Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
T-Model Ford didn't learn to play guitar until he was 58, and even then the Mississippi lumber-truck driver didn't play the way most people do. In his thick, throbbing amplifier buzz, he lengthens and shortens measures at will and allows the beat to fall wherever he feels it at the moment. Over these extremely elastic rhythms, he growls and mumbles bits of other songs and his own violent warnings against unfaithful women and musical rivals. This unusual approach is no doubt the reason Ford didn't release this debut album, Pee-Wee Get My Gun, until 1997, when he was 76. Ford grew up, and still lives, in the Mississippi Delta where he and his longtime drummer Spam still play all-night sets at the shack-like juke joints. The Delta is as isolated geographically and economically as it ever was, and idiosyncratic talents like Ford's are allowed to assume their own strange shape without much contact with the music industry. Two tunes on the album feature Delta blues veterans Frank Frost and Sam Carr and one features Ford alone at home, but the other eight capture Ford and Spam playing as a duo as they do in the joints. There's a good-natured humor to the proceedings, for even the violent threats are delivered with a teasing chuckle and the Howlin' Wolf beats are played with a relaxed party atmosphere. Ford lacks the dark urgency and dense brilliance of his Fat Possum label-mates Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside, but in a blues field dominated by sound-alikes he's one of a kind. --Geoffrey Himes
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Customer Reviews
I don't know what to say. November 24, 2003
Gene Arlook (Morris, MN USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I don't know what to say, but as far as Juke-Joint blues goes, this album is perfect, I mean flawless. I first saw T-Model Ford perform live when he came to my college campus. His unorthodox playing style, haunting voice, and lyrics which represent his twisted personality, are all things that make up a great bluesman, a real bluesman. All of these things are expressed to the 10th degree in this album. This is his first album, which he didn't record until he was 75 years old, and in my opinion it is his best. "Cut You Loose" is in my opinion the best track on the album. If your looking for unrefined blues, the kind that makes you want to down a bottle of whiskey and howl at the moon, then this is for you. Also check out his other fantastic albums, "You Better Keep Still," "She Ain't None of Your'n," and "Bad Man." If you enjoy this type of raw music also check out Junior Kimbrough (R.I.P) and R.L. Burnside.
one big family June 24, 2003
Harvey Blues (Great melting pot of the Blues...Chicago)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
For those that 'know' the blues, you don't need a review. To others the blues is more then just a type of music, it's a living entity of sorts, something tangible we feel inside us. It doesn't matter to us if its Chicago, Memphis, electric, delta, jump ect. large band or solo, smooth musicians able to play the same each time or the juke joint and street corner player playing more by "feel", it's the blues and it is alive. Like a family tree it has many branches, with many varied tastes and different interests but they are your family and you love them all, so it is with the blues. If you like blues music of a particular style note that T-Model is of the juke joint/street style playing from feeling inside him and not "polished" and smooth for example like Eddie Floyd. If that's not the type your looking for buy it anyway, listen and let it in, then try other styles. When you start to feel it you'll understand.
God bless.
Primal raw Blues with attitude! June 9, 2001
SIMON AGUILAR-GARCIA (Seattle, Wa. USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
T-Model Ford invokes images of a rough life through his music that takes you there. The guitar playing and singing have deep grit and a surreal feel which adds to this music. A favorite at The Crazy Coyote Blues Power Show 1490 KOTY AM (1490koty.com) Yakima Nation Reservation Radio in south central Washington state.
If you like B.B. King, don't buy this disc. May 23, 1999
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
If you are sick and tired of over-produced music that is put out for profit instead of musical content, T-Model may be the artist for you. Throwing caution to the wind, he rips through some amazing tunes with the wisdom only a 76 year old could posses. The drum and guitar setup give T-Model and Spam plenty of room to showcase their old school blues style: raw, vulgar, and violent. Just what blues is meant to be!
It ain't pretty but someone has to do it. December 6, 1998
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
If you like your blues clean, slick and well rehearsed, then stay away. This is fun, raw stuff that feels like they just got together over a couple of beers and decided to rock. You believe T-Model when he tells you in "I'm Insane" that "I'm gonna put my foot in your a@#", knowing that he spent time on a chain gang for murder. Kudos to Fat Possum Records for signing T-Model to his first record at age 76.
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