[TR24][OF] Robert Lockwood, Jr. - Delta Crossroads (Remastered) - 2000/2018 (Blues)

Robert Lockwood Jr. is a blues treasure. Blues credibility doesn’t get any deeper or more real than Robert Lockwood Jr. On Delta Crossroads, the 85-year-old Delta bluesman lays out a heartfelt homage to the immortal Robert Johnson, his guitar teacher, close friend, role model and possibly step-father. Playing the acoustic 12-string guitar and singing with uncommon authority, Lockwood delivers unaccompanied, bone-chilling renditions of Johnson classics like “32-20 Blues,” “Stop Breakin’ Down Blues,” “Mr. Downchild,” “Love In Vain Blues” and “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” along with authentically earthy readings of Leroy Carr’s “Mean Mistreater Mama” and “In the Evening,” Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “C.C. Rider” and “Key to the Highway,” which Lockwood says was written by Jazz Gillum and not Big Bill Broonzy, who usually gets credit. I guess he would know. This purely acoustic offering is a rich tribute and a must for Delta fanatics.
“There’s a stereotype about the Delta blues. You know the one: some guy sitting on a back porch somewhere, or maybe in a boxcar, with his guitar, singing about some woman who left him. But real Delta blues is far more flexible, creative, and, above all, spooky than that. It takes someone who learned from the style’s master–that would be Robert Johnson, in case you’re wondering–to explore the music’s length and breadth, and that someone is Robert Lockwood Jr. That’s why, even though he covers some of the hoariest chestnuts the Delta blues has to offer–yep, there’s “Dust My Broom,” and yep, there’s “Love in Vain,” and “Ramblin’ on My Mind,” not to mention Lightnin’ Hopkins’s “C.C. Rider,” which has been covered by just about everyone who can sling an acoustic guitar–Lockwood keeps the music fresh and appealing. There’s no question that he’s good at what he does; he’s won a W.C. Handy award, been nominated for a Grammy, and remained one of the most respected bluesmen around for decades. It would be hard to select a more clichéd title for a Delta blues album than Delta Crossroads–Lockwood does not, by the way, cover “Crossroad Blues” on this album, but that’s fine; he’s earned the right.” (Genevieve Williams)