And This Is Maxwell Street (Rooster)   

   If ever there was a document that caught the very essence of what Chicago Blues was all about this is certainly it. This three disc set features the street recordings from the 1964 Mike Shea film documentary, And This Is Free, plus a slew of previously unreleased performances of equal importance. These recordings were recorded live on Chicago's Maxwell Street, a mecca for bluesman trying to hustle a few bucks from the passing crowd. The music is raw and wild with plenty of ambience from the passing crowds, street corner preachers and hawkers of every kind.

  Hardcore blues fans may be familiar with some of this which came out on Rounder Records under the title Robert Nighthawk Live On Maxwell Street -1964. At the time of their release these recordings were incorrectly credited, both for the songs, publishing and for much of the personnel. It turns out that the performances themselves were also edited, giving two decades' of listeners an incomplete and historically incorrect picture of those recordings as they were originally captured. Finally on And This Is Maxwell Street we have all the existing recordings with superior sound and proper credits. The results of such attention to detail has produced a remarkable document that completely overshadows the Rounder release. It should be noted that this material was released last year but only on the Japanese P-Vine label.

  The 30 tracks contain wonderful performances by Maxwell Street regulars such as Robert Nighthawk, Johnny Young, Carey Bell, Arvella Gray, Big John Wrencher and several others. Big John Wrencher's recorded legacy is meager so it's great to have more music by this excellent harmonica player. Speaking of harmonica, Carey Bell makes his presence known on a few over the top performances including the aptly titled "Carey'n On" and the swaggering "I'm Ready" in addition to backing Nighthawk on a bunch of numbers. In addition to blues there are some stirring gospel numbers by lesser knowns such as James and Fannie Brewer and Carrie Robinson that will give you shivers down your spine.

  Above all it's the music of legendary slide man Robert Nighthawk who dominates these recordings playing on 22 of the 30 tracks. Nighthawk's playing is nothing short of magnificent firmly cementing his reputation as perhaps the greatest slide guitarist the blues has ever seen. In addition to the previously released material there are five tracks by Nighthawk which are seeing the light of day for the first time including the blistering instrumental "Back Off Jam" played to a very appreciative and vocal crowd. Nighthawk recorded very sporadically making these sides all the more prized. One of the many surprises is the presence of previously unidentified guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Deemed "unauthentic" by Shea, none of Bloomfield's work was filmed and all of his off-mike lead work with Nighthawk was consequently edited out from the tapes on the Rounder album. Here, Bloomfield takes the lead on the two Johnny Young numbers and also shows up on Nighthawk's version of "Dust My Broom" and on the now longer medley of "Annie Lee"/"Sweet Black Angel," swapping licks with the old master.

  In addition to the music there's a bonus third disc containing a 45 minute interview with Nighthawk conducted by Mike Bloomfield. Surprisingly this was the only time this elusive bluesman was interviewed in depth making it all the more valuable.

  The words landmark and legendary are to easily thrown about but if any recording merits such words it's certainly this one. The lengthy, detailed liner notes make for fascinating reading and provide the icing on the cake for what is certainly one of the most important blues documents to come out in some time.

(Jeff Harris)