"This is Samuel James’ debut album and at 'a few years short of 30' some
may say that he hasn’t the experience to sing the blues. However, age is no matter when the music is relevant and,
believe me, the music of multi-instrumentalist Samuel James is most certainly relevant. This set of 12 original
songs confirms the arrival of a true story teller. The Here Comes Nina
Country Rag-Time Surprise (the first of many long titles) highlights
his dextrous fingers but his voice is different to what I expected from looking at him on the sleeve. There is
nowhere to hide when it is just you and your guitar but James dishes up a spectacular opening. I’m back to the
voice for Sunrise Blues. It definitely belies his years and this hypnotic Delta blues is of the highest order.
Big Black Ben has slide
guitar and the high standard is maintained. Sugar Smallhouse Heads
For The Hills is exciting and vital as he turns his hand to the banjo.
Wooooooo Rosa is an instrumental
and James gives a master class in dobro slide playing. This is followed by the very short One-Eyed
Katie, which continues his talent for keeping the listener interested.
"It could be very easy to become bored just listening to one man but his variety is exceptional. Mid-December Blues - I get them, doesn’t
everyone is a gentle country blues and is a great counterbalance to some of the other more in your face numbers.
Sugar Smallhouse And The Legend Of The Wandering Siren Cactus (recurring theme?) has a virtually spoken lyric but it fits like an old shoe. Sleepy Girl Blues has a bit of pace injected
on the slide and Baby Doll
has some old style guitar picking. Both show what a true technician he is. He slows it down for the instrumental
Runnin’ From My Baby’s Gun Whilst Previously Watchin’ Butterflies From
My Front Porch - easily the longest blues title I’ve ever come across.
However, he builds it up so that it sounds like bees rather than butterflies at one point. Love
& Mumbly-Peg shows that he does old style with real style and
The Sad Ballad is a railroad
song with his guitar taking the part of the train.
"Samuel James is already a true master and this is one of the best debut albums that I have ever heard."
-David Blue
Blues Blues
June, 2008
"Songs Famed for Sorrow &
Joy (Northern Blues) is the debut CD of Samuel James, an exciting
blues artist who is refreshingly different.
"James manages to combine the style of Robert Johnson with the New Millenium, and he does it so well. He plays
some lovely slide guitar to accompany his vocals on tracks like Big
Black Ben and he picks some great guitar to go with tracks such as
Sugar Smallhouse Heads For The Hills
- at times he sounds like Bob Dylan might if he played pure blues.
"This man is a story-teller as well as a musician, and all 12 of the tracks on the album are his own and each
tells a story in its own right (much like the early Bob Dylan material). It’s maybe not the sort of album that
you fall in love with first time around - it needs a few listens to get to grips with what this man is doing. But
once you get into it, you’re captured and just want to listen more and more.
"There are so many influences here, and I’ve probably missed a lot of them, but I would hazard a guess at
Robert Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Son House, Bob Dylan, Bukka White, and Fred McDowell. The mix is compelling,
addictive, and delicious - the instrumental Wooooo Rosa just blew me away and I would personally buy this CD for this track on its own. That
track and Running from my Baby’s Gun
are just so incredibly good - technically, musically, and every other way.
"There are a couple of tracks that weren’t altogether to my taste, but the good tracks override these by such
a large margin that it’s irrelevant.
"Get this CD and listen to Woooooo Rosa, Running From My Bay’s
Gun and The Sad Ballad
Of Ol Willie Cahan - I can guarantee that you’ll be pleased you listened."
-Terry Clear
Blues Bytes
May, 2008
"There is a new bluesman on the horizon that is in the tradition of Robert
Johnson. By that I mean he's a man with a guitar or banjo with percussion coming from his feet. His material is
original with each song telling a story, but if you didn't know he was under 30 years old, you would swear the
songs were written during the great depression. Don't take it for granted that he is from the Delta or Alabama
(we do have a artist with the same name), he's from Portland, Maine and records on a Canadian label. His label
knows great blues because they also have Watermelon Slim and Mem Shannon (both reviewed here) on their roster.
