Music of the Moment: Bobby Rush — Raw
I’m not sure “raw” is the right word for this album. Maybe I’m taking things too literally but when I think of “raw” and the blues, something much more tortured and visceral springs to mind.
Raw? Try vintage or primitive or sparse or traditional. You might be thinking with that lead in that I didn’t like the album. Don’t. Raw is a great acoustic blues album bathed in timeless sounds. This is an album of back porch on a humid day blues. Rush strips these songs down to the bare minimum. Most songs feature vocal, acoustic guitar, and harmonica which Rush plays himself. He didn’t even bother with a rhythm section, replacing drums and bass with his own tapping foot.
Bobby Rush’s Raw is a tantalizing example of what it might have sounded like if some of the great acoustic bluesmen of last century had gotten to record their albums in a proper studio. Technology didn’t change these songs or his approach to them; it only allowed them to be recorded clearly so each detail can be heard and appreciated.
Filed under: Tags: Bloggin' the Blues, Music of the Moment
Just got my copy of Raw and I love it! I think you got it right when you said “vintage” because that’s exactly what my first thought was.
It’s a fantastic example of a modern old school or old school modern blues album.
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