r.l. burnside r.i.p.

think he's talking about Tav Falco's archive

some of the same crew here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3e-BNLYrMU

my all things Memphis music & film knower pal says he thinks it was likely Tav shooting on Eggleston’s camera, and that Tav and Randall had a “company” that shot concerts, etc called TeleVista (maybe mentioned in Gordon’s recent It Came From Memphis update); he thinks the comment re “archives” could be regarding the footage they would have shot.

lol so yes basically what tylerw said!

anyway, I have enjoyed these clips immensely. thanks for the thread bump.

If you haven't heard "First Recordings" which Fat Possum put out in 2002, they are George Mitchell's recordings from 1967/68 of Burnside and he was pretty much fully formed even at that point, already playing "Goin Down South" (in fact this vers might be my favorite).

Revisited this just now and it's still one of the greatest things ever imo.

Agreed. Also, Tav Falco liked my comment on the video that started this revive.

If you haven't heard "First Recordings" which Fat Possum put out in 2002, they are George Mitchell's recordings from 1967/68 of Burnside and he was pretty much fully formed even at that point, already playing "Goin Down South" (in fact this vers might be my favorite).
Revisited this just now and it's still one of the greatest things ever imo.

― pomenitul, Sunday, 21 February 2021 17:52 (yesterday) link

Even compared to other Mitchell recordings from the era, which are plenty raw, the Burnside ones have an "otherness" to them, that droning tone of his voice matched with the guitar that makes it feel different from any others blues recordings of the time, the only thing that seems comparable are the Junior Kimbrough ones from 66 that also didn't get released until way later

Well put, that’s precisely why I love them so much. Bits of it make me feel like I’m listening to, I dunno, Ali Farka Touré or even Hamza El Din. I haven’t heard the Kimbrough sessions, though, so thanks for the heads up.

The Kimbrough sessions Fat Possum did as a 10 inch ep, they are good, with a band in a studio, they are superficially more electric "blues" but it is still Kimbrough so still weird if not quite as free as his 90s material

Yeah Ali Farka Toure isn't far off or all those Tuareg bands, Group Inerane, Bombino, but there is a weird "keening" to Burnside that makes me think of Irish fiddle music or something

But yeah even if Mississippis Fred McDowell had told Mitchell to not release the Burnside recordings it does also seem pretty clear that RL was still way outside even marketing to hardcore blues collectors at the time

the seven-disc george mitchell boxed set is a steal and packed with amazing sounds: https://store.fatpossum.com/products/the-george-mitchell-box-set

I've shown students video of Groupe Inerane and Burnside performing "See My Jumper," it always blows their minds, the ways sounds and aural traditions survive and persist and travel back and forth between the continents

All I know is the brilliantly sinister "Shuck Dub" clip from The Sopranos, which I've watched about a dozen times since this thread was revived. Will investigate other things mentioned here.

Something I've come to love even more than "Shuck Dub": "Goin' Down South," which is posted just above. I've got three of his CDs now (one I haven't listened to yet), and most of what I've heard is neither here nor there. But for those two songs alone, he occupies some tiny corner of my pantheon.

I see now that the clip above is not the one on First Recordings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCCDN7uWrZ0