Prison Blues

Album Review

Recording may be a relatively new luxury to Neal Pattman, but in life he is a grizzled veteran. His first album is a stark affair, almost an eavesdrop into a backroom rehearsal. A frisky harp player and singer, Pattman is joined by Taj Mahal and labelmate Cootie Stark on over half the album, and together and in various configurations the trio turns out some fine, jaunty country blues. There are, however, a number of clumsy stabs at testimonial blues, and these diminish the appeal of the album as a whole. In fact, everything has a clumsiness about it, and when it swings in favor of the musicians, it can be quite charming. When it doesn't, though, it can come off as plain gawky.