Blind Lemon Jefferson

Among the influential guitarists of the 1920s only Lonnie Johnson claims a stature comparable to that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. Blind at birth, Jefferson began performing in his early teens, playing in the streets, at parties, wherever he could find an audience. As the years progressed, his repertoire expanded to include not only blues but also field hollers, work songs, ballads, prison songs, hymns -- all expressed in the idiosyncratic style he had developed. His guitar style is marked by unpredictable riffs and irregular rhythms that are free of any easily pinpointed influence. As a writer Jefferson was given to the dark, brooding tales, but he leavened chilling narratives such as "'Lectric Chair Blues" and "Prison Cell Blues" with the light of salvation proffered in gospel numbers ("He Arose from the Dead," "I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart") and a randy sense of humor ("Match Box Blues"). Recording steadily during the last four years of his life, Jefferson left a body of work that made a significant impact on succeeding generations of blues artists -- Lightnin' Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, and B.B. King are among the giants who acknowledged Jefferson's impact on their own styles -- and signature songs such as "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," "Black Snake Moan," and "Easy Rider Blues" that were recognized as genre classics. In addition he became a footnote in early rock & roll history when his "Match Box Blues" served as the foundation for Carl Perkins' 1957 rewrite, "Match Box," which was later covered by the Beatles.

The Yazoo and Milestone albums are highly recommended, as all three offer a broad overview of Jefferson's best-known work with a minimum of song duplications and uniformly solid annotation. By contrast, the skimpy nine-track Penitentiary Blues duplicates a few of the songs on the Milestone set, and its generic annotation fails to provide any information about the album itself. Aficionados, however, will find the two versions of "Black Snake Moan" interesting, as well as the starkly rendered title song. The newest Jefferson title, Blue on Blues from Varèse Sarabande, divides a dozen cuts between Jefferson and Charlie Patton, with Jefferson's representative tracks including "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," "Black Snake Moan," and "Penitentiary Blues." While the domestic releases do an exemplary job in telling Jefferson's story, completists will want to check out Document's four-volume Complete Recorded Works collection. (DAVID MCGEE)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide