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The Best of Taj Mahal
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0074646585627
Format: Original recording remastered
Label: Sony
Manufacturer: Sony
MPN: 65856
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: September 05, 2000
Studio: Sony
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Editorial Review:
Taj Mahal's been chasing the blues around the world for years, but rarely with the passion, energy, and clarity he brought to his first three albums. Taj Mahal, The Natch'l Blues and The Real Thing are the sound of the artist, who was born in 1942, defining himself and his music. On his self-titled 1967 debut, he not only honors the sound of the Delta masters with his driving National steel guitar and hard vocal shout, but ladles in elements of rock and country with the help of guitarists Ry Cooder and the late Jessie Ed Davis. This approach is reinforced and broadened by The Natch'l Blues. What's most striking is Mahal's way of making even the oldest themes sound as if they're part of a new era. Not just through the vigor of his playing--relentlessly propulsive, yet stripped down compared with the six-string ornamentations of the original masters of country blues--but through his singing, which possesses a knowing insouciance distinct to post-Woodstock counterculture hipsters. It's the voice of an informed young man who knows he's offering something deep to an equally hip and receptive audience.
Soon, Mahal turned his multicultural vision of the blues even further outward. The live 1971 set, The Real Thing, finds him still carrying the Mississippi torch, while adding overt elements of jazz and Afro-Caribbean music to its flame. But it's overreaching. His band sounds under-rehearsed, and the arrangements seem more like rough outlines. Nonetheless, these albums set the stage for Mahal's career. (For a condensed version, try the fine The Best of Taj Mahal.) Today, he continues to make fine fusion albums, like 1999's Kulanjan, with Malian kora master Toumani Diabate, and less exciting but still eclectic recordings with his Phantom Blues Band. --Ted Drozdowski
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Best Of Taj Mahal
Great cd although the added tracks interrupted the flow of the original cd. My biggest beef is that it says "original Recordings Remastered", which holds true for all of the original tracks except for "Farther On Down The Road" which is NOT the same as the original on "The Best Of". The backup vocals..."spidoo-spidee" are not on this version and it's not as funky either. Honestly, that track is the whole reason I bought the cd and was very disappointed in the false advertising. Who is to blame for ... Read More
Rating:  - ok this is fantastic, now how about ...
... a collection to complement this?
this album covers TJ's late 60s and early 70s. how about another collection (maybe double disk) to complement this collection - which covers his later 70s and 80s and 90s ...
Rating: - Taj never fails
He never lets us down. These old favorites are blues at the roots. Taj Mahal is one of the great blues men.
Rating: - The Best of Taj Mahal
I finally broke down and dropped twelve bucks on this CD, even though I already had The Essential Taj Mahal, which contains nearly all the tracks on this one. The reason I did it was to get one single track, possibly my favorite song that he has ever recorded: "Farther On Down The Road." This song is so amazing, I plan to play it at my wedding. (I want "Corinna" played at my wedding too, but I doubt I will be lucky enough to find a girl that lets me plan an all-Taj wedding soundtrack; that would ... Read More
Rating: - An essential element of any blues collection
Taj Mahal exudes the essence of music. He could enthrall an audience with a comb and a piece of wax paper if he felt like it. This man is a griot, a National Treasure. This album effortlessly imparts an education in the background of the blues. One jewel of a song after another.
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