Taj Mahal – Consummate Blues-man by Edward Jennings

Taj Mahal – Consummate Blues-man

By Edward Jennings, on 03 Mar 09, 2013

I have been a fan of Taj Mahal’s eclectic sound for 45 years. I am partial to his earliest recordings beginning with Taj Mahal’s first recording with Columbia Records released in 1968. He is without provocation “the” consummate blues-man.

A master harmonica player, electric guitar player, national steel guitarist with the ability to drop just the right sound required for each song. He’s quoted on the liner notes as saying,

”This is the music I feel at home with. Now I really dig Dylan, but I don’t play much of that. Dylan, though, he’s one of the twentieth-century greats: Dylan… the Beatles… Jomo Kenyatta. “I got more heros than Wild Bill Hickok had notches on his belt.” He later mentions that this record is recorded mostly live. “None of that goin’ in and overdubbing something you did two weeks ago.”