Reviews
Recommended as one of the five best blues releases of 1990 - "...Easily the most significant re-issue of the past year, THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS resolves many of the mysteries of Johnson's life while rendering the uncanny power of his work more mysterious than ever...", Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's.", 5 Stars - Classic - "...No other bluesman left a studio portrait that seems to come moaning and howling from the darkest recesses of his soul. The music has a power that age cannot dim...", 5 Stars - Indispensable - "...Without a doubt a man mummified in his own legend, but these 41 recordings - Johnson's entire output - remain essential nonetheless...", 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "The set transports us deeper into the mythic and all-too-real world his music evokes.", 5 Stars (out of 5) - "...the great country blues man and his classic 41 titles...cause us to step back in slack-jawed astonishment...", "...If there have to be legendary bluesmen, Johnson is as well fitted for the role as anybody....This is a treasury that seems to grow more valuable year by year...", 5 Stars - Excellent - "...Johnson's use of harmonics and chording was eons before his time, and his delivery and lyrics remain standards by which blues intensity is measured. The intimacy is eerie; you're in the literal presence of genius...", Rated as one of the 10 best recordings of 1990. - "...This isn't just music; it's American mythology, recorded in the mid-1930s and brought alive for the first time on two CDs. The blues found no deeper mystical expression than in Johnson's composing and singing..."