Taj Mahal ? Giant Step / De Ole Folks At Home ? Rare Near Mint Dbl LP -

$

30

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Giant Step/De Ole Folks at Home is the third studio album by American blues artist Taj Mahal. A double album, the first disc (Giant Step) is electric, while the second (De Ole Folks at Home) is acoustic. Esquire magazine included this album at number 27 on its list of "The 75 Albums Every Man Should Own" on March 9, 2009.

In less than 24 months, Taj Mahal (guitars/vocals/banjo/harmonica) had issued the equivalent of four respective long players. The electric Giant Step (1968) was released alongside the acoustic and decidedly rural De Ole Folks at Home (1968). The nine cuts on Giant Step feature support from the instrumental trio of Jessie Ed Davis (guitar/keyboards), Gary Gilmore (bass) and Chuck Blackwell (drums). They back Taj Mahal on a wide selection of covers ranging from Carole King and Gerry Goffin's "Take a Giant Step" to the upbeat and soulful reading of the Huddie Ledbetter blues staple "Keep Your Hands off Her." The arrangements are unique and offer the artist's distinctive approach. Nowhere is this more evident than the practically jovial mid-tempo "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" or the freewheeling abandon that is brought to the 18-wheeler anthem "Six Days on the Road," recalling the version of "Ain't That a Lot of Love" from Taj Mahal's preceding effort Natch'l Blues (1968). Additionally, Blind Willie Johnson's "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" stands out with a strong and soaring gospel-flavoured score. Giant Step concludes with "Bacon Fat," a number attributed here via Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson of the Band. That said, it may be better-known from the man they called Mr. Rhythm, Andre Williams, whose scattered down-home spoken interludes punctuate his February 1957 Top 10 R&B hit -- which incidentally was created under the working title "Diddle, Diddle Womp, Womp." Parties searching for an apt introduction when discovering Taj Mahal's voluminous catalogue are encouraged to consider Giant Step as a highly recommended reference point.  -AllMusic Review by Lindsay Planer

Track listing

Giant Step

1. "Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie No More" (Taj Mahal, Jesse Ed Davis, Gary Gilmore, Chuck Blackwell)
2. "Take a Giant Step" (Carole King, Gerry Goffin)
3. "Give Your Woman What She Wants" (Taj Mahal, Joel Hirschhorn)
4. "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (Don Level, Bob Love)
5. "You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond" (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
6. "Six Days on the Road" (Carl Montgomery, Earl Green)
7. "Farther on Down the Road (You Will Accompany Me)" (Taj Mahal, Jesse Ed Davis, Gary Gilmore, Chuck Blackwell)
8. "Keep Your Hands Off Her" (Huddie Ledbetter)
9. "Bacon Fat" (Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson)

De Ole Folks at Home

1. "Linin' Track" (Huddie Ledbetter)
2. "Country Blues No. 1" (Traditional; arranged by Taj Mahal)
3. "Wild Ox Moan" (Vera Hall, Ruby Pickens Tartt)
4. "Light Rain Blues" (Taj Mahal)
5. "Little Soulful Tune" (Taj Mahal)
6. "Candy Man" (Rev. Gary Davis)
7. "Cluck Old Hen" (Traditional; arranged by Taj Mahal)
8. "Colored Aristocracy" (Traditional; arranged by Taj Mahal)
9. "Blind Boy Rag" (Taj Mahal)
10. "Stagger Lee" (Harold Logan, Lloyd Price)
11. "Cajun Tune" (Taj Mahal)
12. "Fishin' Blues" (Henry Thomas, Taj Mahal)
13. "Annie's Lover" (Traditional; arranged by Taj Mahal)

Personnel

Giant Step

• Taj Mahal - vocals, harmonica, banjo, Mississippi national steel-bodied guitar
• Jesse Ed Davis - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, organ
• Gary Gilmore - electric bass
• Chuck "Brother" Blackwell - drums

De Ole Folks at Home

• Taj Mahal - vocals, harmonica, guitar, banjo

• Brian Ross-Myring, Chris Hinshaw, Jerry Hochman - engineer
• Virginia Team - cover design
• Jesse Ed Davis - typography/hand lettering