The man that is going to take the blues into the 21st Century is Samuel James with this week's release Songs Famed For Sorrow and Joy (NothernBlues
Music). He's does not have Keb Mo's laid back delivery; James is more aggressive. This album is going to take you
back to the days when bluesmen were bluesmen and not electrified blues bands."
-Jerry Henry
Planet Weekly
April, 2008
"Now, Samuel James is a whole other ball game. There's an echo of Mr.
Hurt in the guitar playing that starts the album, The 'Here Comes Nina'
Country-Ragtime Surprise, but then Samuel starts singing...and he's
telling some kind of linear tale. It's like a short story. Beyond the standard 'squeeze my lemon' kind of blues
lyric, this is more like O. Henry put to music by Son House. OK, that may be pushing it, but there's more to James'
lyrics than repetition, and you should know that going in. Johnny Winter comments on his 'great voice and a great
playing style! Traditional blues done with a hip twist.' Johnny should know.
"The title of the album might give you a clue. Songs Famed For
Sorrow And Joy. What does that mean? Look at the titles. Sunrise Blues in which the narrator states
'I might kill myself!' In Big Black Ben
over a bottleneck guitar (think Bukka White), Ben comes into town and sticks around with nothin' to lose. It doesn't
work out. Sugar Smallhouse Heads For the Hills
is another tale, this time over banjo accompaniment. James plays all the instruments himself and still finds over
50 people to thank! Wooooooo Rosa
is a slide tune, One Eyed Katie
a Hurt-style fingerpicked talking blues. Sugar Smallhouse returns with the Legend of the Wandering
Cactus. As I said...it's like an anthology of short stories, and the
blues is better for it.
"There's really nobody who I can compare Samuel James to. I know, I've already mentioned three or four predecessors,
but he reminds me of a different person with every song, and yet he doesn't really sound like any of them! Something
new under the sun? Perhaps, and yet, an archive of all that's come before."
-David Kidney
Greenman Review
April, 2008
"Samuel James is a twenty something pre-war blues guitarist hailing from
Maine. Coming from a broken family and earning his keep by touring as a tap
dancer in his teens, and by busking on the streets of Ireland, he has a
relatively rich well of experience to draw upon for this, his second disc.
"With a voice that often recalls folk troubadour Greg Brown, James weaves
wild tales about colorful characters like Big Black Ben who was always one
step ahead of the law, One Eyed Katie,
who "is all woman but no lady" and
Sugar Smallhouse who is just ahead of the ladies (and their jealous men!), Sugar Smallhouse Heads for the Hills.
He also takes a first person look at
heartbreak, Mid-December Blues,
and two timing women Love & Mumbly -Peg.
"Not content to suffer silently he embarks on a multiyear quest for a killer
cactus to give to his errant lady on Sugar Smallhouse and the Legend
of the
Wandering Siren Cactus. With a buoyant guitar line segueing into an
ominous,
angry backdrop you know this one isn't going to end nicely. On Sunrise
Blues he leaves matters of the flesh and heart behind and tells the
chilling tale of a man waiting helplessly for the noose.
"When he's not weaving tales with his lyrics he lets his national resophonic
do the talking with dark, hypnotic strumming morphing into intricate
finger-picking on Wooooooo Rosa
and on the slicing, slide fueled, Runnin'
From My Baby's Gun, Whilst previously Watchin' Butterflies From My Front
Porch which, along with The
"Here Comes Nina" Country Rag Time Surprise and Big Black Ben, appeared
on his independent debut, The Return of Sugar
Smallhouse.
"This is a terrific disc for those who enjoy an occasional foray into pre-war
finger-style blues but who can't really relate to the too often told tales
of picking cotton in the Delta heat."
-Mark Smith
Jazz & Blues Report
April, 2008
"It’s refreshingly simple: perhaps in the age of super producers, musical
collectives, and computer generated sound, we’ve forgotten just how much music a man and his guitar can make. Samuel
James hasn’t.
