25th Anniversary Album

had a talent for self-reinvention, and his career -- which began in the 1920s and stretched essentially uninterrupted all the way into the '60s -- is an amazing story of adaptability and survival. Slick, sly, and fiercely intelligent, began as a player, but became a sort of pre- black sex idol, complete with a leftist social and political agenda, during his so-called period in the late '40s, and when the era led to his blacklisting, he rebounded into the with several carefully assembled albums for 's newly created label that recast him as a balladeer. This set, originally released as an LP in 1957, was the first of those albums for . Few performers could make the straddle the line between being rustic on the one hand and artfully urbane on the other like was able to do, and while to some extent it was a stage act, there is no doubting 's ultimate devotion to his material. The key track here is the first one, an epic 23-plus-minute version of that was the center of 's live performances during his period and was somewhat of a signature song for him. Although some doubted 's authenticity as a performer (they really shouldn't have), the fact remains that was an excellent acoustic guitar player and a subtle and versatile singer who carefully selected his material, well aware of how it made him appear. Listeners should definitely check out some of 's early -styled 78s from the '20s, though, like and to really hear this intelligent performer at his best. ~ Steve Leggett