RORY BLOCKER
''AVALON: A TRIBUTE TO MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT''
JUNE 3 2013
51:01
1 /Everybody Loves John
Rory Block/5:23
2 /Avalon
John Hurt/5:16
3 /Candy Man
John Hurt/3:42
4 /Frankie & Albert
Traditional/5:59
5 /Got the Blues Can't Be Satisfied
John Hurt/4:00
6 /Louis Collins
John Hurt/4:17
7 /Richland Woman Blues
John Hurt/4:44
8 /Spike Driver Blues
John Hurt/4:17
9 /Stagolee
John Hurt/4:01
10 /Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor
Traditional/4:44
11 /Pay Day
John Hurt/4:38
REVIEW
by Al Campbell
Rory Block pays tribute to blues icon Mississippi John Hurt on the fifth installment of her "Mentor Series," which also includes previous releases dedicated to Robert Johnson, Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Son House. Ten of the 11 tracks on the CD are associated with Hurt except for the Block original, "Everybody Loves John." Rory Block first met Hurt in December of 1963, backstage at a gig that also featured old-time banjo player Dock Boggs. Introduced to Hurt by blues historian and acoustic guitarist Stefan Grossman, Block was so impressed that she began to study his songs, his distinct finger picking technique, and his interest in diverse styles of music. Hurt was a bluesman who didn't just stick to the blues form, he embraced folk, jazz, Appalachian country songs, flamenco, music from Africa, and popular tunes of the era. For this session Block chose ten classic songs in Hurt's repertoire including "Candy Man," "Frankie & Albert," "Got the Blues Can't Be Satisfied," "Richland Woman Blues," "Spike Driver Blues," "Stagolee," and "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor." Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt is not only an enjoyable release on its own terms, but it may lead a whole new set of curious listeners to investigate the original recordings made by a classic American blues musician.
BIOGRAPHY
by Chris Nickson
Aurora "Rory" Block has staked her claim to being one of America's top acoustic blues women, an interpreter of the great Delta blues singers, a slide guitarist par excellence, and a talented songwriter in her own right. Born and raised in Manhattan by a family that had bohemian leanings, she spent her formative years hanging out with musicians like Peter Rowan, John Sebastian, and Geoff Muldaur, who hung out in her father's sandal shop, before picking up the guitar at the age of ten. Her record debut came two years later, backing her father on The Elektra String Band Project, a concept album. She met guitarist Stefan Grossman, who, like her, was in love with the blues. The pair would often travel to the Bronx to visit Reverend Gary Davis, one of the greatest living bluesmen.
At the tender age of 15 Block left home, hitting the road in true '60s fashion and traveling through the South, where she learned her blues trade at the feet of Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, her greatest influence, before ending up in Berkeley. It was there that she developed her slide technique (she uses a socket wrench as her slide), but she didn't record until 1975, when she released I'm in Love (a compilation of earlier material, The Early Tapes 1975-1976, appeared later). After two records for Chrysalis, she recorded the instructional How to Play Blues Guitar for Grossman's Kicking Mule label, and later moved to then-fledgling Rounder, with whom she enjoyed an ongoing relationship. She toured constantly, often playing as many as 250 dates in a year, which kept her away from her family -- she'd married and begun having children in the early '70s -- but developed her reputation as a strong, vibrant live performer, and one of the best players of old country blues in America.
In 1987, the best of Block's Rounder cuts were compiled on Best Blues & Originals, which, as it said, featured her interpretations of blues classics and some of her own material. Two of the tracks, released as singles in Belgium and Holland, became gold records. In addition to her regular albums, Block made a series of instructional records and videos, as well as a children's record, Color Me Wild. Although she had been performing for a long time, the plaudits didn't really begin until 1992, when she won a NAIRD Award for Ain't I a Woman, a feat repeated in 1994 and 1997. In 1996, she began winning W.C. Handy Awards, first for Best Traditional Album (When a Woman Gets the Blues), and in 1997 and 1998 for Best Traditional Blues Female Artist. In 1997 she was elected to the CAMA Hall of Fame, and in 1999 she received yet another Handy Award, for Best Acoustic Blues Album (Confessions of a Blues Singer).
Block continued to tour, although not as heavily as in earlier times, often accompanied by her grown son Jordan Block, who also plays on her albums. She remained busy in the early part of the 2000s, releasing six albums, including a live recording. Issued in 2005, From the Dust drew rave critical reviews, as did 2006's The Lady and Mr. Johnson, an album that saw Block taking on selected songs of her musical hero, idol, and biggest influence, Robert Johnson. A digital video disc, The Guitar Artistry of Rory Block, was released in 2008. Shake 'Em on Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell, which honored another of her country-blues mentors, appeared in 2011, followed two years later by Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt.
