Last weekend when we were camping in southern Mississippi, one of the campers was complaining about his grown kids and now their kids descending on his house and devouring his food like a plague of hungry locusts. Which put me in mind of a 2002 story in the New Yorker by Jay McInerney about Fat Possum Records and its star blues singer R. L. Burnside, who, when faced with a similar dilemma--compounded by R. L.'s dozen children and their ever-expanding broods--forced Big Daddy, as the paternal Burnside was affectionately called, to take the rather extreme measure of chaining and padlocking his refrigerator's door.
Which, as these campfire tales tend to turn, put Clem, the youngest camper in mind of a blues singer named Cedric Burnside (R. L.'s grandson) who he had recently heard at the University of Southern Mississippi in nearby Hattiesburg.
Which, of course, put me in mind of the long lineage of so-called "hill country" bluesmen who have hailed from the rolling hills of northeast Mississippi, around and near Oxford and Holly Springs. There have been a bunch over the years, starting with slaves from West Africa, whose songs are reinterpreted by African guitarists Ali Farka and Ali Magassa, and percussionist Souleyman Kane on Corey Harris's 2003 "Mississippi to Mali" CD, as well as historic tunes by Sharde Thomas (granddaughter of legendary fife player Otha Turner) & the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, who, by the way, still sponsor one of the many hill country family picnics where a goat or two are roasted and music and dancing are enjoyed all day and all night.
Then, of course, came Mississippi Fred McDowell, who was a big star back during the folk music revival in the 1960s, and who taught R. L. to play the guitar. Listen to R. L.'s last album "A Bothered Mind" where R. L. sings and plays the guitar in rhythmic hill country style (otherwise known as the Burnside Style), accompanied by Cedric on drums and R. L.'s adopted son Kenny Brown, the best of the next generation of classic country blues guitarists.
Which puts me in mind of Junior Kimbrough, a buddy of R. L. and Otha, who operated and performed on Sunday nights at a legendary juke joint in Chulahoma, Mississippi.
Then, of course, that puts me in mind of one of my favorite Mississippi bluesman, Robert Belfour, who is famous for playing all night until the last dancer drops, without a break or repeating a song, in jukes all over the South. Try his 2003 "Pushin My Luck" album.
Then, of course, that puts me in mind of one of my favorite Mississippi bluesman, Robert Belfour, who is famous for playing all night until the last dancer drops, without a break or repeating a song, in jukes all over the South. Try his 2003 "Pushin My Luck" album.
Well, there must be something in the water up in them thar hills, because the music just keeps on coming. If you like gospel, and who doesn't, then listen to "Como Now: The Voices of Panola Co., Mississippi"--beautiful acapella songs from the voices of the Como Mamas and other righteous singers live at the Mt. Marian Church on July 22, 2006
Finally, let's not forget the latest generation of hill country stars, who, along with Cedric Burnside and the North Mississippi Allstars, folks like Luther Dickinson, Lightnin' Malcolm, Jimbo Mathus, are carrying on the rollicking tradition, as exemplified on the latest album, "Belle of the West," from Samantha Fish, who is not from Mississippi, but Kansas City, but nevertheless pays tribute to "the Burnside Style," that continues, thank the Lord, to have a toe-tapping, foot-stomping, mesmerizing life of its own.
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