new compositions. The full ensemble gets a workout on the funky "Sweet Mama Janisse" and the toe-tappin' rural flavor of the instrumental "Tom and Sally Drake" is lightly augmented by a sole tuba – presumably that of Johnson. Sleepy John Estes' "Diving Duck Blues" arguably submits the most successful incorporation of brass, sporting a driving, full-throttle rhythm and soulful interpretation. The 2000 CD reissue was extended to fit the entire live set, adding the previously unavailable "She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride," matching the intensity of the sizeable bluesy, closing jam "You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love They Way You Strut."

by Lindsay Planer

Tracklist:

01. Fishin' Blues 02:57
02. Ain't Gwine To Whistle Dixie (Any Mo') 09:11
03. Sweet Mama Janice 03:32
04. Going Up To The Country And Paint My Mailbox Blue 03:24
05. Big Kneed Gal 05:34
06. You're Going To Need Somebody On Your Bond 06:13
07. Tom And Sally Drake 03:39
08. Diving Duck Blues 03:46
09. John, Ain' It Hard 05:30
10. She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride 04:08
11. You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love The Way You Strut Your Stuff 18:56

Taj Mahal had mapped out a unique vision of country blues and its ethnographic sources on his first three albums, and his fourth LP, Happy Just to Be Like I Am, continued in a similar vein while broadening his scope at the same time. Anyone who delivers an arrangement of "Oh Susanna" that marries a hard-boogeying rhythm section with a fife as lead instrument is clearly not aiming for a purist's approach to the blues, and Mahal was willing to bring a bit more contemporary rhythm & blues into his formula here, with the title track boasting the kind of groove and melodic lift that should have earned it a place on the radio (through the fact a tuba accompanies an electric bass in the bottom end might have puzzled a few programmers), and "Chevrolet" bubbling with potent, organic funk. But Mahal was (and is) far too enamored of eclecticism to make an entire album that follows a single direction, and the steel drum reverie of "West Indian Revelation," the mixture of African percussion and steel guitar on "Black Spirit Boogie," and the acoustic blues with tuned cowbells on "Eighteen Hammers" are all the work of a man eager to twist his music into a variety of different forms. While Mahal's vision grew broader on Happy Just to Be Like I Am, the album didn't have quite the same focus as his previous sets, and the parts don't cohere into a whole that's as satisfying as his earlier work. But the best songs are impressive, Mahal's collaborators are stellar (including Jesse Ed Davis, John Simon, and Kwasi "Rocky" DziDzornu), and every track is filled with a palpable joy; it's a fine collection from one the most cheerful iconoclasts of the blues.

by Mark Deming

Tracklist:

01. Happy Just To Be Like I Am 03:51
02. Chevrolet 07:00
03. Stealin' 05:20
04. Eighteen Hammers 05:46
05. Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day 04:16
06. Oh Susanna 02:45
07. West Indian Revelation (a.k.a. West Indian Reservation) 06:09
08. Black Spirit Boogie 07:08






Tracklist:

01. Needed Time (Sam Lightnin' Hopkins) 02:53
02. Sounder Chase A Coon 03:24
03. Needed Time (Hummin' And Pickin') 01:26
04. Morning Work / N' Meat's On The Stove 01:45
05. I'm Running And I'm Happy 00:57
06. Speedball 01:42
07. Goin' To The Country / Critters In The Woods 01:48
08. Motherless Children (Hummin') 01:21
09. Jailhouse Blues 04:00
10. Just Workin' 00:35
11. Harriet"s Dance Song 00:33
12. Two Spirits Reunited 01:54
13. David Runs Again 00:29
14. Curiosity Blues 01:01
15. Someday Be A Change 01:02
16. Horseshoes 01:59
17. Cheraw 02:22
18. David's Dream 01:02
19. Needed Time (Guitar) 02:29
20. Needed Time (Banjo And Hand Clapping) 02:21

Track 1 vocal, guitar Sam Lightnin' Hopkins

The title Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff certainly sums up the album quite well – that's exactly what Taj Mahal has been doing for several years by this point. The first side features laidback in-the-studio work with some nice gospel-inflected back-up from the Pointer Sisters. The second (and preferable) side offers a good look at Mahal's stage show.

