Sunday Nights: Songs Of Junior [Best of]

I feel there are several things I should confess to before I begin my review. First off, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out that Junior Kimbrough had just died, and second the girl I've been seeing, just left me for her old time use-to-be. So I apologize if this one gets a bit personal, but he will always be one of the most under-appreciated musicians of all time...and she's nothing more than a kind hearted girl, who don't mean me no good.

"Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough" released by Fat Possum Records is an interesting tribute album for several reasons. First off, most people are much more likely to have heard of the artists performing on this album than the man who wrote the songs himself, and most of these artist's work typically reside far away from the blues section of your local record store. The latter makes for some interesting interpretations but as a whole the former doesn't really introduce the music of Junior Kimbrough as it so rightfully deserves (but I suppose most things don't work out and we don't all get what we deserve anyways).

Kimbrough's music, for being traditional blues was always very unique. There was something about the way the man plucked his strings and strained his voice that was, for lack of a better word, pure. What he produced was always so raw and unfiltered, that it was simply perfect. You would never have mistaken him for anybody else and aside from the fact that it was an electric guitar, his music could have been written and recorded in the 30s and would have fit right in next to Big Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt and the like. There was a whole culture to his style that had slowly disappeared in the modern world of. Yet somehow every Sunday night with all his furniture pulled out onto the front lawn "Juniors Juke Joint" could have applied for some sort of historical landmark or a Ken Burns documentary, had a fire not taken it from us first. This culture or vibe or whatever you want to call it is exactly what's missing from "Sunday Nights". I can't help but feel that anybody who likes any of the bands who've contributed would be better off simply buying one of Junior's albums instead. The liner notes on "Sunday Nights" actually state that if you buy "You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough" and don't like it, they will refund your money (use it for a shrink or a soul quest of some kind.)

Despite this rather large problem there are a few gems (appropriately unpolished) on "Sunday Nights" that escape this and deserve some recognition. The Black Keys come very close to the low-fi grit of Kimbrough's style with their cover of "My Mind is Rambling". The melody is cleaned up and stands out more, but the soul remains intact. There's also two different versions of "You Better Run" by Iggy and the Stooges (one of the only bands Junior ever toured with) and both have some of that unrefined quality to them. Pete Yorn also contributes an interesting rendition of "I Feel Good Again" that seems to find it's own niche, but again not at all indicative of its namesake. Many of the tracks are not without their charm, so if by chance you are already familiar with Junior Kimbrough and unfamiliar with these bands, you're likely to be intrigued and should walk away happy. However, If you're not familiar with Junior's work, go down that lonesome road and pick up any one of his actual albums. Listen to it on sad days and lonely nights and I promise it will make you a better, more well rounded person, able to deal with hard times, troubles and whatever else comes at ya (and someday she ain't gonna trouble poor me anymore.)

King Morgan

Junior Kimbrough, who passed away in Mississippi in 1998 at the age of 67, only made six original albums during his life.

He played a weird, droning style of blues that was unlike anything anyone had ever heard before. It was as if the Mississippi Delta blues had taken a journey in time and came out looking backwards at mankind's proto-rhythmic past and forwards to his interstellar future at the same time.

In any event, the artists on "Sunday Nights - The Songs of Junior Kimbrough" are likely better known to most people than Kimbrough is himself. But that's not their fault. Every track on this collection is great (they had awesome source material). Some of the standout tracks are "My Mind is Ramblin'" by The Black Keys, "I'm Leaving" by The Fiery Furnaces, and "All Night Long" by Mark Lanegan.

Iggy and the Stooges, Spiritualized, Blues Explosion, and Pete Yorn also aquite themselves quite well on the album. As a matter of fact, this is the best covers album I've heard since the Roky Erikson tribute album "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye" in 1991.

I recommend this album wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys blues, any of the artists mentioned about, or great music in general. Hopefully, if you dig this, you will check out the original albums from the man himself....

Not to fear! "Sunday Nights" is tribute album that belies one's fear of tribute albums. It does justice to the songs by not equating "pay homage to" with "handle gingerly".

Find new heartfelt versions of Kimbrough tunes that click, in a tasty variety of styles, from Iggy & the Stooges (Tracks 1 & 16), Spiritualized (Track 2), Blues Explosion (Track 3), Heartless Bastards (Track 4), The Black Keys (Track 5), The Fiery Furnaces (Track 6), Pete Yorn (Track 7), Cat Power & Entrance (Track 8), Mark Lanegan (Track 9), Thee Shams (Track 10), Jim White (Track 11), Outrageous Cherry (Track 12), Whitey Kirst (Track 13), Jack Oblivion (Track 14) & The Ponys (Track 15). (Doncha hate it when 'they' only include some of the artists in the tracks list on an album's webpage?)

My favorite tracks are those by Pete Yorn (Who knew he had it in him?), Jim White (Confirms he had it in him), and Spiritualized (Now I know where it came from in him).

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