A Poet Of The Blues"Sleepy" John Estes was one of the greatest Blues poets. Though he could barely play guitar, he was a fantastic, emotional singer and one of the best lyricists in the history of the Blues. "Black Mattie Blues", "Down South Blues", "Drop Down Mama" and "Lawyer Clark Blues" are all fantastic. There isn't a dull song on this album. Estes was known for singing about the people and places around him, thus his Blues is very personal. When he was found in the 1960s, living in complete filth, he had already gone stone blind. He was brought to the Country Blues concerts of the day, but failed to re-capture the greatness he had once achieved. Still, this is an essential album for all Blues fans!
Navasota's BestThis is a very strong album by Mance Lipscomb, that is simply missing tracks that are on the level of his "Willie Poor Boy" or "Sugar Babe". Mance was songster; he was capable of playing all types of music; Blues, polka, waltzes, ballads, popular songs of the day, etc. I strongly recommend the Lipscomb/Hopkins dvd available from Yazoo, as it's very enjoyable.
A Bit Of A DisappointmentI'm not sure why other reviewers are giving this album five stars, as it is definitely a disappointment when compared to "People Gonna Talk", a far superior album. I highly dislike "Til The End", but there are some great songs on this disc, like "The Hard Way", "Hand It Over", "Jacqueline" and "Class Act". "Carina" is an excellent track, which is quite similar to the previous album's "Mollena". The other songs on this album are just sort of there. Still, I'm extremely interested in seeing Hunter perform live. He has one of the best voices around today and his guitar playing is immediately recognizable. He's a real throwback to the 1960s soul scene.
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