Record of the Day: McGhee/Terry, “At the 2nd Fret”

Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry, “At The 2nd Fret” (Cd Prestige BV 1058)

An artistic couple as close-knit on stage as they are constantly at odds off it, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee have spent their lives arguing together only to find themselves united by the spirit of the blues, in an artistic symbiosis that has few comparisons in terms of importance and skill in the world of popular music.

Virtuoso instrumentalist Sonny, excellent singer and leader in his own right (any of his albums for the Prestige and Capitol labels should be listened to without reservation) has found in McGhee (also the author of excellent solo performances now re-proposed on the market by Columbia) a companion journey capable of adding fuel to the fire of his harmonica thanks to accompaniments and guitar solos of absolute authority, which embody the characteristics generally indicated by Americans for the creation of quality blues: “Three Chords and the Truth” (Three chords and the Truth).

Recorded in 1962 in a microscopic Philadephia club that has now disappeared, the 2nd Fret, this album presents us with one of the best titles in the immense discography that Terry & McGhee put together during a collaboration that lasted over thirty years. The atmosphere is the exciting one of the cultural ferment in which the young Bob Dylan and the poets of the Beat Generation moved, where blues, jazz and folk musicians listened to each other in the Coffeehouses exchanging ideas and energy until late at night, often supported by copious doses of alcohol (Terry and McGhee also collaborated with Tennessee Williams for the premiere of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”).

In front of an enthusiastic audience the two bluesmen tell us stories that speak of violence, homicidal instincts and desperation (“Evil Hearted Me”, “Sick Man”) but there is also no shortage of joyfully libertinesque episodes full of double meanings (“Barking Bulldog”, “Custard Pie”), also revisiting in an exciting way “Backwater Blues”, already brought to success by Bessie Smith. Exemplars of executive excellence and spirited involvement of the artists “Wholesale Dealin’ Papa” and “Motorcycle Blues”, punctuated by Terry’s vocal exclamations and McGhee’s multifaceted guitar which can transform itself into an authentic rhythm section or relax into melodic lines and flourishes that bring us back to immediately towards the red-hot Mississippi Delta.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.