"James is a old-school bluesman. With percussion left entirely to James’ tapping foot, Songs
Famed for Sorrow and Joy is a tribute to a time when there were no
albums, only sparse lyrics accompanied by sparse guitars. But no matter how scant the instrumentation, it never
precludes a talented artist from getting the most out of what is there. In this case, what’s there is James’ rich,
gruff voice that rumbles when it creeps through the lower range and cries as it races through its top range. Keeping
those wandering vocals company is some tricky guitar picking, which gently dances for numbers like Love & Mumbly-Peg and screeches through
the corners of tracks like Sleepy Girl Blues.
James’ focus is on storytelling and, not surprisingly for a blues album, most of the songs centre around some kind
of woman troubles, explicated and mourned in a call-and-response structure. Nina in The
‘Here Comes Nina’ Ragtime-Surprise seems particularly strict when
it comes to chores; as James explains, Here comes Nina counting to
ten / Looks like I forgot to do those dishes again / Here comes Nina with a pick and a spade / Talkin’ ’bout ‘if
you don’t do those dishes I’m goin’ out to dig your grave.’? He doesn’t
seem to fare any better with One-Eyed Katie,
who Is all woman, but not one bit lady / Just one eye is all she had/
She don’t see so good, but she don’t look so bad. It’s characters
like Nina and Katie that give Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy its charm and originality, so if you want to know what happens to Ol’ Willie Chan,
give it a listen, and Samuel James will tell you."
-Kathleen Bell
The Gateway, University of Alberta
April, 2008
"Samuel James comes from a musical background. His grandfather played
blues guitar in the early part of the 20th Century and his father was a professional piano player and trombone
player. He learned to tap dance at five, to play piano at eight, and was touring the Northeastern U.S. by the age
of 12. He fled to Ireland after a failed romance and learned to play harmonica while there. When he returned to
the U.S., he learned to play guitar. Now in his late 20s, he's released one of the most remarkably authentic acoustic
blues releases in a long time. Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy, his second release and first for NorthernBlues Music, is as close to a modern version
of the pre-war blues as I've heard in a long time.
James wrote all 13 songs on the disc and performs them solo, accompanied only by his guitar or banjo. The highlights
are many, and include "Big Black Ben,"
who was one bad dude, "Wooooooo Rosa,"
a beautiful seven-minute instrumental, the manic "Sleepy Girl
Blues," "Sugar
Smallhouse Heads For the Hills," one of two songs featuring the
Smallhouse character, and "One-Eyed Katie,"
who's "all woman, but not one bit lady."
The lively rag, Baby-Doll,
is another keeper, as is the intriguingly titled Runnin' From My Baby's
Gun Whilst Previously Watchin' Butterflies From My Front Porch, which
is actually another superb instrumental. Love & Mumbly-Peg and The Sad Ballad of Ol' Willie Chan, like the rest of James' "story songs," are fascinating narratives featuring
fully fleshed-out character. You can actually feel their pain, their loss, and even their anger while you're listening.
Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy
is as good as acoustic blues gets. Trust me when I say you'll be listening to it over and over again for a long
time."
-Graham Clarke
Blues Bytes
March, 2008
"Growing up black in white foster homes in Portland, Maine, was no picnic,
Samuel James says. But he lists the toughest week of his life as the one he spent in the studio cranking out this
one-man acoustic tour de force, his debut for Canada's NorthernBlues. It was worth the effort.
"James does not consider himself a bluesman so much as a songster and a storyteller, and the baker's dozen
self-penned tunes here unfold in linear fashion. They're about tough guys (Big
Black Ben) and tough bosses (The
Sad Ballad of Ol' Willie Chan), fast women (One-Eyed
Katie) and unreliable women (Sleepy
Girl Blues, Baby-Doll).
James is still in his 20s, but he already has a leg up on Keb' Mo' and other more established acoustic bluesmen.
He's a terrific finger-picking guitarist and promising banjo player, with his feet serving as an ample percussion
section."
