Release Date: June 8, 1999.
Recording Time: 43 minutes.
Recording Date: March, 1998.
Recording Location: Pinnacle, North Carolina.
Release Info: Studio Recording, CD (MMKCD6 / 91004-2).
Styles: Piedmont Blues, Regional Blues, Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues.
Piedmont bluesman John Dee Holeman mixes a little Texas into his North Carolina guitar approach, even covering Lightnin' Hopkins' "Give Me Back My Wig" as the first track of Bull Durham Blues, his debut album. Holeman isn't as irascible as Hopkins, with a gentle vocal approach that's closer to Mississippi John Hurt in demeanor, and his guitar playing isn't as distinctive as either Hopkins or Hurt, but he gets the job done with a good deal of charm. On songs like the easy, relaxed "Crow Jane" (a wonderful example of how to use the floating verses that are in every good bluesman's tool kit), the gentle "Little Country Gal," and the slightly paranoid "Stranger Blues," Holeman conjures up a timeless, back porch feel without getting too generic about it. The half-spoken, half-rapped "Hambone" is a clear highlight, with Holeman doing the hambone with a buckdancer's grace. Recorded in 1998 in Pinnacle, N.C., Bull Durham features Taj Mahal on several tracks helping out on bass, guitar, piano and the hambone, too. ~ Steve Leggett
Credits: Mark Austin - Photography; Luther Dixon - Composer; Timothy Duffy - Literary Advisor, Producer; Lester Flatt - Composer; John Dee Holeman - Arranger, Composer, Guitar, Hambone, Primary Artist, Vocals; Lightnin' Hopkins - Composer; Elmore James - Composer; Robert Johnson - Composer; Axel Kuestner - Back Cover, Photography; Clarence Lewis - Composer; Kurt Lundvall - Mastering; Taj Mahal - Bass, Creative Consultant, Guest Artist, Guitar, Hambone, Piano; Joe McGrath - Engineer; McKinley Morganfield - Composer; John Porter - Digital Editing, Engineer, Producer; Donna Ranieri - Artwork, Photography; Bob Robinson - Composer; Earl Scruggs - Composer; Al Smith - Composer; Otis Spann - Composer; Hound Dog Taylor - Composer; Traditional - Composer.
Tracklist:
01. Give Me Back My Wig - John Dee Holeman
02. Step It Up And Go - John Dee Holeman
03. Little Country Gal - John Dee Holeman
04. Sweet Home Chicago - John Dee Holeman
05. Hello Central - John Dee Holeman
06. Early Morning Blues - John Dee Holeman
07. Crow Jane - John Dee Holeman
08. Mistreated Blues - John Dee Holeman
09. Big Boss Man - John Dee Holeman
10. Stranger Blues - John Dee Holeman
11. Hambone - John Dee Holeman
12. God Loves His Children - John Dee Holeman
13. Chapel Hill Boogie - John Dee Holeman
Track 6 credited as : McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters.
Personnel: John Dee Holeman - Vocals, Guitar, Other [Hambone]; Taj Mahal - Bass (4), Piano (8), Other [Hambone] (11), Guitar (13).
"When John Dee and I sat down and played together the experience was like coming a full circle back to my roots! His music took me straight back to a gentleman named Lynwood Perry in Springfield, Massachusetts, the only person I ever learned to play guitar from. As it turns out, Lynwood was also from Durham, North Carolina. It was like meeting up with an old friend! John Dee Holeman is a wonderful carrier of the Southeast guitar tradition." - Taj Mahal