[1] Climbin' on Top of the Hill (McGhee/Terry) - 2:35
[2] Louise (McGhee/Terry) - 3:55
[3] My Father's Words (McGhee/McGhee) - 3:58
[4] Backwater Blues (McGhee) - 4:05
[5] Wine Headed Woman (Terry) - 5:22
[6] Careless Love (Handy/Koenig/Williams) - 3:41
[7] Playing With the Blues (McGhee/McGhee) - 3:25
[8] I Can't Sleep at Night (McGhee/McGhee) - 4:20
[9] My Baby's Leavin' (Terry) - 4:36
[10] Lose Your Money (McGhee) - 2:50
[11] Jet Plane Blues (Terry) - 3:20
[12] Rainy Day (McGhee/McGhee) - 3:45
[13] I'm a Stranger (McGhee/Terry) - 4:30
[14] Women on My String (McGhee/McGhee) - 3:20
[15] One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer (Toombs) - 1:40
[16] Key to the Highway (Broonzy/Segar) - 4:37
[17] You'd Better Mind (McGhee/Terry) - 3:30
[18] Walk On (McGhee/McGhee) - 2:40
Brownie McGhee - Guitar, Vocals
Sonny Terry - Harmonica, Vocals
Sol Weiss - Engineer, Producer
Joe Tarantino - Mastering
Jamie Putnam - Art Direction
Deb Sibony - Design
Esmond Edwards - Photography
Lee Hildebrand - Liner Notes
Songs of whiskey, women, and money — nothing was more important to the
repertoire of this classic acoustic blues duo. Good relations on stage
were not, but during this 18-tune club date at Sugar Hill in San
Francisco, Terry and McGhee are in good spirits. The former's
fingerpicking, good-time guitar strummin', and even-keeled singing,
joined by McGhee's frantic harmonica and frequent whoops and hollers
were the epitome of this genre's style, and these two performing in
their heyday. They do hits familiar to all like "One Bourbon, One
Scotch, One Beer," "Key to the Highway," and "Careless Love," while
changing up "Sittin' on Top of the World," making it "Climbin' on Top
of the Hill." Advice songs include the poignant "My Father's Words,"
"(If You) Lose Your Money (Please Don't Lose Your Mind," and "Walk On."
There's also a lone instrumental, "Playing With the Blues"; the title
track identified by Terry as "Backwater Rising"; and occasionally
call-and-response vocalizing as on "Climbin'" or harmony singing on
"You'd Better Mind." The clarity of the recording and the singing is
pure as the driven snow, with no distortion or compression. It's the
way this blues should be heard. Lee Hildebrand's episodic liner notes
relating the strained relationship between Terry and McGhee, and the
tale of Barbara Dane's involvement in the Sugar Hill club is as
important a story as the songs the duo sing. The words and music prove
a last will and testament accenting this posthumous release, a
companion to the Live at Sugar Hill Original Blues Classic CD. It's a
must buy for those who treasure this type of no-nonsense porch-style
get-down blues.
Michael G. Nastos - All Music Guide
Few blues partnerships were ever as successful and satisfying as the
union of Sonny Terry's down-home harmonica work and Brownie McGhee's
polished guitar lines. This generous, 18-tune live session catches the
late acoustic blues brothers in their physical prime and at their
musical best, rolling through an energetic set of conversational blues
with casual virtuosity and seemingly telepathic interplay. Terry, a
stone-cold traditionalist, contributes a raw-boned, backwoods feel with
his heavily textured singing and harp solos while the modern McGhee's
smooth vocals and clean picking provide a perfectly compatible
counterpoint and complement. Either artist could carry the show by
himself, but when the divergent styles musically intertwine they create
a wonderful blues synthesis unlike any other the blues has known. The
dynamic duo jumps right in with a reconfigured rendition of "Sittin' on
Top of the World" and doesn't let up until the end. With Terry whooping
and hollering between harp breaks and McGhee opening songs with comic
asides the session is an unusually personable one. It's all undeniably
authentic and eminently enjoyable, as well as positive blues proof that
on very rare and fortunate occasions the whole is much greater than
just the sum of the two parts.
