Good Morning Judge [Digipak] (CD - 2003)

Liner Note Author: Matthew Johnson.

Recording information: Memphis, TN (1962-1967).

Arranger: Furry Lewis.

Recorded in informal sessions with blues archivist George Mitchell in 1967 (except for two songs recorded in similar circumstances in 1962), Good Morning Judge captures the aging Furry Lewis in fine and relaxed form, casually spinning out some of the most hypnotic acoustic blues ever captured by modern recording equipment. Stretching out his songs in a manner he couldn't have managed on his 78s of the 1920s, Lewis plays powerfully elemental slide guitar (the title cut sounds like something John Fahey could spend his whole life trying to re-create) and sings with a force that's both subtle and powerfully compelling. Unlike a great many veteran country blues artists who were rediscovered in the 1960s, Lewis' later recordings are in many ways just as compelling as the records he cut in his youth, and Good Morning Judge finds him conjuring a deep and powerful spell with the simplest of aural materials. Superb stuff. ~ Mark Deming minimize