"I picture a solitary, older gentleman on a Mississippi Delta porch playing a bottleneck guitar. While Samuel
James is under 30, and apparently comes from Portland, Maine, he does handle all the instrumentation, singing and
songwriting on his first album for Ontario-based Northern Blues. The term authentic blues, bandied in his advance
material, sounds appropriate.
"Hitting stores on Tuesday, Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy is a baker’s dozen of stripped down, lively and visceral blues tunes shaped by resophonic
slide guitar and James’s half-spoken, half-sung voice.
"If the music of Alvin Youngblood Hart, Colin Linden, and Guy Davis is of interest, chances are Samuel James’s
music will appeal.
"The song titles may be playful (the tension-dripping instrumental Runnin’
from My Baby’s Gun, Whilst Previously Watchin’ Butterflies from My Front Porch,
for instance) but the sentiments - either stated or implied - are conveyed with acoustic clarity.
"Most songs possess a depth of conviction, a sense of allegory, and even pathos that is balanced elsewhere
by spirited brightness. With a unified sound that doesn’t become tiresome, Songs
Famed for Sorrow and Joy is a blues disc one will revisit frequently.
"Samuel James is as authentic as modern blues gets."
-Donald Teplyske
Red Deer Adovate, Alberta
March, 2008
James born to belt out blues
His new disc has echoes of Robert Johnson
"They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
"Perhaps not.
"But sometimes it actually is a pretty good indication of what awaits you inside.
"Samuel James' Songs Famed for Sorrow And Joy is a case in point. The photograph on the cover of this CD brings to mind vintage
images of legendary Delta bluesman Robert Johnson.
"And, lo and behold, if the music you find inside doesn't take you to the same sacred place on the Delta where
the music of Robert Johnson, Son House, Charley Patton and Bukka White was born, moulded and shaped from hard times
and hard living.
"James, a gifted fingerstyle guitarist who also plays banjo, piano and harmonica, is very much a man cut from
yesterday's cloth.
"His original material - this record consists entirely of original material - sounds at times like it could
have been pulled from Alan Lomax's field recordings of pre-war blues at the Library of Congress. Johnny Winter,
who was very much impressed with James when he heard him play, described his music as traditional blues with a
hip twist.
"James, who spent much of his formative years in white foster homes in Maine, was born with the blues in his
blood.
"His grandfather, who was born in 1890, was a blues guitarist. His father was also a musician playing both
piano and trombone.
"The 20-something James began his own musical journey at the age of eight when he learned to play piano. By
the age of 12 he was touring the Northeastern U.S. He started playing harmonica in his late teens and guitar shortly
after.
"James plays strictly acoustic instruments and he plays alone, beating out his own percussion with both feet.
Even if he didn't sing, he would be a joy to listen to.
"But he's got a lot to sing about. James is very much a storyteller whose songs are filled with interesting
characters, situations, events and observations. He sings about love and relationships and working hard for a living,
but he also sings about issues of social relevance like the face of racism today.
"He recorded Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy
in five days in Toronto using just two acoustic guitars, a banjo and nine microphones. The feel is that of an old-time
blues recording, fortunately the production standards are much higher.
"Prime tracks on this NorthernBlues release, which was produced by David Travers-Smith (Ani DiFranco, Harry
Manx) include One-Eyed Katie, Mid-December Blues, Big Black Ben, Sleepy
Girl Blues and Baby Doll.)
"If you have a thing for traditional blues, James deserves your attention.
"Rating: 4 stars out of 5."
-Doug Gallant
The Guardian, Prince Edward Island
March, 2008
"Samuel James was born about 50 years too late. With his slide guitar,
scratchy vocals and vintage songwriting, he sounds like Robert Johnson's little brother. Songs
Famed For Sorrow and Joy is as old school and stripped down as blues
music comes. No backup singers, no horn section and no drums outside of James's foot stomping - just a man, his
guitar and the blues. Sorrow and Joy
won’t win over anyone not in love with the blues already, but it should impress the hell out of those of us who
are."
