With the 2007 release of
Shake Your Boogie, the Wolf record label presented Mississippi bluesman
Big Joe Williams performing live inside the Old Capitol Building at the intersection of North State and East Capitol in Jackson, MS, on November 22, 1974. Not to be confused with a similarly titled Arhoolie compilation reissue of the albums Tough Times and Thinking of What They Did to Me, this solo recital recording is an expanded edition of Live 1974, a Wolf LP released in 1988. Never one to tippy-toe around,
Big Joe grumbles and roars about love, life, bad habits, and the assassination of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while doing extraordinary things to a nine-stringed guitar. Note that "Don't Your Plums Look Mellow, Hanging Up on Your Tree" also appeared in a trio version as title track of a 1975 ABC Bluesway LP emblazoned with one of that label's notoriously sexualized album cover photos.
Shake Your Boogie is a straight shot of 190-proof Vietnam-era Delta blues delivered in a plugged-in percussive manner that could conceivably redefine the term "electro-acoustic." ~ arwulf arwulf