The Resurgence Of Charley Patton

 In 1990, after years of promises, Columbia released the Robert Johnson 2-CD box set wich included every scrap of Johnson material known to exist. Expectations were that it would sell 20, 000 copies. The box set went on to sell over a million units, the first blues recordings ever to do so. In October of this year Revenant issued Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton a lavish 7-CD set including everything Charlie Patton recorded plus additional material. Unlike the Robert Johnson set it's a fairly safe bet that this set won't go gold but the fact that it was even produced says much about the renewed interest in Charley Patton.

 This year, 67 years after his death, Patton finally seems to be getting some measure of popular recognition. It started earlier this year with the 3-CD The Definitive Charley Patton on Catfish Records a beautifully packaged set containing all of Patton's recordings sans the alternative takes. On the heels of that set came Telarc's Down The Dirt Road: The Songs Of Charlie Patton with contemporary artists paying tribute to Patton which made for a nice change to the multitude of Robert Johnson tributes. Finally Bob Dylan released Love And Theft in September with a song titled "High Water (For Charlie Patton)" a reference to Patton's great flood song of the same name. Considering Dylan's rabid fan base (and judging from the online newsgroups) this song more than anything else may garner a good deal of interest in Patton's music. There also appears to be a new Patton biography in the works. And now, on top of it all, we have the mammoth Revenant box set to contend with.

 Patton's historical importance is without doubt and he was one of the founders of the Mississippi Delta blues style. Musically Patton was a force of nature possessing a propulsive, percussive guitar style, stomping his feet and hollering the blues with unparalleled intensity. Patton was a true celebrity, well known throughout the Delta, and a seminal influence on musicians throughout the region. His relatively short recording career (1929-1934) includes all time classics like "Pony Blues", "A Spoonful Blues" and "Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues" among many others.

 Many serious blues fans consider Patton the best ever but this recent spark of popular interest is certainly unexpected. Robert Johnson's music is positively accessible compared to that of Patton's. One of the major stumbling blocks is the extremely poor fidelity of the original 78's which until recently were seemingly impervious to sound restoration. Also Patton's vocals can be almost incomprehensible on first listen coupled with his intimidating growls and spoken asides.

 Revenant's Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton may be the ultimate document to raise Patton's profile featuring 5 CD's with all issued and unissued recordings by Patton, a 6th CD of artists in Charley's "orbit" and a 7th CD of interviews with Patton associates. And there's more including reprint of John Fahey's 1970 Patton book, 128 pages of new notes by Fahey and other blues scholars, complete lyric transcriptions, full-size reproductions of the 6 original 1929 Paramount ads, a full set of 78 record label stickers from all Charley's Paramount, Vocalion and Herwin releases all housed in a deluxe '78 Album' hardcover book and slipcase. Despite the lavishness it's unlikely that Patton will ever become the cultural icon that Robert Johnson has become. Johnson's short life, the oft told tale of selling his soul to the devil in exchange for his musical prowess, his tragic death and small body of songs filled with dark imagery has combined to make Johnson a mythic figure. It's doubtful we'll see Patton's likeness plastered on t-shirts, posters, guitar picks and the like anytime soon. Still it's encouraging to to see Patton in the limelight for a change no matter how long it lasts.

[Look for the Revenant box set to reviewed in the next month or so]

-Check out this related review:
The Definitive Charley Patton