-Lewis Kelly
Vue Weekly, Edmonton
March, 2008
"One can’t help but tap one’s toes and bob one’s head along to Samuel
James’ Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy.
The engaging rhythm, tempo and James’ clear, yet growly and gruff voice all heighten the innate energy within the
blues songs he performs. There is a balanced mix of fast, toe-to-whole-foot-tapping songs and slow, almost lazy
blues. Wooooooo Rosa encapsulates
the whole continuum of this range of tempos.
"Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy
gave me a pleasant vision of an impromptu group of musicians getting together and jamming on a country porch on
a relaxed, sunny, summer afternoon. Everything I’d expect out of a true blues album is on Songs
Famed for Sorrow and Joy: talk-singing storytelling, whistling, impressive
finger-picking, affirmative grunting (Mmm hmm!),
and, of course, the use of accelerando. But none of these tools are gimmicky; they are used in a precise and engaging
way...
"... Now that spring has sprung, this album will help you melt those winter sorrows away and top you off with
some summer joy!"
"Maine native Samuel James is in a class of his own, grafting literate
and often hilarious stories to pre-war b lues, and creating tunes with titles such as Runnin'
From My Baby's Gun and Whilst
Previously Watchin' Butteflies from My Front Porch.
"James accompanies himself with propulsive fingerstyle/slide acoustic guitar and banjo, pounding out the rhythm
with his foot as he introduces us to folks like One-Eyed Katie -- 'all woman but not bit lady' -- and a racist sheriff who winds up being cuckolded
by a black man (Big Black Ben).
"Unconcerned about political correctness, he sometimes sounds, in his exuberance, like a young Bob Dylan."
-Patrick Langston
Ottawa Citizen
March, 2008
"Aahhh, got him a resonator guitar, wicked do and soul patch, and a bucket-load
of talent. Samuel James recorded this brilliantly original album up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is a long
way from the Delta, but somehow rings true to that domain, if you will. Either he is infected body and soul with
the spirit of the blues or he is doing the deadliest parody ever. I do not think it is the latter, but I am put
in that frame of mind by the cut where he appears to be channeling the Georgia Satellites. Nevertheless, this is
a delicious album; he certainly slides right into that resonator. He also does a credible talking blues."
-Nightflying Publications
Little Rock, Arkansas
March, 2008
"Promotional material accompanying Samuel James’ debut, Songs Famed For Sorrow And Joy, suggest
relevance is a better barometer for today’s blues artists than that old warhorse, ‘authenticity.’ It’s a valid
point. In an increasingly noisy world, today’s blues artists - especially those rooted in acoustic tradition -
better have something relevant to say. Otherwise they risk being lost amid the deafening din of modern life.
"James certainly has a traditional sound. Voice, guitar, and the percussive thump of tapping feet. He even
whistles on occasion - not a sound prevalent in most of today’s pop music. But his songs - this is an all-original
outing - sound as though they could easily have been written either yesterday or at the turn of the century. There’s
something timeless about these tales of barter and betrayal, murder and mercy, love and loss - themes as enduring
as the human heart itself. A storyteller at heart, James knows that names and places may change with the telling,
but the essential truth of the tale lives on.
"Take, for example, the last track on the disc. The Sad Ballad
Of Ol’ Willie Chan tells the story of a Chinese worker conscripted
to lay railroad track in the days of the robber barons, who met his fate for having the audacity to ask for water.
True, the railroad’s been finished for a while now, but cruelty and inhumanity continue to flourish, and the song’s
message remains resonant.
"But just as the heart is capable of both joy and sorrow, all’s not gloom and doom here. Opener The 'Here Comes Nina' Country-Ragtime Surprise
(James favours loooong titles!) is a jaunty romp full of joyous anticipation. Sugar
Smallhouse Heads For The Hills is a rambling tale of love with a dangerous
woman - surely a topic many men will identify with (and no, it’s not sexist, ladies!). One-Eyed
Katie is another cautionary tale in a similar vein (She’s all woman/But
not one bit lady), while both Sleepy Girl Blues
and Baby Doll are typical
blues love songs, wherein love isn’t necessarily returned as James the protagonist would like.
