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Title: 5-Star Performance, Illogical Recording Sequence
Review: It's easy to get swept along in the hype and mythology surrounding Johnson and to accept him uncritically as the greatest (or at least the most influential) blues guitarist of all time. He was by any measure superb. And many of his 29 recordings are truly seminal works, but they are not scared texts ... and yes, the blues would have evolved with or without Johnson.These recording are testimony to his skill. This is a five-star performance by any measure when viewed from the quality of the material and no blues collection is complete without a Johnson recording. Knock one-star off for the brain-dead decision of the compiler to place the alternate takes directly after the "master" cuts. They should have put all of the alternate takes on one disc and the masters on the other. I pity anyone who plays these discs with the "shuffle" active on their CD player. It'll drive you crazy.
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