Corey Harris - Fulton Blues

Just The Blues

I watched Django Unchained last night and whilst Tarantino injects at times pure comedy alongside more telling satire, there is a powerfully direct evocation of the evil of slavery in the Southern states. This provided an unexpected but resonant context for listening this morning to Corey Harris’ fine blues album Fulton Blues, and especially tracks like House Negro Blues.

Largely acoustic there are also electric and driving numbers like Robert Petway’s Catfish Blues and this gives the whole album a lively variety. This song is followed by the wholly acoustic tracks That Will Never Happen No More, with Harris on simple plucked guitar and vocal, and then Lynch Blues – lyrically dark as the title makes clear – and here as elsewhere there is an excellent harmonica accompaniment, with Harris also in emotive blues-howl vocal.

The album opens on a large band number Crying Blues and ends on the equally fulsome instrumental Fat Duck Groove with some sharp sax playing in support of Harris’ electric guitar.  My two favourites in an album where every track is perfect are Tallahatchie with Harris singing at a higher register, Hammond chords laying sways of sound, and horns stabbing out jaunty rhythms, and then the acoustic cover of Skip James’ Devil Got My Woman, Harris in more classic blues voice – deeper and pained – and a superb harmonica played throughout. An authentic but also contemporary blues gem.