Album Review: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee – Live From the Ash Grove

Growing up in the era of rock, I didn’t stumble across the blues until I was in high school. Frequenting a record store, one day I came across a trio of inexpensive 4LP boxed sets, The Blues Legend, The Blues Legend Vol. 2. and Vol. 3. Released circa 1980 on the German-based Time Wind label (that’s zeitgeist in Deutsch), these reissue/compilation sets would be my first serious introduction to the blues. Each disc was devoted to a particular artist or duo: John Lee Hooker, Blind J. Davis, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Lead Belly, Memphis Slim. Not a bad place to start, even if the specific recordings didn’t always represent the best these artists had to offer.

The third record in Vol. 2 featured a dozen songs by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder in 1959 and 1961. I mention all of this because those sides, heard more than 40 years ago, were the tracks that resonated the most with this then-teenager. (Note: I’ve since discovered that those recordings first surfaced on albums including 1960’s Pick a Bale of Cotton). The duo’s brand of country blues somehow made sense even then to a kid who was mostly listening to The Beatles and ELO. The liner notes were in German and thus indecipherable to me, but the music hit me where it counted.

Fast forward (or reverse) with me now to 1973. Blind harmonica player Terry and guitarist McGhee were (as Thane Tierney explains in his excellent liner note essay for Live From the Ash Grove) elder statesmen in the blues world. Their heyday had come and somewhat faded, but they were still a vital, engaging duo. Terry and McGhee had been mainstays of the L.A. club since its opening in 1958, and it’s fair to wonder how many of their performances there were preserved on tape.

What we do know is that this one in 1973 was recorded, and while it has passed around among collectors, this tape has never before received sanctioned commercial release. At a shade over a half hour, it’s fairly short, but quality beats quantity every time. And this set is both well-recorded and wonderfully chaperoned. The duo is engaging and animated, full of spirit and spontaneity.

The two harmonize delightfully, with the sort of warm and well-worn give-and-take that characterizes the best teams in music, comedy or any other art, for that matter). History tells is that duo split in acrimony not too long after this show, but there’s absolutely nothing in this set that suggests anything less than a simpatico relationship between them.

McGhee’s sonorous voice contrasts nicely with Terry’s more gravelly approach. Both men sound like they’re having the time of their lives, playing with all of the verve, expression and passion one could hope for. The audience is reverently quiet during the songs, and then rapturous in applause at each tune’s end. “Hootin’ the Blues” is a representative track, filled with everything — the playing, the dialogue, the vocals, the interplay – that made the duo special. And the saucy humor of “(I Gotta Look) Under Your Hood” is a mildly naughty bit of fun.

There are plenty of studio releases from Terry and McGhee. But hearing them live with excellent fidelity on Live From the Ash Grove is perhaps the next best thing to having been there. And for me, this album is a reminder of why they captured my imagination 44 years ago.