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''AVALON: A TRIBUTE TO MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT''
JUNE 3 2013
51:01
1 /Everybody Loves John
Rory Block/5:23
2 /Avalon
John Hurt/5:16
3 /Candy Man
John Hurt/3:42
4 /Frankie & Albert
Traditional/5:59
5 /Got the Blues Can't Be Satisfied
John Hurt/4:00
6 /Louis Collins
John Hurt/4:17
7 /Richland Woman Blues
John Hurt/4:44
8 /Spike Driver Blues
John Hurt/4:17
9 /Stagolee
John Hurt/4:01
10 /Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor
Traditional/4:44
11 /Pay Day
John Hurt/4:38
REVIEW
by Al Campbell
Rory Block pays tribute to blues icon Mississippi John Hurt on the fifth installment of her "Mentor Series," which also includes previous releases dedicated to Robert Johnson, Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Son House. Ten of the 11 tracks on the CD are associated with Hurt except for the Block original, "Everybody Loves John." Rory Block first met Hurt in December of 1963, backstage at a gig that also featured old-time banjo player Dock Boggs. Introduced to Hurt by blues historian and acoustic guitarist Stefan Grossman, Block was so impressed that she began to study his songs, his distinct finger picking technique, and his interest in diverse styles of music. Hurt was a bluesman who didn't just stick to the blues form, he embraced folk, jazz, Appalachian country songs, flamenco, music from Africa, and popular tunes of the era. For this session Block chose ten classic songs in Hurt's repertoire including "Candy Man," "Frankie & Albert," "Got the Blues Can't Be Satisfied," "Richland Woman Blues," "Spike Driver Blues," "Stagolee," and "Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor." Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt is not only an enjoyable release on its own terms, but it may lead a whole new set of curious listeners to investigate the original recordings made by a classic American blues musician.
BIOGRAPHY
by Chris Nickson
Aurora "Rory" Block has staked her claim to being one of America's top acoustic blues women, an interpreter of the great Delta blues singers, a slide guitarist par excellence, and a talented songwriter in her own right. Born and raised in Manhattan by a family that had bohemian leanings, she spent her formative years hanging out with musicians like Peter Rowan, John Sebastian, and Geoff Muldaur, who hung out in her father's sandal shop, before picking up the guitar at the age of ten. Her record debut came two years later, backing her father on The Elektra String Band Project, a concept album. She met guitarist Stefan Grossman, who, like her, was in love with the blues. The pair would often travel to the Bronx to visit Reverend Gary Davis, one of the greatest living bluesmen.
At the tender age of 15 Block left home, hitting the road in true '60s fashion and traveling through the South, where she learned her blues trade at the feet of Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt, her greatest influence, before ending up in Berkeley. It was there that she developed her slide technique (she uses a socket wrench as her slide), but she didn't record until 1975, when she released I'm in Love (a compilation of earlier material, The Early Tapes 1975-1976, appeared later). After two records for Chrysalis, she recorded the instructional How to Play Blues Guitar for Grossman's Kicking Mule label, and later moved to then-fledgling Rounder, with whom she enjoyed an ongoing relationship. She toured constantly, often playing as many as 250 dates in a year, which kept her away from her family -- she'd married and begun having children in the early '70s -- but developed her reputation as a strong, vibrant live performer, and one of the best players of old country blues in America.
In 1987, the best of Block's Rounder cuts were compiled on Best Blues & Originals, which, as it said, featured her interpretations of blues classics and some of her own material. Two of the tracks, released as singles in Belgium and Holland, became gold records. In addition to her regular albums, Block made a series of instructional records and videos, as well as a children's record, Color Me Wild. Although she had been performing for a long time, the plaudits didn't really begin until 1992, when she won a NAIRD Award for Ain't I a Woman, a feat repeated in 1994 and 1997. In 1996, she began winning W.C. Handy Awards, first for Best Traditional Album (When a Woman Gets the Blues), and in 1997 and 1998 for Best Traditional Blues Female Artist. In 1997 she was elected to the CAMA Hall of Fame, and in 1999 she received yet another Handy Award, for Best Acoustic Blues Album (Confessions of a Blues Singer).
Block continued to tour, although not as heavily as in earlier times, often accompanied by her grown son Jordan Block, who also plays on her albums. She remained busy in the early part of the 2000s, releasing six albums, including a live recording. Issued in 2005, From the Dust drew rave critical reviews, as did 2006's The Lady and Mr. Johnson, an album that saw Block taking on selected songs of her musical hero, idol, and biggest influence, Robert Johnson. A digital video disc, The Guitar Artistry of Rory Block, was released in 2008. Shake 'Em on Down: A Tribute to Mississippi Fred McDowell, which honored another of her country-blues mentors, appeared in 2011, followed two years later by Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt.
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