by All Music Guide

Tracklist:

01. Conch: Introduction 01:08
02. Kalimba 02:02
03. Bound To Love Me Some 05:11
04. Ricochet 04:46
05. A Free Song (Rise Up Children Shake The Devil Out Of Your Soul) 03:57
06. Corinna 03:11
07. Conch: Close 00:33
08. Cakewalk Into Town 02:34
09. Sweet Home Chicago 06:41
10. Texas Woman Blues 02:54
11. Gitano Negro 08:29

Track 9, 10 backing vocals Pointer Sisters

Ooh So Good 'N' Blues, takes a more straightahead approach that, with the exception of the the jazzy mis-step titled "Teacup's Jazzy Blues Tune," keeps the experimentation down to a minimum. As a result, this is one of his most consistently enjoyable and even albums.

by All Music Guide

Tracklist:

01. Buck Dancer's Choice 03:10
02. Little Red Hen 03:50
03. Oh Mama Don't You Know 06:08
04. Frankie And Albert 04:00
05. Railroad Bill 02:48
06. Dust My Broom 04:29
07. Built For Comfort 04:58
08. Teacup's Jazzy Blues Tune 04:20

Mo' Roots finds Mahal stepping away from the blues, choosing instead to focus on reggae. While he can often be faulted for his all-too-academic approach, with Mo' Roots he turns in an album that truly expresses his appreciation and connection with the music.

by All Music Guide

Tracklist:

01. Johnny Too Bad 03:17
02. Blackjack Davey 03:44
03. Big Mama 04:42
04. Cajun Waltz 06:03
05. Slave Driver 02:44
06. Why Did You Have To Desert Me? 05:54
07. Desperate Lover 02:46
08. Clara (St. Kitts Woman) 04:34

Taj Mahal had displayed a keen interest in African and Caribbean music along with the country blues that was the foundation of his sound on his first several albums, so it was no great surprise that he'd become enamored of reggae by the mid-'70s, and Music Keeps Me Together found him working with Earl "Wire" Lindo, the keyboard man and arranger who had accompanied the likes of Bob Marley, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Burning Spear. The tough but sensuous pulse of Jamaican music certainly makes itself felt on Music Keeps Me Together, but Mahal seems reluctant to dive into it headfirst – "My Ancestors" and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" are both skank-heavy, but "Further on Down the Road" fuses reggae with blues and funk until all the elements have been diluted too far, and the title cut (written by Lindo) sounds curiously indecisive about its stylistic direction. Elsewhere, "Why?…and We Repeat Why?…and We Repeat!" plays more like fusion jazz than anything else (with all the lack of bite that description implies); "Roll, Turn, Spin" (a Joseph Spence cover) bears faint echoes of Afro-beat; and "When I Feel the Sea Beneath My Soul" feels more like calypso, though with the energy brought down to the level of a quiet ocean breeze. The diversity of Mahal's music has always been a key element of his recordings, but Music Keeps Me Together goes in plenty of directions without sounding especially engaged with any of them, and the polished performances only add to the aimless tone of this album. This music may keep Taj Mahal together, but it doesn't do that much for his listeners.

by Mark Deming

Tracklist:

01. Music Keeps Me Together 03:40
02. When I Feel The Sea Beneath My Soul 03:08
03. Dear Ladies 06:05
04. Aristrocracy 02:30
05. Further On Down The Road 03:25
06. Roll, Turn, Spin 04:47
07. West Indian Revelation 06:58
08. My Ancestors 04:06
09. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man 03:43
10. Why?…And We Repeat Why?…And We Repeat! 07:13

