Tommy Johnson – Canned Heat Blues

Most of the best sounding material here has already appeared on RCA/BMG’s “Canned Heat Blues” compilation, which seems to be headed out of print at this writing. “Cool Drink of Water Blues” and “Canned Heat Blues” are by far the best known of Johnson’s works, but they’ve got a lot of worthy pieces surrounding them. “Big Road Blues” is a fine showcase for Johnson’s and Charlie McCoy’s paired guitars, playing two complex, interwoven figures. And “Bye Bye Blues” and “Maggie Campbell Blues” show off his unique vocal qualities, not the dark heaviness typical of bluesmen at the time, but a more flexible, lighter-toned, more relaxed instrument that, coupled with his and McCoy’s guitars, made his music as “busy” as it was beautiful.