{"id":3511,"date":"2021-09-18T22:15:54","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T22:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=3511"},"modified":"2022-12-18T12:14:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T12:14:34","slug":"music-giant-steps-the-ole-folks-at-home-taj-mahal-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=3511","title":{"rendered":"MUSiC: Giant Steps\/The Ole Folks At Home, Taj Mahal, 1969"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1360.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3509\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1360.jpg 500w, http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1360-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1360-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1360-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"155\" height=\"30\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/stars_10_five-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3508\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/stars_10_five-4.jpg 155w, http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/stars_10_five-4-150x30.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 155px) 100vw, 155px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Released as a double album in vinyl days of yore. Disc one, <em>Giant Steps<\/em>, is, oversimplifying rather, an electric band blues album, whilst disc two, <em>De Ole Folks At Home<\/em>, is a solo acoustic \u2018roots\u2019 affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recorded\/released c. 1969, both albums are brilliant. Taj Mahal\u2019s band at this time features Jesse Ed Davis on lead\/rhythm guitar, Gary Gilmore on bass, and Chuck Blackwell on drums. Taj is superb as the band leader, and the guys are simultaneously tight and loose, so to speak. Musically perfect, in that \u2018sweet spot\u2019; the Goldilocks zone, neither too little nor too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"420\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1355.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3510\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1355.jpg 425w, http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1355-300x296.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/img_1355-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The rootsier solo album.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Both albums mix covers and originals. And some are very trad, esp\u2019 on \u2018disc two\u2019, whilst others are interesting adaptations of more modern pieces (Bacon Fat is by Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson of The Band). The energy of <em>Giant Steps<\/em> is joyful and infectious. The nostalgic introspection of <em>De Ole Folks<\/em> is warmly reverential, but also refreshingly diverse and invigoratingly raw and fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Really stunningly good music, of a type you don\u2019t hear enough. So much more refreshing and diverse\/eclectic than most stodgy modern blues and blues\/rock. Taj Mahal is criminally underrated. Like Ry Cooder, with whom he played in The Rising Sons, he\u2019s both ethnomusicologist and superb performer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Essential listening for awakened ears\/minds!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Released as a double album in vinyl days of yore. Disc one, Giant Steps, is, oversimplifying rather, an electric band blues album, whilst disc two, De Ole Folks At Home, is a solo acoustic \u2018roots\u2019 affair. Recorded\/released c. 1969, both albums are brilliant. Taj Mahal\u2019s band at this time features Jesse Ed Davis on lead\/rhythm &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=3511\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;MUSiC: Giant Steps\/The Ole Folks At Home, Taj Mahal, 1969&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-UD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3511"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3511"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7634,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3511\/revisions\/7634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}