The first track, Memphis Minnie's "I Am Sailin'” features some very nice dual guitar work of the Delta variety from Del Rey and Steve James, taking the roles of Minnie and husband Kansas Joe while Muldaur puts fire into Minnie's classic blues trope of being treated mean and longing to head to a better place, in this case sweet home New Orleans.
"Long As I Can See You Smile" put a bit of rag blues energy into the mix and also adds some bouncy mandolin to the dual guitar sound established on "I Am Sailin'". Muldaur's playfully sexy vocal puts a great deal of heart into these lyrics of love. The title track, "Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul" has a bit more a country blues feeling with some a nice fiddle solo by Suzy Thompson; the song was originally recorded by Sara Martin And Her Jug Band.
Taj Mahal makes his first vocal appearance in a duet with Muldaur on the Butterbeans and Suzy vaudeville number "Ain't What You Used To Have", a comical conversational blues between two lovers waxing poetic about their glory days, she "looking like a queen" and he having "women from round the world standing in line". Still in love, they conclude "In Ain't What You Use To Have, It's What You're Holding Now." Two voices with as much character and spirit as Maria Muldaur and Taj Mahal singing together on a number as fun as this one makes this track one of the album highlights.
Another large group of Memphis Minnie numbers follow, "Lookin' The World Over" is followed by "Empty Bed Blues" and then "Tricks Ain't Walkin'", a tale of Depression-era woe felt by a prostitute; it may be the oldest profession but in hard times like the Great Depression, the narrator mourns, even a streetwalker has a problem making a living when the tricks ain't walking.
Minnie's "Crazy Cryin' Blues" is followed by her "She Put Me Outdoors" which features a wonderful vocal duet with Alvin Youngblood Hart and some more great mandolin picking alongside a guitar in duplicate – a very nice sound.
Pinetop Perkins' piano magic graces Julia Lee's "Decent Woman Blues", which also features the first electric guitar on the album throwing a little variety into the mix.
Tracy Nelson duets with Muldaur on the Bessie and Clara Smith duet "I'm Goin' Back"; An interesting contrast between the voices, Nelson has a very clear voice with an incredible vibrato and packs an incredible punch when she stretches it to a growl while Muldaur's voice is full of sass and character and sounds aged to perfection.
The album comes to a close with, Blind Wilie Johnson's gospel blues "Take A Stand". This is my personal favorite on the album, a rousing number. Neither Muldaur nor Mahal growl like Johnson but they've both got just enough rasp to do the song justice.
Sweet Lovin' Ol' Soul truly is a classic album from start to finish and a must-have for fans of the blues, especially women blues singers, and the respectful Americana so lovingly practiced by artists like Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Leon Redbone, etc. Maria Muldaur has an incredibly powerful voice that deftly moves from sexy to sassy, mournful to jubilant, and always retains its' rich coloration and warmth. Guest musicians like Taj Mahal and Pinetop Perkins add another degree of depth and quality to the production. It's a pleasure to hear faithfully rendered classic blues songs like these recorded using today's technology – while the original recordings certainly have no lack of charm, these pristine recordings provide direct and easy access to both the lyrical content of the songs and the tonal quality of both vocals by Muldaur and guests and the instrumental work by these fine players.
Keep on the lookout too, for the next in this series, Naughty, Bawdy and Blue, a tribute to urban jazz-blues from the Jazz Age through the Depression era featuring some of today's finest trad-jazz players.
