The Complete Recordings [Longbox] [Box] (CD - 1990)

Solo performer: Robert Johnson (vocals, guitar).

Producer: Don Law.

Compilation producers: Stephen LaVere, Frank Driggs.

Recorded in San Antonio, Texas on November 23 & 26-27, 1936 and Dallas, Texas on June 19-20, 1937. Includes liner notes by Stephen LaVere, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Personnel: Robert Johnson (vocals, guitar).

Audio Remasterer: David Mitson.

Liner Note Authors: Eric Clapton; Keith Richards; Steve LaVere.

Recording information: Dallas, TX (11/21/1936-06/22/1937); San Antonio, TX (11/21/1936-06/22/1937).

A double-disc box set containing everything Robert Johnson ever recorded, The Complete Recordings is essential listening, but it is also slightly problematic. The problems aren't in the music itself, of course, which is stunning and the fidelity of the recordings is the best it ever has been or ever will be. Instead, it's in the track sequencing. As the title implies, The Complete Recordings contains all of Johnson's recorded material, including a generous selection of alternate takes. All of the alternates are sequenced directly after the master, which can make listening to the album a little intimidating and tedious for novices. Certainly, the alternates can be programmed out with a CD player or mp3 player, but the set would have been more palatable if the alternate takes were presented on a separate disc. Nevertheless, this is a minor complaint -- Johnson's music retains its power no matter what context it is presented in. He, without question, deserves this kind of deluxe box set treatment. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

A double-disc box set containing everything Robert Johnson ever recorded, The Complete Recordings is essential listening, but it is also slightly problematic. The problems aren't in the music itself, of course, which is stunning and the fidelity of the recordings is the best it ever has been or ever will be. Instead, it's in the track sequencing. As the title implies, The Complete Recordings contains all of Johnson's recorded material, including a generous selection of alternate takes. All of the alternates are sequenced directly after the master, which can make listening to the album a little intimidating and tedious for novices. Certainly, the alternates can be programmed out with a CD player or mp3 player, but the set would have been more palatable if the alternate takes were presented on a separate disc. Nevertheless, this is a minor complaint -- Johnson's music retains its power no matter what context it is presented in. He, without question, deserves this kind of deluxe box set treatment. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Noted blues historian Robert Palmer has called him "the Mississippi Delta's first modern blues-man," and over the past 50 years Robert Johnson's influence has reached out from beyond the grave. Though his recording output numbers fewer than 30 different songs, Johnson's catalog has been a treasure trove picked clean by artists ranging from Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.

The beauty of THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS lies in its utter simplicity. Johnson's reedy vocals, accompanied only by a steel-string guitar, evoke the very essence of the Deep South with its mystery and intrigue. It's easy to see where the myth of Johnson going down to the crossroads to make a Faustian pact with Lucifer was first sown; it can be heard within the confines of "Cross Road Blues" and "Hellhound On My Trail." While the sound of Johnson's recordings has a discernible hiss to it, the unadulterated emotion resonating in his voice goes straight to the marrow, making these sonic limitations seem like an afterthought. minimize