Taj Mahal had been fusing country blues with an increasingly diverse range of influences on his albums of the early '70s, and by the time he cut Satisfied 'n Tickled Too in 1976, the blues had practically been squeezed out of the picture by all the other elements he'd absorbed. With the exception of "Ain't Nobody's Business," a sly endorsement of liquor and drugs, there isn't a blues tune to be found on this LP, while "Baby Love" is far and away the most polished attempt at a mainstream R&B single that Mahal had released to date, a grand-scale production that all but begged to be played on quiet storm radio (though at nearly nine minutes it's hard to imagine any radio station playing it in its complete form). "New E-Z Rider Blues" is a polished exercise in light funk, "Black Man, Brown Man" and the title cut are roots reggae more accomplished that his exercises in the style on 1975's Music Keeps Me Together, "Misty Morning Ride" verges on fusion jazz, and "We Tune" embraces the percussive grooves of salsa. Mahal and his large crew of musicians on these sessions are as expert as one could hope, and this is as well crafted as anything in Mahal's catalog, but the smooth surfaces bear little sign of the grit that makes most blues, soul, jazz, and reggae compelling, and while several of the albums that immediately preceded Satisfied 'n Tickled Too were so eclectic that they lacked a coherent musical personality, this disc's clean lines keep the performances uniformly unexciting. If Taj Mahal began as a visionary eccentric, Satisfied 'n Tickled Too was where (at least for a while) he lost what made him interesting in the guise of becoming a "better" musician.

by Mark Deming

Tracklist:

01. Satisfied 'N Tickled Too 05:28
02. New E-Z Rider Blues 04:08
03. Black Man Brown Man 04:05
04. Baby Love 08:58
05. Ain't Nobody's Business 02:44
06. Misty Morning Ride 03:18
07. Easy To Love 03:36
08. Old Time Song - Old Time Love 03:42
09. We Tune 03:09

Track 2 background vocals The Ladies

n celebration of his 70th birthday, The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973 is the first of a series of volumes issued by Legacy that will eventually encompass his entire Columbia catalog. Hidden Treasures consists of a studio disc and a live one. The studio set contains a dozen tracks that were rejected from the final versions of Mahal's albums for various reasons, as well as alternate takes. All tracks are unreleased. The quality of the material can be slightly uneven, but that's to be expected (being rejects after all). That said, disc one is not without sufficient charm, and even revelatory moments. Its first four tracks feature Mahal and guitarist Jesse Ed Davis in the company of Jim Dickinson's Dixie Flyers. "Chainey Do" and the first of the two alternate takes of "Sweet Mama Janisse" are excellent showcases for Davis in the company of a stellar garage band. Other standouts on disc one include "You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love the Way You Strut Your Stuff," with its studio intro where Mahal instructs the band on how to make it cook. And it does. The band includes a five-piece horn section that stars tuba masters Bob Stewart and Howard Johnson. Mahal's banjo playing works beautifully in the extended jam on "Shady Groove." "Butter" closes the disc and features Mahal fronting the band on harmonica, playing a sweet, instrumental version of "People Get Ready." Disc two, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, is worth the purchase price alone. Mahal plays his National Steel guitar and harmonica, and is backed by a band with the late, great Davis on lead guitar. This set reveals Mahal as a musical shaman early on. He was even then able to skip across centuries, traditions, forms, and singing, telling tales and jokes without hesitation or faltering. He fully inhabits each musical persona he takes on as his own, yet they are all part of a single but multi-limbed lineage in his musicology. The disc is by turns rousing, rocking, and intimate. Whether it's in the a cappella take on the traditional "Runnin' by the Riverside," a cover of the Band's "Bacon Fat," the funky, gritty, original blues of "Big Fat" and "Sweet Mama Janisse," or the definitive version of "Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day," this is all-killer, no-filler. Fans of Mahal's – especially of his Columbia period – will greet The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973 with cheers.

by Thom Jurek

Tracklist CD1:

01. Chainey Do 03:40
02. Sweet Mama Janisse 03:42
03. Yan-Nah Mama-Loo 06:09
04. Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day 05:01
05. I Pity The Poor Immigrant 08:10
06. Jacob's Ladder 04:01
07. Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie (Any Mo') 07:23
08. Sweet Mama Janisse 03:31
09. You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love The Way You Strut Your Stuff 16:05
10. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 07:25
11. Shady Grove 09:27
12. Butter 02:47



Tracklist CD2:

01. Runnin' By The Riverside 02:52
02. John, Ain't It Hard 05:24
03. Band Introduction 00:34
04. Sweet Mama Janisse 04:33
05. Big Fat 07:32
06. Diving Duck Blues 02:50
07. Checkin' Up On My Baby 06:20
08. Oh Susanna 10:22
09. Bacon Fat 08:20
10. Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day 04:56




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