R.L. Burnside - Early Recordings

If the Beach Boys conjure up visions of surfing, California girls and a woody on the beach, R.L. Burnside’s buzzing, down-home blues brings to mind back-porch summer nights with crickets and bullfrogs and the gut-warming comfort of aged southern whiskey. Burnside’s Delta music rocks hard—even when it consists, as it does here, of just guttural voice and acoustic guitar. Tracks like “Skinny Woman” and “My Time Ain’t Long” give off a raw heat that leaves the listener sweating and thirsty for more.