Charley Patton








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  Each month Bad Dog Blues takes a look at essential blues, those artists whose music stands the test of time. Each month we'll pick an artist or two or discuss a slice of blues history that we feel is important. We'll make sure to list all essential records. This month we take a look at the recent resurgence of interest in Charley Patton.

 

 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 2001 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. The set won three Grammies: Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package. Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album. 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, 70 years after his death, Patton finally seems to be getting some measure of popular recognition. It started earlier a couple of years back 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" 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. In 2002 JSP chimed in with the 5-CD budget priced "Complete Recordings 1929-34" and in 2004 Yazoo issued "The Best of Charlie Patton" a strong one CD volume of Patton's seminal recordings. There also appears to be a new Patton biography in the works.

 In 2003 there was more news on the Patton front when collector John Tefteller located a photo of a full body shot of Patton with guitar. A relative of a former employee of Paramount Records had in his possession a virtual mountain of original Paramount Records artwork including a 1930 Paramount promotional calendar that was mailed out to all of Paramount's customers/record distributors. Included in the 1930 calendar was this unknown photo of Charlie Patton. Prior to this the only known photo was one found in In the 1960’s, a small, grainy photo of only Patton’s head found in Georgia by blues collector Max Tarpley.

 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 Patton'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.

-Check out these related reviews:
The Definitive Charley Patton
Screamin' & Hollerin' The Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton

 




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