Mitch Greenhill: Shepherd of the City Blues

Mitch Greenhill: Shepherd of the City Blues

performed by Mitch Greenhill, Geoff Muldar, 1943-, Bill Lee, 1928-, Jeff Gutcheon, 1941-2013 and Fritz Richmond (Prestige, 2000), 1 hour 6 mins, 27 page(s)

This is a sample. For full access:

Please choose from the following options to gain full access to this content

Log in via your academic institution

Details

Field of Interest
American Music
Content Type
Music recording
Duration
1 hour 6 mins
Format
Audio
Sub Genre
Country/Rural Blues
Label
Prestige
Page Count
27
Performer
Mitch Greenhill, Geoff Muldar, 1943-, Bill Lee, 1928-, Jeff Gutcheon, 1941-2013, Fritz Richmond
Date Recorded
1966
Release Date
2000
Review
Mitch Greenhill's 1960s albums Pickin' the City Blues and Shepherd of the Highways had been out of print for a long time when, in April 2000, Fantasy reissued them on the 65-minute CD Shepherd of the City Blues. Recorded from 1963-1966, these recordings point to the fact that while folk singer/instrumentalist Greenhill wasn't mind-blowing, he was competent, likable, and sincere. Pickin' the City Blues and Shepherd of the Highways are very different albums; while Greenhill's singing is the main focus of Pickin', Highways is an instrumental date that finds the Bostonian playing both acoustic guitar and banjo and drawing on influences that range from old-time country string bands to Lonnie Johnson's jazz-influenced country blues. Improvisation defines Highways, whereas on Pickin', Greenhill's role is that of a storyteller; and even though Greenhill isn't a fantastic singer, he gets his points across on original songs as well as the hillbilly favorite "Ragged but Right" and blues classics like Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl" and Willie Dixon's "Built for Comfort." Although these Dixon and Williamson gems have usually been heard as electric Chicago blues, Greenhill has no problem turning them into the type of acoustic country blues that represented legitimacy to many folk artists of the 1960s. Since Greenhill hasn't done a great deal of recording over the years, Shepherd of the City Blues is the logical place to go if you're exploring his work for the first time. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
Subject
American Music, Music & Performing Arts, American Studies, Blues, Blues
Keywords and Translated Subjects
Blues

View my Options

Listen Now

Create an account and get 24 hours access for free.

Spaces are not allowed; punctuation is not allowed except for periods, hyphens, apostrophes, and underscores.
Please enter a valid e-mail address. All e-mails from the system will be sent to this address. The e-mail address is not made public and will only be used if you wish to receive a new password or wish to receive certain news or notifications by e-mail.
This email will be your username
This is the name displayed to others on any playlists or clips you share
×