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 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.
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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.
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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.
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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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