ORIGINAL LINER NOTES (2006):
Bentonia. Among serious fans of country blues, the very name conjures up images of hard times and cypress groves, black cats and the ever-lurking devil. It was in this southern Delta town that Skip James and Jack Owens lived and played, giving rise to the term Bentonia blues, a haunting, forlorn style of blues known the world over. When Owens died in 1997, most assumed that the Bentonia blues died with him.
They were wrong.
In the 1970s, Owens became determined to pass the tradition forward, and he enlisted a young aspiring guitarist for the projects. His disciple, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, was no stranger to the blues. He was the owner of the Blue Front Cafe, a now-famous juke joint that had been run by his parents since 1948. And he was already a talented guitarist in his own right.
But under Owens’ tutelage, Holmes would become a master of country blues. He learned to play and sing songs from the celebrated canon of James and Owens like “I’d Rather Be the Devil,” “Hard Times” and “Cherry Ball.” But he also developed his own powerful songwriting voice. When he coupled these songs with the Bentonia stylings of his predecessors, the effect was mesmerizing.
Yet for some reason, Holmes remained virtually unknown in the blues world. Other than a handful of unreleased or obscure recordings, Holmes and his remarkable talent have been little more than a rumor to most blues fans.
Until now.
Recorded during two sessions in November 2005, this remarkable CD features Holmes in stunning form, both vocally and instrumentally. Like so many classic blues recordings, Back to Bentonia is dominated by tales of scornful and treacherous women, but Holmes’ lyrical nuances and haunting delivery come together to create a sound that is wholly his own.
The lion’s share of these tracks stem from an all-acoustic session recorded at the Blue Front Cafe on an unseasonably warm November evening. Several tracks from this session feature veteran bluesman Bud Spires playing harp. For decades, Spires was Jack Owens’ musical partner and foil. His presence on this only adds to its historical importance. On the album’s final track, Spires even takes a rare turn at the microphone for the rollicking “Your Buggy Don’t Ride Like Mine.”
The remaining tracks on Back to Bentonia stem from a brief recordings session held three days later at Jimbo Mathus’ Delta Recording Studio in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Equally raw and stripped down as the Blue Front tracks, these recordings nevertheless stand in stark contrast to those from the earlier session. Here the guitarist plays in a raucous amplified form to the accompaniment of the great Sam Carr on drums.
The 11 songs that make up this CD are among the most powerful country blues recordings in recent memory. For those who have been captivated by the music of Skip James and Jack Owens, this disc is sure to transport them back to Bentonia.
-Jeff Konkel/Broke & Hungry Records
https://www.brokeandhungryrecords.com/
