Review:

on 2011-06-23 CharlesMartel Said:

Some of the best slide guitar you will ever hear in your life can be found on "Outside Woman Blues". This style of guitar playing developed in the south in the twenties and probably reached its apogee with the work of Blind Joe Reynolds. Many have since tried to copy him, but all have pretty much failed miserably at it. Blind Joe Reynolds got his affliction having been shot in the face in 1920, but his hearing was so accurate it was said he could hit a target with a pistol from sound alone.

The result of his increased acuity was an uncanny ability to identify pitch and tone and strike just the right of both when playing his guitar. His distinctive bottleneck style of guitar playing was combined with lyrics which often attacked society, the hypocrisy of it all, and the condition of the blacks, and was unusual for its time - being a black man with political opinions in the thirties could get you lynched in the south.

Like so many other blues songs, "Outside Woman Blues" was picked up by British guitarists in the sixties. Eric Clapton adapted it and it was later featured on Cream's album "Disraeli Gears".
Rating: 8/10