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Album Details

• Artist: Richard Leo Johnson
• Album: The Legend of Vernon McAlister
• Label: Cuneiform Records
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2006-06-21

To paraphrase Henry Miller, whenever I hear someone mentioned with the greats, I reach for my revolver. Over the course of three records, Country blues guitarist Richard Leo Johnson has been praised all the way to the pearly throne, putting him in the room with Fahey, Kottke, Bailey, and, gulp, even Hendrix. But damn, if there hasn't been an ounce of hyperbole yet. When I heard the opening track, " Morning Glory", I literally fell off my chair, and almost bawled like a little bee-atch.
The dexterity and emotional power is truly overwhelming. Johnson, playing a vintage1930 National Doulin Steel guitar, finds sounds and odd chord changes that must have been hiding in the basements of lonely shacks all over the South. He has set these ghosts free.
"Angry Angel", "Triumph Over Loss", and "Everything is Beautiful and Sad" not only channel raw, rural gothic blues, but reinvents them. Believe the hype, and don't feel like a poser when you add your own outrageous praise: the Legend of Vernon McAlister is a classic, raw and moving and historic.

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