"On the dark and dangerous side, Sunrise Blues, a death-row meditation on regret, combines defiance and despair to riveting effect.
Big Black Ben is a study
in racial prejudice and misused authority, though the song’s denouement provides an unexpected surprise. And Sugar
Smallhouse makes a return appearance on the somewhat surreal Sugar
Smallhouse And The Legend Of The Wandering Siren Cactus, while elsewhere
we get Love and Mumbly-Peg (great
title!), and Mid-December Blues,
less about time of year than broken promises. Instrumentals include Whooooooo
Rosa and Running From
My Baby’s Gun, Whilst Previously Watching Butterflies From My Front Porch,
both employing ever-shifting rhythms and dynamics to maintain musical interest.
"James is an excellent player and fine singer, though his voice lacks the resonance of, say, a Keb ‘Mo or
Eric Bibb. Production here is superb, crisp and clear, and while it’s the music itself that counts, it’s worth
noting that NorthernBlues retains their reputation for exemplary packaging.
"With so much of today’s music generated by computer, with producer rather than performer shaping the final
product, James’ music provides an ideal antidote - sound is impeccably clean, sure, but there’s an organic honesty
to it all that’s as refreshing as a spring breeze yet as comfortable as old jeans.
"This one’s a keeper, marking the debut of a voice and vision to be reckoned with, and leaving no doubt we’ll
be hearing much more from Samuel James. Get hip now!"
-John R. Taylor
Canadianblues.ca
March, 2008
"This is what music is all about: heart & soul, sorrow & joy.
Samuel James, self taught musician and blues genius, started his true career in his early twenties. After a broken
heart, he booked a flight to Ireland, with no way home. To find his way back, he learned how to play the harmonica,
and spanged on the corner until he raised enough funds to get back to the states. That was less than 10 years ago,
and from there, he only got better.
"Songs Famed For Sorrow and Joy
are stripped down and direct, based entirely in two guitars, a banjo, and only James performing. His brand of pre-war
blues not only shows his impeccable ability to wield his instruments, but also to showcase his organic voice. Gruff,
and filled to the brim with raw emotions, he tackles the topics of everyday life, especially as a person of color."
-The John Shelton Ivany Top Twenty-One
March, 2008
"A former Intel executive, Fred Litwin left the corporate life for the
indie-label grind in 2000, founding NorthernBlues Music after having been an investor in the Canadian folk label
Borealis. 'I want this company to add substantially to the blues repertoire,' he writes on the label’s site, 'and not
just come out with the ‘same old, same old.’'
"You’ve got to admire his effort, considering even classical music makes most modern blues look stale. Currently,
NorthernBlues has 24 artists, of which you’ve maybe heard of Toni Lynn Washington and Watermelon Slim. The latter
had his album, The Wheel Man,
named one of the best 10 albums of 2007 by Gibson Guitars. Okay, you might know Eddie Turner, too.
"And if you pay attention to local music at all, you probably know Samuel James. I guess you could openly
wonder whether music that was contemporary circa 1932 does in fact constitute the same old, same old, but that’s
unfair. It’s possible to make the old new again, and James infuses his brand of Delta-based, acoustic guitar-and-a-microphone
blues with just enough swagger and grit to avoid becoming one of those portraits done by caricature artists that
make you cringe with embarrassment when you see the result.
"NorthernBlues clearly took a cotton to James, hooked him up with producer David Travers-Smith (Ani DiFranco),
and will this month release Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy, a better-produced update of James’s sound on Return
of Sugar Smallhouse, which took not a small portion of Portland by
storm last year. A few songs reappear, including Big Black Ben and The ‘Here Comes Nina’ Country Rag-Time
Surprise, but they aren’t merely rehashings. Nina, you’ll hear, is grittier and meaner, even more in line with the George-and-Weezy
sentiment of 'Here she come, now she countin’ to 10/Looks like I forgot
to do those dishes again.'...
