|
A Conversation with R.L. Burnside |
 |
|
Features
|
|
Tuesday, 31 January 2006 03:24 |
A Conversation with R.L. Burnside
By John Sinclair
North Mississippi bluesman R.L. Burnside has come a long way in his old age. Now a very energetic 75 years old, Burnside made his music mostly in the obscurity of his rustic hill-country community until he was in his 60s, playing for family, friends and neighbors at the local jukehouse and occasionally cutting an album for some tiny blues label.
R.L. finally came to the attention of contemporary audiences at the turn of the 1990s when the late Bob Palmer featured Burnside's dense, hypnotic music in the Robert Mugge documentary Deep Blues and the Atlantic Records CD of the same name, followed by a series of critically-acclaimed recordings for the fledgling Fat Possum label of Oxford, Mississippi, highlighted by Palmer's brilliant 1992 production, Too Bad Jim.
Soon Burnside was discovered and championed by punk-blues sensation Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion, who took R.L. on the road with them and into the studio to record a raucous album they called A Ass Pocket of Whiskey. Fat Possum had just landed a manufacturing and distribution deal with the punk-rock label Epitaph, who crossed the bluesman over to their youthful audience to the tune of 75,000 copies sold.
Now Burnside could hit the road in earnest, and he quickly established himself as one of the most popular attractions on the national nightclub and festival circuit, taking his raw, emotive music, compelling personality and rough, stripped-down North Mississippi blues band to enthusiastic audiences everywhere.
R.L.'s Fat Possum albums for Epitaph have been a mixed bag, alternating between various experiments in punk-blues fusion and straight-ahead blues outings that showcase Burnside's elemental strengths as a guitarist, singer and bandleader. His latest release, Burnside on Burnside, is a consummate live recording made before a wildly affirmative crowd in a concert theatre on Burnside Avenue in Portland last year, documenting for all time the powerful attack and brutal musical impact of this modern blues giant and his working band.
Sadly, Burnside hasn t been able to capitalize on the success of his new album since a serious inner-ear infection forced him to cancel his busy touring schedule and enter the hospital for a crucial operation. The hard-playing, hard-drinking, seemingly indestructible hill-country bluesman has been laid up at home near Holly Springs, Mississippi, surrounded and nurtured by his vast extended family while recovering from surgery and making mental preparations to hit the road again as soon as he's able.
I gave R.L. a call the other day to see how he was doing, and he sounded well on the mend, although his characteristic good humor and powers of observation were somewhat muted and he seemed to lack the physical strength required for a protracted conversation. His spirits remain high, however, and he looks forward to returning to work.
R.L. Burnside: Yeah, who is it?
OffBeat: This is John Sinclair calling from New Orleans to see if you ve got a few minutes to talk for OffBeat magazine.
Yeah, I got a few minutes here.
Great! How you feeling?
I m feelin pretty good.
You been keepin up your work schedule?
Yeah, but I had to cancel so much, you know. I wasn t able to do em. But now I m gettin better.
That little rest-up helped, huh?
Yeah.
That new record that's out is getting a lot of really good attention.
Yeah, they say it's sellin pretty good.
In fact, I was sittin here listening to the radio and just heard a cut off of it a few minutes ago.
[Laughs]
You re down here quite a bit in New Orleans.
Yeah, I have a lot of fun down there.
So you been takin it easy, huh?
Yeah, I been takin my medicine and takin it easy. I ain t drinkin anything in the last three months, since I had the operation. You, know, they operated on my ear.
So what did they do?
They put a tube in my ear. I had that inner ear infection.
Was it making you dizzy and everything?
Yeah, I couldn t stand up, and then I d fall, couldn t get up.
And you couldn t tell what was wrong?
Yeah.
So they put a tube in and drained all the infection out?
Yeah. I m feelin better now.
It didn t have any bad effect on your hearing?
No, it went well, but sometimes it gets stopped up now. I had to change my medicine, you know, but it's doin better now.
Well, I know you don t wanna rush this. You were workin pretty hard for quite a while.
Yeah, we were all over the place. [Laughs]
You must miss all your fans a little bit.
Oh, yeah.
I know they bring a smile to your face.
Oh, yeah.
How's everything in Holly Springs?
Oh, things are goin pretty good here.
Where they playin now?
Well, they have to go up to a couple of cafes they got up in town, you know. Them boys of mine, they plays there & ever since the juke house burnt down.
It must ve quieted everything down quite a bit around your place.
R.L.: Yeah, it quieted everything down, man. You know, there ain t too many places for people to go too much.
How many of your boys are there?
Oh, I got seven boys, and they all can play. Cedric, he been playin a little bit around, him and Keny Brown.
You kinda brought Kenny up, huh?
Oh, yeah.
You can tell whenever he puts his fingers on that guitar.
Yeah. [Laughs] He couldn t find that neck!
So what does it look like for the future?
Oh, well, I think I m supposed to go next month, and come to New Orleans, and go out to Hattiesburg and play a couple of days at the festival. Yeah, if I can keep feelin alright.
You re steadily getting better, huh?
Yeah.
I know that's good news comin in from the record company too.
Yeah.
Even if you gotta lay down, you got good news comin in.
That's right!
I wanted to ask you about making that live record in Portland: Did you all know you were making the record when you went into it?
Yeah, uh-huh. That's some pretty hot stuff, huh?
They like you up in the Northwest, huh?
Yeah.
That's something people have been waiting for for quite a while: exactly what that sounds like on stage. That's some good stuff. Well all right!
Well, well, well &. [Laughs]
Thanks for talking to us for the magazine. We really appreciate it.
You re welcome. Bye, bye.
New Orleans
February 10-12, 2002
(c) 2002, 2006 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.
3.1.6104]]> |
|
Share Link: 
