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From the Vault...
03/10/2019
#1663 |
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info
Taj Mahal
"The Natch'l Blues"
© Columbia Records
Year of Release: 1968
Rating:
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track listing
Good Morning Miss Brown
Corinna
I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody
Steal My Jellyroll
Going Up To The Country
Paint My
Mailbox Blue
Done Changed
My Way Of Living
She Caught The Katy And
Left Me A Mule To Ride
The CUckoo
You Don't Miss Your Water
('Til Your Well
Runs Dry)
Ain't That A Lot Of Love
The Cuckoo
(Alternate Version)
New Stranger Blues
Things Are Gonna
Work Out Fine
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Taj Mahal
"The Natch'l Blues"
IN 1969, Columbia Records released Somethin' Else Again!, a 2-LP set of the current albums and artists at the time. One of those songs was by
Taj Mahal, "Ain't That A Lot Of Love." This song was from his second album of his career, The Natch'l Blues. A very accomplished blues
artists, Taj Mahal has been recording since 1968, and continuing to the 21st century. His TajMo collaboaration with another great blues artist
Keb 'Mo in 2017 reached #1 on the Billboard Blues Album chart. This was his first #1 album for Taj, and Keb' Mo''s sixth. Most of the songs on
The Natch'l Blues were written/co-written by Taj Mahal.
"Good Moring Miss Brown" leads the album off, and is a good blues album. Yet the next track is better - "Corinna." And the blues
keep getting better, with "I AIn't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll." It has the B.B. King feel. "Going Up The Country, Paint My
Mailbox Blue" is another standard early Blues. (Each song is getting better and better...) This song sounds like a faster version of The Doors'
"Been Down Too Long."
If you're familiar with the Blues Brothesrs, "She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride" (titled "She Caught The Katy" by the
Blues Brothers) is here, as this song was co-written by Taj Majhal. And like the Blues Brothers' version, Tal Mahal's version is just as great.
"The Cuckoo" is another good driven blues number, and nice slow and soulful has "You Didn't Miss Your Water ('Til Your Well Runs Dry)."
It definitely has the Ray Charles sound. "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" almost sounds like "Gimme Good Lovin'" (Blues Brothers/Spencer Davis
Group).
The last 3 tracks are bonus ones: "The Cuckoo" is one of them, being an alternate version. Just as the original, it's B.B. King'ish.
"New Stranger Blues" is a good, slow-driving blues track. Closing out the bonus tracks, is "Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine" And like
the title says, this is another fine, fine Blues track.
Taj Mahal's The Natch'l Blues is your standard, good, great Blues. Taj Mahal definitely is in the ranks of the great Blues artists, from his
past, present, and future. And to think, this was just his second original album released. The other fact (as mentioned earlier), is that he wrote or
co-wrote most of the songs on this album, as some of them were re-recorded in later years by other great Blues artists. Taj Mahal I'm sure has been an
influence to the future Blues artists. So, if you're looking for great Blues to listen to, Taj Mahal is it. He is still with us, as his most recent
album was in 2017, TajMo, with Keb' Mo'.
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