Size: 175,4 + 169,2 MB
Time: 75:26 + 73:07
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2003/2009
Styles: Blues/Roots/Folk
Art: Full
CD 1:
1. Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond (2:56)
2. Wagon Of wood (3:35)
3. Tell Me (2:41)
4. Keys To The Highway (2:24)
5. When You're Smilin' (1:44)
6. Pawnshop Blues (3:34)
7. Ever Since You Left Me (3:57)
8. Kansas City (2:48)
9. Fixing To Die (3:52)
10. Pick A Bale Of Cotton (2:25)
11. Run Sinner Run (1:52)
12. Cosmic Smile (5:54)
13. Charlie James/Miss This Train (8:08)
14. Jimi's Back (2:56)
15. Red House (7:47)
16. Kokomo (3:50)
17. Devine Love (3:24)
18. When The Saints Go Marchin' In (2:32)
19. Like A Dog (2:39)
20. Lord I'll Be With You Always (2:26)
21. I Had A Dream (3:53)
CD 2:
1. The Letter (3:28)
2. Ain't Superstitious (2:52)
3. Ever Since You Left Me (Maui Wowie) (3:25)
4. Poor Boy (6:16)
5. Cold Rainy Night (3:09)
6. California Blues (4:51)
7. Sugar Mama (4:28)
8. Charlie James (2:06)
9. Shattered Dreams (5:16)
10. Kokocass Jam (2:15)
11. Dreamy Eyes (4:10)
12. Miss This Train (4:42)
13. Down And Dirty Blues (24:11)
14. Last Night I Dreamed The Strangest Dream (1:52)
This is the third in a series of posthumous albums of previously unreleased recordings by Randy California and Spirit, drawn from California's archives and assembled by Mick Skidmore. As Skidmore explains in his detailed liner notes, California put together an album called Blues From the Soul around 1995, and even copyrighted its contents; but later opted to use some of the material on the final album he released with Spirit, California Blues, prior to his accidental death by drowning in January 1997. Other tracks from the proposed album were culled for the first posthumous release, Cosmic Smile. Skidmore has included all 13 of the songs California had intended to use on his version of Blues From the Soul, though he has substituted alternate takes or live recordings of tracks already issued.
Of course, the album also has been vastly expanded to include 35 selections for a running time of two-and-a-half hours. But the basic concept remains the same, and that is to present a collection of folk and blues recordings. California's family owned The Ash Grove nightclub when he was a child, and that brought him into contact with the many veteran acoustic blues musicians who toured during the folk revival of the early 1960s. Their influence on him is apparent here, as he resurrects songs by Mance Lipscomb, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Willie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, and Howlin' Wolf. Many songs are done with an acoustic guitar, but they all feature California's distinctive playing and singing.
The lengthy set allows room for other material, including a 24-minute improvisation, "Down and Dirty Blues." Skidmore is less concerned with strictly adhering to the album's concept than he is to giving listeners more of California's music, and it's hard to argue with that. /William Ruhlmann, AllMusic
(For personnel details, see artwork included.)
Of course, the album also has been vastly expanded to include 35 selections for a running time of two-and-a-half hours. But the basic concept remains the same, and that is to present a collection of folk and blues recordings. California's family owned The Ash Grove nightclub when he was a child, and that brought him into contact with the many veteran acoustic blues musicians who toured during the folk revival of the early 1960s. Their influence on him is apparent here, as he resurrects songs by Mance Lipscomb, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Willie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, and Howlin' Wolf. Many songs are done with an acoustic guitar, but they all feature California's distinctive playing and singing.
The lengthy set allows room for other material, including a 24-minute improvisation, "Down and Dirty Blues." Skidmore is less concerned with strictly adhering to the album's concept than he is to giving listeners more of California's music, and it's hard to argue with that. /William Ruhlmann, AllMusic
(For personnel details, see artwork included.)
Blues From The Soul (2 CD) mc
Blues From The Soul (2 CD) zippy