The first time I saw R.L. Burnside perform it was in my native Dayton, Ohio, at a smoky little jazz club called Gilly's. The year was 1988. I didn't see him again till '96 or '97 — this time at Junior's Place, a legendary juke joint in Chulahoma, Mississippi. This album (the first to be released on CD by Fat Possum) sounds like the first two times I saw R.L. do his unadulterated thing — before the rock stars, before the remixes. This is the BAND sound of R.L. Buy it along with his acoustic "First Recordings," pour something approximating moonshine, dim the lights, crank the volume and smile. These are about as good as so-called "Hill Country" blues gets. - Roger Stolle, Cat Head
 
Fat Possum Records.