"... Pulling off an album like this is hard. The dangers of cliché and corn abound. Samuel James avoided
both and produced sometime that’s better than classic or contemporary. He made something timeless."
"Samuel James comes from a musical background. His grandfather played
blues guitar in the early part of the 20th Century and his father was a professional piano player and trombone
player. He learned to tap dance at five, to play piano at eight, and was touring the Northeastern U.S. by the age
of twelve. He fled to Ireland after a failed romance and learned to play harmonica while there. When he returned
to the U.S., he learned to play guitar. Now in his late 20’s, he’s released one of the most remarkably authentic
acoustic blues releases in a long time. Songs Famed for Sorrow and
Joy, his second release and first for NorthernBlues Music, is as close
to a modern version of the pre-war blues as I’ve heard in a long time.
"James wrote all 13 songs on the disc and performs them solo, accompanied only by his guitar or banjo. The
highlights are many, and include Big Black Ben,
who was one bad dude, Wooooooo Rosa,
a beautiful seven-minute instrumental, the manic Sleepy Girl Blues, Sugar Smallhouse Heads For the Hills, one of two songs featuring the Smallhouse character, and One-Eyed
Katie, who’s 'all woman, but not one bit lady.'
"The lively rag, Baby-Doll,
is another keeper as is the intriguingly titled Runnin’ From My Baby’s
Gun Whilst Previously Watchin’ Butterflies From My Front Porch, which
is actually another superb instrumental. Love & Mumbly-Peg and The Sad Ballad of Ol’ Willie Chan, like the rest of James’ 'story songs', are fascinating narratives featuring fully
fleshed-out character. You can actually feel their pain, their loss, and even their anger while you’re listening.
"Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy
is as good as acoustic blues gets. Trust me when I say you’ll be listening to it over and over again for a long
time. Visit Samuel James’ MySpace page at www.myspace.com/sugarsmallhouse."
-Graham Clarke
Blues Bytes
March, 2008
"Past a certain point in the history of music, it appears as though all
(or at least, the vast majority) of blues artists ditched their acoustic guitars in favor of electric instruments,
and sought the aid of a band accompaniment. However, if you go back to blues recordings circa the time of say,
Robert Johnson, blues initially spotlighted a single person wailing away on an acoustic guitar and also handling
singing duties. Come the early 21st century, this early blues style seemed to have been all but forgotten. But
then along comes Samuel James, and his 2008 release, Songs Famed for
Sorrow. James' second release overall, the entire thirteen-track set
was recorded in five days, and is 100% acoustic (with percussion being provided by the beat of James' feet). As
a result, tracks such as Big Black Ben,
One Eyed Katie, and Sleepy Girl Blues automatically take you
back to the early days of authentic blues. In an era where popular music is becoming increasingly perfect sounding
and robotic, Songs Famed for Sorrow
proves to be a much-needed alternative."
-Greg Prato
All Music Guide
February, 2008
"Samuel James is a twenty-something performer and songwriter from Portland,
Maine. Songs Famed For Sorrow and Joy is his first release for NorthernBlues Music. Did you notice I labeled Mr.
James as a performer and songwriter? I did this because his song writing ability completely blows me away and it
would be a shame if you did not know that. Oh yeah, he’s a damned fine musician too!
"The stories you get to hear on this CD originate from a place I have never been, nor will I probably ever
be.
"His personal story is unique and fascinating. James’ grandfather played guitar, his father was a professional
pianist who also played the trombone. James’ own artistic development began at the age of five when he learned
how to tap dance. At age eight he began playing the piano. He started touring the Northeastern circuit at age twelve.
He also lost his mother at age twelve. As a result, he spent his teen years bouncing from foster home to foster
home. He later reunited with his father at 17.
"After a relationship soured, a broken-hearted James went to Ireland. I’m not sure why he went, but who of
us would have had the stones to travel to another country after a young lady had left us? To get back home, James
took up the harmonica and started playing on the streets to raise enough money for airfare. Upon his arrival back
in the states, James dedicated himself to the guitar. You hear all of this in his debut album for NorthernBlues
Music.
