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R.L. Burnside |
 The
eight millionth R.L. Burnside album to date follows the formula
set by his previous album, Come On In, which remixed the
septuagenarian bluesman’s distinctive moan with modern performers and
hip-hop beats. If this sounds like your personal idea of torture, you’ll
probably want to pass on A Bothered Mind, as Burnside’s
vocals – his strongest selling point, if you ask me – are somewhat
buried beneath a phat-alanch of heavily manufactured boho funk grooves
and scratching by folks like Mike E. Clark, the talented Asian
rapper Lyrics Born and Detroit buffoon Kid Rock, who
gurgles his best Steven Tyler impression on “My Name Is Robert
Too.” At the risk of coming across like one of those mouth-breathing
purists who split their pants over anyone messing with the “purity” of
the blues, A Bothered Mind has its catchy moments, but the most
striking and emotional tracks feature just Burnside and his guitar. “Bird
Without a Feather” is a stripped-down acoustic recording from 1968
that’s steeped in mournful colors, while the drowsy “See What My
Buddy Done” pits a marble-mouthed but still feisty Burnside against
adopted son Kenny Brown’s snaky Delta guitar and insistent drums
from grandson Cedric Burnside. It’s definitely not beer
commercial music like the remix tracks, but then again, that’s not a bad
thing. Neither is this disc, but you’ll do better with Burnside’s
straight-ahead blues records. _____________________________________________________ |
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-Paul Gaita |