The Blues White Album

Like John Lennon's tragic death more than twenty years ago, the recent passing of former Beatle George Harrison is another sad reminder of just how influential the Fab Four were in the overall landscape of 20th century popular music on either side of the Atlantic and around the world.

Ironically, though, these vanguards of the British Invasion in the mid-1960s led the charge with music that was deeply grounded in the blues and other American roots music. Even after their straight-ahead R&B- and rockabilly-based early recordings, the Beatles' more innovative and experimental efforts continued to reflect at least some element of the blues. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their richly textured, often disjointed yet ultimately brilliant self-titled 1968 album-a monumental recording that has come to be known as simply "The White Album."

More than three decades after the Beatles' relatively brief-but extremely important-moment in music history, the American forces are about to return fire on the British Invasion with an album of blues artists refashioning the original songs from The White Album. With Telarc's release of The Blues White Album, the cycle comes full circle, and in the process has yielded some wonderful and creative music.

Among the contemporary blues artists featured on The Blues White Album are Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers ("Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"), Lucky Peterson ("Yer Blues"), Anders Osborne ("Happiness Is a Warm Gun"), Chris Duarte ("I'm So Tired") and Charlie Musselwhite ("Dear Prudence").

Listen closely to the sounds of Telarc's The Blues White Album and revisit the place where the best of American roots music and British rock and pop come together.

Performers:
Tab Benoit - vocals
Jimmy Carpenter - saxophone
Chris Duarte - vocal and guitars
Colin Linden - vocal and guitar
Maria Muldaur - vocal
Charlie Musselwhite - harmonica
Kenny Neal - vocal and harmonica
Anders Osborne - vocal and all instruments
Lucky Peterson - vocal, lead guitar and organ
Jimmy Thackery - vocals and guitar; and The Drivers
Joe Louis Walker - vocal and lead guitar
T-Bone Wolk - vocal