Praise God I'm Satisfied

This is my favorite gospel/blues roots album. Johnson could play slide guitar like no other. The track God Moves On The Water is a bolt of musical lightning.

Awesome. Great sound and quality, very warm rich sound

There are moments on this cd that are absolutely chilling. Johnson's voice is a powerful, intense growl that is accompanied by his ethereal slide guitar. This disc's highpoint is, "Dark Was the Night-Cold Was the Ground". Johnson's haunting slide coupled with his mournful moaning make this one of the blues' most beautiful instrumental ballads. An evangelist, all of Johnson's songs have a strong gospel message. His fire and brimstone lyrics combined with his chilling performing style must have made for quite a sight at revivals! Joined by his wife on a couple cuts, her small high pitched voice offers a sharp contrast to Johnson's coarse gutteral croaking. "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed", "God Don't Never Change", "God Moves on the Water", an autobiographical tinged "Mother's Children Have a Hard Time", and "Nobody's Fault But Mine", which was adapted and covered by Led Zepplin on "Presence", are definate highlights. The sound quality suffers slightly from the popping and hissing typical of music from this era, as the source material is often worn 78's or fragile metal cylinders, but this does little to dilute this music's power. All fans of classic blues need to check out this intense cd.

Blind Willie Johnson, 1900 ? - 1949 ?According to blues guitarist Tom Shaw (1908-1977),who met Johnson at the end of the twenties,he was much older,probably born between 1880 and 1890.Blind Willie Johnson is a master of slide guitar, very reminiscent of the way Fred McDowell used to play.This wonderful Yazoo record includes many great tunes of sacred music by this extraordinary player and singer : "you're gonna need somebody on your bond","Jesus make up my dying bed","God moves on the water","I know his blood can make me whole","motherless children have a hard time" and the incredible "dark was the night,cold was the ground",maybe the strongest and strangest piece ever recorded.Played in pure F,this very emotional tune seems to have some strong african roots,and Johnson's slide work is absolutely out of this world.Johnson may not be a blues musician,because he never recorded a blues,only sacred songs, but the stamp of the blues is everywhere in his music.He sure had a great influence on many blues guitar players,beginning with Mississippi Fred McDowell.Blind Willie Johnson's music is as essential as Robert Johnson's,or Mississippi John Hurt's,or Son House's.I bought this record on LP many years ago, and it has allways been one of my favorites.You'll rarely hear a stronger music,and a more furious guitar playing.And the sound quality is very good,all the tunes beeing recorded between 1927 and 1930.An essential record in the history of Great Black Music .

An indispensible CD for lover's of Blues music, though as elsewhere noted, no Blues songs per se are in evidence. This is playing and singing like no other; extraordinary coaxing of bent notes from the bottleneck, a voice that seems to have been on the otherside and returned to intone all that's been witnessed. If bullfrog's spoke English! Wife, Angeline who he married just before these recordings, compliments his gravelly voice with her pure high pitch.Steve Calt pens a loving picture on the jacket noting the 'jarring contrast between the vividness of his musical landscape and the aridity of his intellectual horizon, as presented in his lyrics.'Which is to say, this is pretty much the work of a fundamentalist passion. Calt walks us through the technical prowess and variety displayed in the songs, then leaves off writing to let Johnson complete the experience.

Blind Willie Johnson's prowess on Bottleneck slide guitar ironically placed him where he would least like to be; among the sinners in the Blues aisle. The Gospel-Singing "bluesman" possessed slide skills second to none. No other traditional practitioner of the slide guitar style, including Robert Johnson, could coax near as many notes out of a single plucked string, lending his tunes an intense, esoteric feel. No doubt also lending to this feel, was his powerful and exciting "false bass" vocal style, contrasted with the spirited, backup tenor "hollering" of his wife Angeline.Johnson recorded thirty sides for Columbia between 1927 and 1930. The fourteen cuts on this album are a great introduction, and many of his legendary songs are represented here, however, If raw "country blues" is truly your thing, skip this Yazoo release and go straight for Columbia's two-disc "The Complete Blind Willie Johnson". The 4 star rating given here is due solely to the fact that it is an incomplete collection. I highly recommend this album to discriminating bottleneck slide fans.

One side of this record is defective (the grooves are messed up, causing the needle to skip tracks). I contacted the company that makes the record and they do not respond to inquiries. Horrible customer service, horrible record.

Il profondo Sud e le sue litanie. Willie è un asso alla slide e un cantante seminale per i musicisti a venire. Una raccolta edita da yazoo records che è legenda. Da avere a prescindere dalla passione per il genere blues.

DISCO ESSENZIALE PER COMPRENDERE A FONDO LE RADICI DEL BLUESLO CONSIGLIO SENZA ESITAZIONI A TUTTI GLI AMANTI DEL GENERE

I'm just catching up on classic albums I missed first time round!

ウィリージョンソンは日本古来にある盲目の琵琶法師に似てると思う、Wikipediaによると盲僧琵琶は宗教音楽としてはじまり琵琶の伴奏で経文を唱えていた。また宗教を離れた娯楽的なものもあり、それは「くずれ」と称される。その「くずれ」と称されるものはブラインド・ウィリー・マクテルなどのブルースマンであり、宗教信を唱える前者はギターエヴァンジェリストと称され、それがウィリージョンソンである。しかしウィリージョンソンは根っからのシャーマンではなく聖と俗の狭間に立つミュージシャンで 放つ世界は無垢で解放的で その神秘性は半端なものではない。