Taj Mahal LP Columbia CS 9579 2 eye 1968 1st Press Ry Cooder Jesse Ed Davis
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Description
Taj Mahal LP Columbia CS 9579 2 eye 1968 1st Press Ry Cooder Jesse Ed Davis Archival Sleeve This is Taj's Best Essencial
Taj Mahal is the debut album by American guitarist and vocalist Taj Mahal. Recorded in 1967, it contains blues songs by Sleepy John Estes, Robert Johnson, and Sonny Boy Williamson II reworked in contemporary blues- and folk-rock styles. Also included is Taj Mahal's adaptation of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues", which inspired the popular Allman Brothers Band recording.
Taj Mahal, who provides the vocals and blues harmonica, is backed by guitarists Jesse Ed Davis and Ry Cooder. Columbia Records released the album in February 1968 to favorable reviews, however, it did not reach the album charts
Music critic Bruce Eder gave the album five out of five stars. In his review for AllMusic, Eder described it as "as hard and exciting a mix of old and new blues sounds as surfaced on record … in what had to be one of the most quietly, defiantly iconoclastic records of 1968."
In a music review of Taj Mahal reissues for Entertainment Weekly, Tony Scherman gave the album an "A" and wrote that the album "explodes with high spirits; of Taj’s 30-plus albums, it might be the best
- Taj Mahal – vocals, harmonica, slide guitar
- Jesse Ed Davis – lead guitar, slide guitar
- Ry Cooder – rhythm guitar, mandolin
- Bill Boatman – rhythm guitar
- James Thomas – bass
- Gary Gilmore – bass
- Sanford Konikoff – drums
- Chuck "Brother" Blackwell – drums
Henry St. Claire Fredericks Jr. (born May 17, 1942), better known by his stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician. He plays the guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, and many other instruments, often incorporating elements of world music into his work. Mahal has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his more than 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, India, Hawaii, and the South Pacific
Mahal moved to Santa Monica, California, in 1964 and formed Rising Sons with fellow blues rock musicians Ry Cooder and Jessie Lee Kincaid, landing a record deal with Columbia Records soon after. After the Rising Sons disbanded, Jesse Ed Davis, a Kiowanative from Oklahoma, joined Taj Mahal and played guitar and piano on Mahal's first four albums. The group was one of the first interracial bands of the period, which may have hampered their commercial viability. However, Rising Sons bassist Gary Marker later recalled the band's members had come to a creative impasse and were unable to reconcile their musical and personal differences even with the guidance of veteran producer Terry Melcher. They recorded enough songs for a full-length album, but released only a single and the band soon broke up. Legacy Records did release The Rising Sons Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder in 1992 with material from that period. During this time Mahal was also working with other musicians like Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Muddy Waters.
Mahal stayed with Columbia for his solo career, releasing the self-titled Taj Mahal and The Natch'l Blues in 1968. His track "Statesboro Blues" was featured on side 2 of the very successful Columbia/CBS sampler album, The Rock Machine Turns You On, giving a huge early impetus to his career.
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