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When the Ken Burns' documentary series Jazz premiered on PBS in 2001, a series of artist compilations were released using the series as a brand name, and they sold quite well.
So, with Martin Scorsese overseeing a series of films for PBS with the overall name The Blues in 2003, much the same sort of campaign was launched, and this 15-track compilation of Taj Mahal's work from the late '60s to the mid-'70s was part of it.
There's nothing wrong with the material, drawn largely from albums such as Taj Mahal, The Natch'l Blues, and Giant Steps/De Ole Folks at Home.
But it had only been three years since Columbia/Legacy released the 17-track The Best of Taj Mahal, which shares many of the same tracks, and that album was still in print when this one was released.
If viewers, inspired by watching television, were inspired to buy a Taj Mahal album and picked this one up because of the tie-in, they would get a good selection of the highlights of his early work.
But as an addition to his existing catalog, this release was essentially redundant.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leaving TrunkSleepy John Estes | Taj Mahal | Play | 04:48 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Dust My BroomRobert Johnson | Taj Mahal | Play | 02:37 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | ChevroletTaj Mahal, Ed Young, Lonnie Young | Taj Mahal | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Going Up to the Country, Paint My Mailbox BlueTaj Mahal | Taj Mahal | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Statesboro BluesBlind Willie McTell | Taj Mahal, Blind Willie McTell | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | She Caught the Katy (And Left Me a Mule to Ride)Taj Mahal, Yank Rachell | Taj Mahal | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Checkin' Up on My BabySonny Boy Williamson II | Taj Mahal | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Queen BeeBernard Besman, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal | Taj Mahal | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your BondB.W. Johnson | Taj Mahal | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Fishin' BluesH. "Hank" Thomas | Taj Mahal | Play | 02:55 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | Six Days on the RoadEarl Green, Carl Montgomery | Taj Mahal | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 12 | Ain't That a Lot of LoveHomer Banks, Deanie Parker | Taj Mahal | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 13 | Corinna (From "The Natch'l Blues") | Taj Mahal | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 14 | Bound To Love Me Some (Album Version) | Taj Mahal | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 52 mins | 119 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
Note: You are able to listen to 30-second samples for preview purpose.
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Austopchuk | Art Direction |
| 2 | Homer Banks | Composer |
| 3 | Steven Berkowitz | A&R, Producer |
| 4 | Bernard Besman | Composer |
| 5 | Margaret Bodde | Producer |
| 6 | Sir Harry Bowens | Vocals (Background) |
| 7 | Tony Braunagel | Drums, Percussion, Tambourine |
| 8 | Bob Cato | Photography |
| 9 | Geary Chansley | Photo Research |
| 10 | Jon Cleary | Piano, Wurlitzer |
| 11 | David Coleman | Guitar |
| 12 | Ry Cooder | Guest Artist |
| 13 | Rudy Costa | Wind |
| 14 | Elizabeth Cotten | Composer |
| 15 | Joseph Daley | Trombone, Tuba |
| 16 | Jesse Ed Davis | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Organ, Piano |
| 17 | Kwasi "Rocky" Dzidzornu | Bells, Congas, Percussion |
| 18 | Salimah El Amin | Photo Research |
| 19 | Sleepy John Estes | Composer |
| 20 | Ulrich Felsburg | Executive Producer |
| 21 | Yvonne Fimbres | Vocals |
| 22 | Ray Fitzpatrick | Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals |
| 23 | Terrence Forsythe | Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Bismark Franco | Percussion |
| 25 | Carole Fredericks | Vocals |
| 26 | Howard Fritzson | Art Direction |
| 27 | Larry Fulcher | Bass |
| 28 | David Gahr | Photography |
| 29 | Alex Gibney | A&R, Series Producer |
| 30 | Gary Gilmore | Bass |
| 31 | Earl Green | Composer |
| 32 | Margery Greenspan | Design |
| 33 | Paul Grupp | Producer |
| 34 | Joni Haastrup | Vocals |
| 35 | Jo Hay | Design |
| 36 | John Lee Hooker | Composer |
| 37 | Michele Horie | Project Coordinator |
| 38 | Richard Hutton | Producer |
| 39 | John Jackson | Project Manager |
| 40 | B.W. Johnson | Composer |
| 41 | Howard Johnson | Sax (Baritone), Tuba |
| 42 | Robert Johnson | Composer |
| 43 | Jeff Jones | Executive Producer |
| 44 | Sanford Konikoff | Drums |
| 45 | Al Kooper | Guest Artist, Piano |
| 46 | Urve Kuusik | Photography |
| 47 | Pat Lawrence | Executive Producer |
| 48 | Fong Y. Lee | Packaging Manager |
| 49 | Dan Luskin | Photo Research |
| 50 | Jeff Magid | Compilation Producer |
| 51 | Inshirah Mahal | Vocals |
| 52 | Taj Mahal | Adaptation, Arranger, Banjo, Composer, Dobro, Fife, Flute, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Steel), Harmonica, Kazoo, Mandolin, Penny Whistle, Primary Artist, Producer, Slide Guitar, Vocals, Whistle (Human) |
| 53 | Patti Matheny | A&R |
| 54 | Larry McDonald | Keyboards, Percussion |
| 55 | Earl McIntyre | Trombone, Trombone (Bass), Tuba |
| 56 | Andy McKaie | A&R, Producer |
| 57 | Blind Willie McTell | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 58 | Carl Montgomery | Composer |
| 59 | Andy Narell | Drums (Steel) |
| 60 | Rashaida Nirobe | Vocals |
| 61 | Ryan Null | Photo Research |
| 62 | Ellen Nygaard | Icon |
| 63 | Adam Owett | Art Direction |
| 64 | Joseph M. Palmaccio | Mastering |
| 65 | Earl Palmer | Drums |
| 66 | Deanie Parker | Composer |
| 67 | Hank Parker | Photography |
| 68 | Jody Patton | Executive Producer |
| 69 | Jeffrey Peisch | Series Producer |
| 70 | Don Peterson | Photography |
| 71 | John Porter | Producer |
| 72 | Yank Rachell | Composer |
| 73 | Mona Ram | Vocals |
| 74 | Jerry Rappaport | A&R |
| 75 | Billy Rich | Bass |
| 76 | David Ritz | Liner Notes |
| 77 | David Rubinson | Producer |
| 78 | Darren Salmieri | A&R |
| 79 | Johnny Lee Schell | Guitar |
| 80 | Martin Scorsese | Executive Producer, Liner Notes |
| 81 | Ken Settle | Photography |
| 82 | Rhonda Shields | Project Manager |
| 83 | Kester Smith | Percussion |
| 84 | Bob Stewart | Flugelhorn, Tuba |
| 85 | Donna Taylor | Vocals (Background) |
| 86 | H. "Hank" Thomas | Composer |
| 87 | James "Son" Thomas | Bass |
| 88 | Traditional | Composer |
| 89 | Vartan | Art Direction |
| 90 | Mick Weaver | Organ (Hammond) |
| 91 | Guy Webster | Photography |
| 92 | Sonny Boy Williamson II | Composer |
| 93 | Baron Wolman | Cover Photo, Tray Photo |
| 94 | Hoshal Wright | Guitar, Guitar (Electric) |
| 95 | Ed Young | Composer |
| 96 | Lonnie Young | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |