Various Artists – The Best Of Fat Possum – Fat Possum Records 314 534 130-2

The title of this release is accurate to a fault; here are 11 selections from the cream of Fat Possum Records’ roster including those from R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Dave Thompson, Paul “Wine” Jones, Cedell Davis, and the Jelly Roll Kings, with all artists getting two selections each except for the Jelly Roll Kings.  Succinctly, there isn’t a misstep in the chosen tunes across the landscape of this vital collection, and each artist and song more-than-capably highlights the tremendous work co-founders Matt Johnson and Peter Redevers-Lee set out to accomplish with his label when it was formed in 1991 to solely record R.L. Burnside.

Johnson and Lee knew the perils they were facing when he undertook the monumental task to record virtually unknown their chosen Mississippi blues artists.  Time was against them, as many in the label’s roster were up in years and not in the best of health.  Outside of the most ardent of blues enthusiasts, Fat Possum’s artists were nearly unknown to the greater blues-loving public. 

No doubt, the lives of the blues artists that called Fat Possum home were surely entrenched in the real-world blues of abject poverty and anonymity outside of their insular environments, prone to grave suspicion, of a rather limited repertoire of music, certainly not easy to work with, and with brands of blues that were excessively primal for the palates of the larger blues music labels.

Nonetheless, the music that flowed from Fat Possum was fascinating and jarring, bringing to the fore a glimpse into modern-day rural blues almost all on the outside had never before heard, providing sounds, shades, topics, and frameworks that continue to mesmerize to this day.

This reviewer remembers seeing The Fat Possum Caravan of artists one year at the Chicago Blues Festival, and to be able to witness this deep Mississippi blues was startling, haunting, and an experience never to be forgotten.

Below are the tracks on this powerful assemblage of Fat Possum’s best.

Song Titles

• R.L. Burnside – Georgia Women
• R.L. Burnside – Snake Drive
• Junior Kimbrough – Meet Me In The City
• Junior Kimbrough – Sad Days, Lonely Nights
• Dave Thompson – You Took My Baby
• Dave Thompson – Hey Moma (sic)
• Paul “Wine” Jones – Rob & Steal
• Paul “Wine” Jones – My Baby Got Drunk
• Cedell Davis – I Don’t Know Why
• Cedell Davis – Cedell’s Boogie
• Jelly Roll Kings – Coahoma County Blues

Essential, indeed!