Taj Mahal – Taj Mahal (1968)

Another Wednesday afternoon at Harborough Market, and another interesting selection of CDs at a mere £3 each, starting with this.

Taj Mahal is a name I've heard as being 'influential', but never previously investigated. However, convinced by the presence of Ry Cooder, I decided to take a chance.

This is a straightforward album of blues standards. I'm not particularly a fan of blues music, but when it's as well done as this, I'm finding it irresistible.

From the start, Sleepy John Estes' Leaving Trunk, the combination of blues harmonica and funk bassline are just fantastic. Statesboro Blues (Blind Willie Mc Tell) is a solid twelve bar blues, recounting what happened when he woke up this morning. There's a similar vibe to Sonny Boy Williamson's Checkin' Up On My Baby, before a return to the funkier sound of Everybody's Got To Change Sometime, another Estes composition.

The only original composition on the album is E Z Rider, a much more soul/rock sound than the other songs, while there follows the obligatory Robert Johnson cover, a decent Dust My Broom, and the final Estes cover, Diving Duck Blues. The album ends with The Celebrated Walkin' Blues, an extended slow finale with all the blues cliches in one song, forgivable merely for the quality of the performance.

Not really my kind of music, but Taj Mahal's vocals and harmonica, alongside Ry Cooder and Jesse Ed Davis' guitar work make this an enjoyable experience

Link to album tracks

3* - a solid blues / soul standards album. Recommended.