If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please

by Michael Bloomfield

Overview

If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please was an unusual project for Michael Bloomfield. Although recorded as a blues guitar instructional album for Guitar Player magazine, it ended up being acclaimed as one of his finest solo recordings, of interest to both guitar players and the general listening public. Bloomfield had been in commercial and artistic decline for years prior to cutting this disc, and there's the sense that he welcomed the chance to get back to what he knew and loved the best, selecting and laying down material without having to worry about how well it would sell. That relaxed quality comes through on the performances, in which he goes through a wide assortment of electric and acoustic guitar styles, the songs specifically designed to illustrate guitar sounds associated with heroes like B.B. King, Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, T-Bone Walker, Blind Blake, Guitar Slim, Lonnie Johnson, and others. The cuts with band backing are no-frills, straight-ahead affairs that avoid over-production, interrupted by a few showcases for Bloomfield's considerable and underrated abilities as an acoustic guitarist. His singing, as always, was merely serviceable, but suitably respectful of the material and the styles to which he was paying homage. Sprinkled throughout the program are brief, unobtrusive spoken introductions from Bloomfield himself succinctly explaining the songs, what they're examples of, and how they're being played. Long after it was made, it's still useful as a primer for aspiring blues guitarists, but also reasonably satisfying as a blues record on its own terms. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	10/26/2004
Label:	Concord / Universal
UPC:	0025218980128
Rank:	79677

Tracks

1. If You Love These Blues
2. Hey, Foreman
3. Narrative #1
4. WDIA
5. Narrative #2
6. Death Cell Rounder Blues
7. Narrative #3
8. City Girl
9. Narrative #4
10. Kansas City Blues
11. Narrative #5
12. Mama Lion
13. Narrative #6
14. Thrift Shop Rag
15. Narrative #7
16. Death in My Family
17. East Colorado Blues
18. Blue Ghost Blues
19. Narrative #8
20. The Train Is Gone
21. Narrative #9
22. The Alter Song
23. I'll Overcome
24. I Must See Jesus
25. Great Dreams from Heaven
26. Gonna Need Somebody on My Bond
27. I Am a Pilgrim
28. Just a Closer Walk With Thee
29. Have Thine Own Way
30. Farther Along
31. Peace in the Valley

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Michael Bloomfield   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
Elvis Presley   Composer
Jim Jackson   Composer
Nick Gravenites   Composer
Michael Bloomfield   Composer
Stefan Grossman   Composer
Lonnie Johnson   Composer