REP your fave TAJ MAHAL fire
Mr_Lee_PHD
2,042 Posts
I watched the Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus DVD in which Taj Mahal[/b] performed Ain't That a Lotta Love[/b], Checkin' Up On My Baby[/b], Corrina[/b] and Leavin' Truck[/b]. I was royally blown away by it and gotta get me some more of that fire.So, plaese to drop some names of tracks you particularly dig by this dude..Paece. Lee.
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Taj Mahal is so diverse that a best-of would probably be the best thing to buy first. The Best Of Taj Mahal (on Columbia) is how I got started, but by now there are quite a few Mahal compilations on the market.
After that...The Natch'l Blues, from '68, is a good one - two of the songs you mention ("Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and "Corrina") are from that album, and was probably his most recent at the time it was filmed.
Other faves of mine:
- Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home (from 1969 - half electric, half acoustic)
- Happy Just To Be Like I Am (still mainly blues, but he's starting to experiment with Carribean rhythms...1971)
- Mo' Roots (1974) and Music Fuh Ya (1976) (he's really starting to get all up in African/Carribean music on these two LP's)
- Evolution (The Most Recent (1978) (all over the place)
He's still around, and turning out so many eclectic records it's hard to keep track, but he's still at the top of his game (and worth seeing live; the man has charisma for days).
this lp isnt really much fire but "fool-ology (the song)" and "from the files of agent 22" are decent tunes. thanks to massive artists line up such as Lester bowie and allen toussaint
i have the "Night rider" 45 promo too but thats
I saw the late, great Ali Farka Toure's last ever London show, alongside Toumani Diabate, a couple of years back. It was mesmerising. I shouldn't have been surprised by the realisation, but there was this one improv they did where Ali was peeling off licks that were pure Delta blues. I just sat there thinking, fucking hell, this shit is the actual source of all of it. A humbling moment, I can tell you.
If you haven't haerd the RRC versions, czech em out. They are fire.
Album Version ----- RRC Version
That said, I'm loving the the stuff you're all mentioning here. Thanks dudes.
Yeah!! I was like
They were miming too.
I think that may have been the point with Toure...when his albums were first released Stateside, blues fans were impressed with how close he sounded to John Lee Hooker.
Yeah, of course you're right. I came to Ali's music quite late, so I wasn't too familiar with what people were saying when he first emerged. The "Red" and "Green" albums that World Circuit reissued a few years ago, which I understand were the records that first got him noticed outside of Africa, are real bluesy. Beautiful stuff.
My sister married a New Zealander and about 10 years ago we were down there with the family. My dad set up a day of trout fishing on Lake Taupo with a guide. We get to the guide's house at like 7AM and I get to ride in his truck while the family follows in the rental. The guide's name is "Louie the Fish" and he's this crazed Italian guy from Connecticut who went to the South Pacific to become a fishing guide. After 10 years or so in Fiji or the Cook Islands he moves to New Zealand with his islander wife. Louie is also a really good harmonica player and likes to play while he's driving (a stick no less). The whole ride he's playing this harp, telling stories and driving like a maniac. Somehow Taj Mahal's name comes up and Louie goes off about what good friends they are and how Taj comes to New Zealand a few times a year (he lives in Hawaii) to fish with him.
A few weeks later I'm back in DC and go to see Taj Mahal at the (old) Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. One of the great things about that venue is that if you stick around after the show you get to meet the artist afterwards (I met Dr. John and Jorge Ben this way). Anyway, after an amazing show they set up a table for Taj's meet and greet. There's long line of people and Taj is really nice to everyone but when I get up to the front I mention having gone fishing with "Louie the Fish" and Taj just lights up. "You know Louie!" he bellows, gives me a bear hug and proceeds to spend about 15 minutes talking to me like we were long lost best friends. Lovely guy and a great muscian.
BTW - We did catch a lot of fish with Louie so look him up if you're in Taupo.
Anyway, that album was good.
one of my favorite records ever, no one seems to mention it very often in Mahal's stuff. (I also really like his debut, Giant Step and Mo Roots).
this was recorded in 1971 at the fillmore east and its got this incredible extended jam on "Ain't Gwine to Whistle Dixie No More," a solo-acoustic version of "Fishing Blues," and straight up funk like "Sweet Mama Janisse" and "You're Gonna Need Somebody on your Bond" and burners like "Diving Duck Blues." He does a great job incorporating horns and tuba (!) and everything. Amazing arrangements.
I started to bring that up.
About three years ago TV Land was rerunning The Flip Wilson Show (are they still?) and sure enough, the Taj Mahal ep (from '73) was shown. He did two songs, "Cakewalk Into Town" (just Taj on guitar, with Red Callender backing him up on tuba) plus an instrumental where he played kalimba (the audience reaction shots were priceless, as they all gazed in wonder at Taj plucking away at this African box that these days looks like a wooden video game).
My first exposure to Taj was on In Concert (a late-night TV show that featured live rock bands) that same year...I, too, was a kid watching this, and yes, he whipped out the kalimba on that show as well.
This one used to be a slow starter for me, but halfway through it just cooks. I like this a lot too.
"....get yo ass into it!"
Pickwick or someone will know details but he was in a band with Ry Cooder and Jesse Ed Davis. They signed to a major (columbia?) and recorded an lp. I think the lp got shelved but then Taj put out that first record with the chickens and with Ry and Jesse. I've heard cuts from the shelved record and my recollection is just as well. Ry of course also played with the Stones and has great solo lps and has ventured into numerous styles and has played with Ali Farka. Jesse Ed never made a great lp, but he was a great guitarist.
My Ry story. The national folk festival at Wolf Trap about 1972. I missed the first day, but on the second day everyone was talking about Taj. Seemed in the afternoon he did a workshop on a little stage in the woods. Everyone was smoking dope and grooving, singing and clapping along. Then on the big stage that night the vibe continued. People were clapping along and it was a party. Then Taj did his conch shell thing and people were still making noise and he got pissed and walked off stage and wouldn't come back. So any way, people were talking about it like it was Dylan going electric at Newport.
I've seen him a number of times. The last time he was way too laid back and gave the show over to his band.
I agree. The name of the band was the Rising Sons, and although it's not a total writeoff, it's not a lost classic either.