Skip James: Studio Sessions: Rare & Unreleased : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

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Nehemiah "Skip" James, a pioneer of the Delta-blues style in his 1931 recordings, was one of the supreme rediscovered performers of the 1960s blues revival. If this lost nineteen-song near-solo session from 1967 had been released around the time of his death two years later, it would have been big news, if only because Cream had recently covered his "I'm So Glad"; he also clearly influenced the revered Robert Johnson. James' eerie falsetto, detached yet menacing or lustful, continues to amaze, as does his bleak vision of love shadowed by death, and joy never far from doom. Fans of his eccentric, darting piano should note: He plays nearly as much keyboard as spidery guitar here. Supplementary, but from a master.

MILO MILES
(From RS 919, April 3, 2003)