Otis Taylor
"Respect the Dead"
Northern Blues NBM0009

Would you prefer that someone poison your favorite dish or a convenience store microwave grunttito burger? Respect the Dead poisons my favorite by setting the world's worst features to acoustic blues music. "Ten Million Slaves," "Hands on Your Stomach," "Changing Rules" and the nine cuts that follow them communicate Man's inhumanity to Man better than I would like them to. Maybe that says something bad about me.

My preferred music is blues; and my preferred blues pads problems with innuendo, talent and humor. It has always been my understanding that these are the elements through which blues makes the listener feel better. As Otis Taylor's music communicates problems without making the listener feel better, I wonder if it's blues at all. There is the potential for a lengthy, tedious, scholarly debate here.

The music is familiar. It falls in the pendulum swing between John Lee Hooker and John Mayall. The lyrics are without humor or hope. To those with matching worldviews, this will be better than any blues I could suggest. To those who want padding and/or who believe in hope and humor, it may be the worst.

Arthur "LoveWhip" Shuey