Whether it is an acoustic guitar playing Mississippi Delta country-blues or an electric guitar playing amplified Chicago blues, the guitar has long been considered the quintessential blues instrument. But there is also a lot to be said for the acoustic piano, which has been the instrument of choice for everyone from
Champion Jack Dupree to
Memphis Slim to a long list of great boogie-woogie players of the 1930s and '40s. And it is an instrument that
Barrelhouse Buck McFarland clearly uses to his creative advantage on
Alton Blues, which was recorded in August 1961 only eight months before the singer/pianist's death. There are no drums, bass or guitar to be found on these rare performances;
McFarland is unaccompanied on all of the tracks, and the solo format serves him well on vocal numbers as well as some instrumentals. It should be noted that 1961 marked
McFarland's return to recording after many years; he had done some recording in the late '20s and early to mid-'30s, but he wasn't recorded at all in the '40s or '50s. Not that
Alton Blues sounds like the work of someone who had evolved radically over the years; these solid performances demonstrate that in 1961,
McFarland had clearly remained faithful to the classic barrelhouse piano style of the '20s and '30s. The blues piano that
McFarland plays on this 48-minute CD is not a reserved, understated type of blues; his playing is gutsy, extroverted, tough and emotionally direct (in other words, all of the things that barrelhouse playing was known for being).
McFarland was far from a major name in the blues world, but
Alton Blues is a fine place to get acquainted with his no-nonsense piano blues.