A Blues Life

More deep blues from north Mississippi on an album by Robert Belfour called What's Wrong With You. Unlike the R L Burnside album discussed earlier, this one is stripped right back to basics. There are rudimentary drums on two of the tracks but otherwise it is Robert Belfour and his resonator guitar going solo. Now aged 67, his life story is one of hard times, having to earn a living for his family from an early age after the death of his father and working construction for 35 years. Late in life he has now had the opportunity to become a full time musician. The songs are concerned with the staples of the blues but the riffs are memorable and the playing crisp and articulate. It is a treat to hear such playing in state of the art modern recorded sound. We'll never know exactly what Robbert Johnson or Charlie Patton sounded like without the hiss but records like this and performers like Robert give us some idea and are to be treasured.