Blind Willie Johnson
March 13th, 2008
Much more than just a finalist in the "Greatest Musician Named 'Blind Willie'" sweepstakes, Johnson is a Gospel pioneer whose name is spoken in hushed tones by slide guitarists and early blues fans alike. Technically speaking he wasn't a blues man — his lyrics spoke of salvation and the Bible, not booze and women, and his music avoided typical blues forms. Alternating between radiantly joyful major pentatonic melodies and equally haunting minor-key ones, he sang in a coarse, bass-dwelling croak that sometimes gave way to a more soothing mid-range tone. His performances sometimes featured a female vocalist, but were otherwise solo, and he backed himself with a mix of steady low-string fingerpicking and precise slide maneuvering. His recorded output clocks in at a mere ninety minutes or so, with all of it being waxed in the late 1920s, but what's there contains a sense of purity and humility capable of softening the most hardened cynic. - Will York
Tab Benoit
Tab Benoit plays tone-heavy, swampy Blues Rock. His soulful, wailing, gritty voice is one of the best of recent artists, anywhere. If you play his music next to CCR for someone who hasn't heard either band, they would probably think that John Fogerty (who has a spectacular voice of his own) was greatly influenced by Benoit. Yeah, he's that good. His combustible guitar playing is rugged and riff-laden. It sounds like an old Fender Telecaster from the 1950's burning through a vintage tweed Deluxe amp at full volume (a-la CCR's rendition of "Good Golly, Miss Molly"). - Eric Shea
