Furry Lewis - Shake Em on Down

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Music reviews of Shake Em on Down

Music Review: A Three Finger Shot of Furry Lewis
Rating: 5 Stars

Over the thirty year lifespan of "Shake Em on Down", I have purchased this album four times; twice in vinyl, which I wore out from overplay, once in cassette, and finally the CD format, and I am hoping the CD will be the last copy of it I will ever need. Many will swear that Furry's early recordings are better because they capture him in his prime, but this CD captures the raw essence of Furry's magnetic performance aura. Like Billy Holiday, Furry's voice became gravelly, deeper and more emotional with age. Speaking subjectively, I like the sound of Holiday's and Lewis' steel tempered voices, scarred by the ravages of age. Furry was a heavy-handed guitar player who often pounded his guitar like a percussion instument. Furry always had contempt for delicate fingerpickers who were "afraid of their guitars" and to prove his point Furry would "beat the demons" out of his guitar and used his bottleneck stylings as the alter-ego to his dark and often menancing voice.

Furry claimed he was mentored by early jazz legend W.C. Handy and many of his renditions of the popular standards of the early 20th century bear out this influence. Some of the traditional songs on "Shake 'Em on Down" have been traced as far back as the Civil War Reconstruction era. My personal favorites are the gritty delta blues he performs. Furry, like many blues performers, reshaped classic and standards to his own image, adding a unique narrative perspective to the lyrics. Furry often rendered a song unrecogizable by introducing a stylized musical arrangement and a new set of original lyrics. Furry's lyrical imagery of steam engines, card sharks, jail houses, corrupt judges, bail bondsmen, wanton women and the life of a "rambling man" give us rare window into the lives ordinary people in the early part of the last century.

Finally, there is something very unusual about the production values of this album, which may explain the hypnotic spell that "Shake 'Em on Down" has woven over me and other devotees. It sounds like it was recorded in a cavernous room, maybe even a church. There is a subtle echo that trails off from the edges of the vocal and guitar tracks which suggest a robust, yet, otherworldly quality, quite like that of the Cowboy Junkie's celebrated "Trinity Church Sessions." That final touch in production esthetics, makes this album a rare and irreplaceble relic for the collector of blues.

Description of Shake Em on Down

Blues CDs

• Music > Styles
• Country
• Folk
• Jazz
• Pop