Taj Mahal - Giant Step - De Ole Folks at Home 1969

In less than 24 months, Taj Mahal (guitars/vocals/banjo/harmonica) had issued the equivalent of four respective long players. The electric Giant Step (1968) was released alongside the acoustic and decidedly rural De Ole Folks at Home (1968). The nine cuts on Giant Step feature support from the instrumental trio of Jessie Ed Davis (guitar/keyboards), Gary Gilmore (bass) and Chuck Blackwell (drums). They back Taj Mahal on a wide selection of covers ranging from Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" to the upbeat and soulful reading of the Huddie Ledbetter blues staple "Keep Your Hands off Her." The arrangements are unique and offer the artist a distinctive approach. Nowhere is this more evident than the practically jovial mid-tempo "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" or the freewheeling abandon that is brought to the 18-wheeler anthem "Six Days on the Road," recalling the version of "Ain't That a Lot of Love" from Taj Mahal's preceding effort Natch'l Blues (1968). Additionally, Blind Willie Johnson's "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" stands out with a strong and soaring gospel-flavoured score. Giant Step concludes with "Bacon Fat," a number attributed here via Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson of the Band. That said, it may be better-known from the man they called Mr. Rhythm, Andre Williams, whose scattered down-home spoken interludes punctuate his February 1957 Top 10 R&B hit -- which incidentally was created under the working title "Diddle, Diddle Womp, Womp." Parties searching for an apt introduction when discovering Taj Mahal's voluminous catalogue are encouraged to consider Giant Step as a highly recommended reference point. AMG.

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Taj Mahal - The Real Thing 1971

Taj Mahal followed up Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home (1969) with another double-LP concert platter whose title pretty much sums up the contents. The Real Thing (1971) is drawn from a mid-February run of shows at the Fillmore East in New York City where he, Spencer Davis, the Chambers Brothers, and Roberta Flack, among others, shared the bill. Mahal is supported by an interesting extended aggregate with a brass section consisting of Joseph Daley (tuba/horn/trombone), Bob Stewart (horn), and a pair of former Charles Mingus bandmembers, Earl McIntyre (horn) and Howard Johnson (horn). While at times they tend to overpower the usually intimate nature of the performances, that is certainly not the case for the majority of the arrangements. The opener, "Fishin' Blues," is a solo with Mahal accompanying himself on banjo. "Ain't Gwine to Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')" is significantly lengthened from the form found on Giant Step (1968) as it stretches nearly nine minutes and allows plenty of room for interaction, offering up a spirited fife interlude from Mahal. In addition to providing an overview from his back catalog, The Real Thing contains a few new compositions. The full ensemble gets a workout on the funky "Sweet Mama Janisse" and the toe-tappin' rural flavor of the instrumental "Tom and Sally Drake" is lightly augmented by a sole tuba -- presumably that of Johnson. Sleepy John Estes' "Diving Duck Blues" arguably submits the most successful incorporation of brass, sporting a driving, full-throttle rhythm, and soulful interpretation. AMG.

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Taj Mahal - Music Keeps Me Together 1975

Taj Mahal had displayed a keen interest in African and Caribbean music along with the country blues that was the foundation of his sound on his first several albums, so it was no great surprise that he'd become enamored of reggae by the mid-'70s, and Music Keeps Me Together found him working with Earl "Wire" Lindo, the keyboard man and arranger who had accompanied the likes of Bob Marley, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Burning Spear. The tough but sensuous pulse of Jamaican music certainly makes itself felt on Music Keeps Me Together, but Mahal seems reluctant to dive into it headfirst -- "My Ancestors" and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" are both skank-heavy, but "Further on Down the Road" fuses reggae with blues and funk until all the elements have been diluted too far, and the title cut (written by Lindo) sounds curiously indecisive about its stylistic direction. Elsewhere, "Why?...and We Repeat Why?...and We Repeat!" plays more like fusion jazz than anything else (with all the lack of bite that description implies); "Roll, Turn, Spin" (a Joseph Spence cover) bears faint echoes of Afro-beat; and "When I Feel the Sea Beneath My Soul" feels more like calypso, though with the energy brought down to the level of a quiet ocean breeze. The diversity of Mahal's music has always been a key element of his recordings, but Music Keeps Me Together goes in plenty of directions without sounding especially engaged with any of them, and the polished performances only add to the aimless tone of this album. This music may keep Taj Mahal together, but it doesn't do that much for his listeners. AMG.

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Taj Mahal - Music Keeps Me Together 1975

Taj Mahal had displayed a keen interest in African and Caribbean music along with the country blues that was the foundation of his sound on his first several albums, so it was no great surprise that he'd become enamored of reggae by the mid-'70s, and Music Keeps Me Together found him working with Earl "Wire" Lindo, the keyboard man and arranger who had accompanied the likes of Bob Marley, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Burning Spear. The tough but sensuous pulse of Jamaican music certainly makes itself felt on Music Keeps Me Together, but Mahal seems reluctant to dive into it headfirst -- "My Ancestors" and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" are both skank-heavy, but "Further on Down the Road" fuses reggae with blues and funk until all the elements have been diluted too far, and the title cut (written by Lindo) sounds curiously indecisive about its stylistic direction. Elsewhere, "Why?...and We Repeat Why?...and We Repeat!" plays more like fusion jazz than anything else (with all the lack of bite that description implies); "Roll, Turn, Spin" (a Joseph Spence cover) bears faint echoes of Afro-beat; and "When I Feel the Sea Beneath My Soul" feels more like calypso, though with the energy brought down to the level of a quiet ocean breeze. The diversity of Mahal's music has always been a key element of his recordings, but Music Keeps Me Together goes in plenty of directions without sounding especially engaged with any of them, and the polished performances only add to the aimless tone of this album. This music may keep Taj Mahal together, but it doesn't do that much for his listeners. AMG.

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Taj Mahal - The Natch'l Blues 1968

Taj Mahal's second album, recorded in the spring and fall of 1968, opens with more stripped-down Delta-style blues in the manner of his debut, but adds a little more amplification (partly courtesy of Al Kooper on organ) before moving into wholly bigger sound on numbers like "She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride" and "The Cuckoo" -- the latter, in particular, features crunchy electric and acoustic guitars and Gary Gilmore playing his bass almost like a lead instrument, like a bluesman's answer to John Entwistle. Most notable, however, may be the two original closing numbers, "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til Your Well Runs Dry)" and "Ain't That a Lot of Love," which offer Taj Mahal working in the realm of soul and treading onto Otis Redding territory. This is particularly notable on "You Don't Miss Your Water," which achieves the intensity of a gospel performance and comes complete with a Stax/Volt-style horn arrangement by Jesse Ed Davis that sounds more like the real thing than the real thing. "Ain't That a Lot of Love," by contrast, is driven by a hard electric guitar sound and a relentless bass part that sounds like a more urgent version of the bassline from the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'." The fall 2000 CD reissue includes a trio of bonus tracks: a faster-paced rendition of "The Cuckoo" with a more prominent lead guitar, the slow electric lament "New Stranger Blues" featuring some good mandolin-style playing on the guitar, and the rocking instrumental "Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine," which is a killer showcase for Davis' lead electric guitar and Taj Mahal's virtuosity on the harmonica. AMG.

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