"Musically, this CD can be described in word. That word is...AGGRESSIVE. There’s nothing subtle here and I
really like that. Samuel James is Keb’ Mo’ on steroids! His stories are straightforward, his musicianship is as
honest and hardworking as that of his elders.
"The CD starts out with The 'Here Comes Nina' Country Ragtime
Surprise. We get to hear James’ supreme fingerpicking style support
the first of many linear stories. James does not follow the 12 bar blues format, which is actually very refreshing.
Big Black Ben tells the
story of...well, of a guy named Ben. Ben is a badass! Listen for yourself. Again, the accompaniment James provides
gives you the impression he’s not here to mess around.
"James plays the banjo on Sugar Smallhouse Heads For the Hills. The line, 'you know I’ll fight for a
woman, but I sure won’t fight fair' is great!
"No artists accompany James on the CD. It’s all him, it’s all-acoustic and it’s all heart. He recorded the
CD in five days using nine microphones, two guitars, one banjo and two feet for percussion. James stated 'It was the hardest week of my life, which is saying something considering I grew up
in Maine in white foster homes.' Again, he comes from a place I’ll
never know, but I am sure glad he let me in!
"Wooooooo Rosa is
the first instrumental on the CD. I must admit that acoustic instrumentals usually leave me bored. Not this one.
Like so many attempt to do, but in my mind fail, James is actually telling a story using his instrument. He does
it well. He kept this listener interested.
"In total, you get about an hour of music and, as always, the packaging provided by NorthernBlues is first
rate.
"Hopefully, I’ve given you enough to want to buy this CD. Do not be surprised if this CD is nominated for
awards next year. You heard it here first.
"Rest assured, if and when Samuel James comes to town, I will be there and I will drag as many of you with
me as I can."
-Sir Hodge
Oracles Music Network
February 15, 2008
"Here’s a lad on the sunny side of 30 that wisely left his mug off his
album cover because he’s got a fun retro nuevo blues thing going on. With a stomping foot that rivals John Hurt
or Howlin’ Wolf and a raw, howling vocal over his super slide guitar, this is a new version of 'real' blues. He’s
not overly revering the past and not disregarding tradition but if anything ever earned the Bonnie Raitt seal of
approval, this is the stuff that’s the real deal. Mississippi Fred as well as Mississippi John are smiling."
-Chris Spector
Midwest Record
February 7, 2008
"Samuel James is a bona fide blues original. He has taken the music of
the Delta masters and updated it with his own spin of clever, contemporary-flavored lyrics and a cool cast of characters
that deal with everything from heartbreak to racism to one-eyed lovers. Obvious comparisons will be made to the
likes of Skip James or Son House, but Samuel will tell you he's more in tune with the "storyteller" mode
of Mississippi John Hurt.
"On his first Northern Blues release, Songs Famed For Sorrow And
Joy Samuel uses only two acoustic guitars and a banjo on this one-man
set. His ability to weave a tale is evident in his stories of red-hot lovers such as Baby
Doll, Nina, and the notorious One-Eyed Katie, "all woman but not one bit lady!" Samuel wields a mean banjo in the tale
of his alter ego, Sugar Smallhouse Heads For The Hills, and gives a nod to some of his literary favorites in Legend
Of The Wandering Siren Cactus.
"Our favorites, tho, were the story of the sheriff and Big Black
Ben, and the strange love triangle in Love
And Mumbly-Peg. These are guaranteed to make you smile, and, on repeated
listenings, make you think a little, too!
"That is a good way to describe Samuel James. He is for sure a "cerebral bluesman" who has taken
a centuries-old style of music and brouhgt it to a new-millennium level. Kudos to Fred Litwin and the good folks
up at Northern Blues for bringing Songs Famed For Sorrow And Joy to a world-wide audience!"
-Sheryl and Don Crow
The Music City Blues Society
February, 2008
