It is my firmly held belief that the world's capacity for
covers of "Cross Road Blues" is finite, and that if this capacity is
exceeded, the Man himself will show up and terrible things will happen. It
is therefore fortunate that Dealin' with the Devil, the latest
compendium of Robert Johnson material performed by other artists, does not
include this song. Oh, you've got your "Walkin' Blues" and your "I Believe
I'll Dust My Broom," your "Come On in My Kitchen" and your "Preachin'
Blues"; this is not a collection of obscurities, if there were any left
where Johnson's concerned. What it is, instead, is a chance for younger
artists (plus Pinetop Perkins, who's young at heart, and Dave Van Ronk,
who's more folk than blues, but why carp?) to try their hand at the
legend's legacy.
They do it very well, whether their interpretations are
strictly traditional or interpreted according to a particular taste. Few
will quibble with Perkins' lively rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago,"
featuring his masterful piano and mischievously expressive vocals. Nor
Corey Harris' "Walkin' Blues," which moves at more of a saunter, with a
swinging drumbeat behind the music. Nor even Van Ronk's "Last Fair Deal
Gone Down," which sounds the way it might have if Johnson had been from,
say, rural Virginia. More traditional in flavor are acoustic blues
revivalist Guy Davis' take on "Stones in My Passway" and Colin Linden's
"Preachin' Blues." Debbie Davies unplugs her electric guitar for "When You
Got a Good Friend," though there's still a bit of country twang to her
vocals, and her solo owes more to Texas than to Mississippi. Perhaps the
biggest surprise is Sue Foley's "From Four Until Late"; her slightly nasal
intonation turns out to be perfect for the song, one of Dealin' with
the Devil's best entries. Worth getting? Absolutely.
-- Originally appeared in Blues Revue No. 64,
January/February 2001, pp. 55-56