American Epic - The Collection

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A brilliant collection

This is completely and utterly brilliant.  No, really – I don't usually use quite such hyperbolic language when reviewing, but American Epic is an astonishingly fine collection of early recordings of American music.  It is curated with immense depth of knowledge, shrewdness of choice and, very noticeably, a genuine love for these wonderful recordings.

Much of this material was new to me.  There is a decent sprinkling of well-known names like Robert Johnson, Ma Rainey, Lead Belly and others, and some tracks have appeared on other compilations but much of this collection is of little-known but fabulous recordings.  We get the blues in all its variety, gospel, jug bands, Cajun music, and so on and so on.   It's a terrific, varied collection and the standard of musicianship and singing is wonderful throughout.

It's also fascinating to hear the roots of so much of the music made since.  I started, as is traditional, with Disc 1 Track 1 – The Coo Coo Bird by Clarence Ashley, which I didn't know.  It's obviously a distant cousin of The Cuckoo, which I have loved since I heard the Pentangle version 50 years or so ago, there are echoes of Jack o' Diamonds, recorded by so many great artists, it seems to have influenced Blues Run The Game, another classic modern blues by Jackson C. Frank…and so on.  Not every song is so rich in resonance, but there is real musicological interest here as well as just the sheer pleasure in the music.

The sound quality is as good as it can be.  Given the age of many of these recordings there's a good deal of hiss but it's never intrusive enough to spoil my enjoyment and for me just adds to the atmosphere. 

I really can't speak highly enough of this set. I haven't yet had the opportunity to see the documentary from which it comes, but I'll be glued to it when it is broadcast. This is a treasure trove of fantastic music which I can recommend very warmly indeed.