Before Simple, before Red Mud, and
especially before O Brother, Where Art Thou?, there was Chris
Thomas: The Beginning. Originally released in 1986 as an LP (remember
those?), its timely reissue now is, no doubt, due to King's growing
visibility on the heels of the Coen brothers' movie.
In comparison to his other albums, The Beginning is
a great deal rawer and less refined; it's from a time before King had
quite achieved the synthesis of traditional blues and modern aesthetics
that has since become a hallmark of his style. Hints of this later
artistic direction abound, though, from the highly traditional opening of
"The Blues Is Back," when then kicks into a sort of acoustic Delta
blues-rock (trust me, it makes sense when you hear it), to "South Side
Shuffle," which rolls along at an unusually frenetic pace. The
tradition-based sound of this album is rather to be expected, since King
was hanging around his father's Baton Rough blues club at the time,
soaking up roots music with the atmosphere.
On the other hand, the Hendrix effect is clearly audible,
too; "You'll Be Sorry, Baby" sounds as if it was written under the
influence of Are You Experienced?, though it's hardly an example of
unquestioning devotion. Things wind down with the upbeat admonition "Don't
Work Too Hard," which comes closest to fully combining traditional and
modern sounds. Like his contemporaries Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood
Hart, King has since sought a mode of personal expression that takes a
middle road between tradition and innovation, without sticking too closely
to either. The Beginning is the beginning of what's turning out to
be a remarkable career.
-- Originally appeared in Blues Revue No. 75,
April/May 2002, p. 69