To say an artist broke the mold is really very cliché, however it really fits, and that is the last cliché thing you could say about Mose Alison, musical stylist. He has influenced and been covered by such people as The Yardbirds, The Who, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt and many others. Van Morrison actually considered him one of the greatest song writers of the 20th Century.

This recording was released in 1970, and was a compilation of work Mose did during the 1960's. In jazz music at the time, many of the musicians were going to be-bop, or trying new fusion types of music. Straight up blues among it's main constituents, black folks, in the 1950's and early 60's was somewhat out of favor, considered too old fashioned and country (that's not to say there were not great blues musicians, they just were not as popular has they had been). Mose was one who incorporate the Southern style blues in his piano playing. When he came to New York, he was able to get sideman gigs with people like Stan Getz, and Zoot Sims, but his singing style was unique as well. However his sound was not like a typical blues singer, it's more of a hum/speaking style. You actually would have to consider him a song stylist, because literally there really are not too many people who sound like him since. That's is a lot of years, being a working musician, over 40 years. Perhaps a less dark, more tenor sounding, whispering Tom Waits. In any event, it was the artists from the UK that put Alison back on the map. When the Yardbirds, and the Who found his music, they incorporated that style of blues and song writing into their music. In the UK he became one of the musical foundations for song writing.

What's atypical about him? Well he is one of the relatively few blues songwriters who can sing about his cotton picking days, who actually picked cotton. His influences were the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Louis Jordan, the ragtime of Fats Waller, along with the sounds of the delta Mississippi blues where he grew up. He had a chance as a young man to sit in with B.B. King. He went to college, then into the Army. He eventually graduated with a degree in Philosophy and English. He's been working the road for over forty years, and is one of the few White blues men who all of his contemporaries across the board could consider a true blues man. His song writing, musical ability, and the ability to bring the delta blues to his music are truly in the top tier of all time musicians.

Here is an example:
Stop this world let me off; there's too many pigs in the same troth.
There's too many buzzards sittin' on the fence;
Stop this world it's not makin' sense.

This disc starts off with 'Your Mind is on Vacation' the words themselves are worthy of any top rap hit.

You're sittin' there yackin' right in my face;
I guess I'm going to have to put you in your place;
You know if silence was golden, you couldn't raise a dime;

Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is working overtime.

Your quotin' figures and droppin' names; you're telling stories about the days';
Your always laughin' when things ain't funny;
Your trying to sound like you're big money;

You know if talk was criminal you'd lead a life of crime.;
Chorus...

Now come on that is funny, and it's just great writing, and how many times have you wanted to say that.

Then there is the almost boppable 'Swingin' Machine' where you can hear the glasses clanking in the background, as it should be. This is club music. Frankie Dunlap's drumming puts just the right little accent on the swing sound of this song. Then the incomparable 'Stop This World'. The blues sound of this makes you really want to stop for a minute, just to jump off so you could and ponder the actual sense of the whole thing. 'Seventh Son' is the cover of Willie Dixon's classic. Mose puts his special brand of ugh, ugha, ughn, ah on it, so the sounds mixed in with an almost ragtime underpinning, has you swinging indeed.

'New Parchman Farm' is a song about the Mississippi State Prison is the sequel to his original.

The place is loaded with rustic charm.

Growing up not far from there, he was able to speak on it with a sense of true irony and futilism, and mark the way time basically stood still from plantation days.

'Rollin' Stone' is a Muddy Waters cover, again, he puts his own style of blues singing on this classic. Other stand outs are 'If You're Goin' To the City' where he warns of some of the dangers of big city life and the clues to making it in the big city. 'Your Molecular Structure' a tribute to the biochemistry of a par amour. 'I Love The Life I Live' well the title says it all.

This is a must have for any true blues fan, and if you like good song writing, or have an open mind to classic rock or rap music, it's a pretty good thing to have in your collection as well. In some instances the songs may start to sound a little the same. In one instance they are exactly the same music. However that is the nature of the blues, you can have one basic tune, and put it to different words, or phrase things a little differently to get a different flavor. The music is basically him doing piano work working with several different trio's or quartets, including Addison Farmer, Red Mitchel, Ben Tucker, Jimmy Knepper, Jimmy Reider, Fankie Dunlap, Mel Lee, Bill Goodwin, Osie Johson, Ron Lundberg, and Stan Gilbert. This was recorded in different venues from 1962 through 1968, some are live, some are studio.

One last thing, this was produced by the great Nesuhi Ertegun, a true musical visionary. He joined the Atlantic label founded by his brother Ahmet, and was responsible for recording a roster of the greatest American Jazz musicians in history. If you ever see his name connected with an artist, you can already be assured of the level of quality you are about to hear and this recording is no exception.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening