Downhome Sophisticate

Last updated
Downhome Sophisticate
Studio album by
Corey Harris
Released2002
Genre Blues
Label Rounder [1]
Producer Corey Harris, Jamal Millner
Corey Harris chronology
Live at Starr Hill 1/27/01
(2001)		Downhome Sophisticate
(2002)		 Mississippi to Mali
(2003)

Downhome Sophisticate is an album by the American blues musician Corey Harris, released in 2002. [2] [3]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Blues Albums chart. [4] Harris promoted the album by touring with his band, 5X5. [5]

Production

The album was produced by Harris and Jamal Millner. [6] Millner also played guitar on Downhome Sophisticate. [7] Henry Butler played piano on "Black Maria". [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [9]
Robert Christgau A− [10]
Ottawa Citizen Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [11]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]

Robert Christgau noted that the "rock-type poetry ... makes like social conditions are as real as love and dreams." [10] The Washington Post stated that "on 'Santoro', which concerns social injustice and racial profiling, Harris vents his frustration in a voice that rises just above a whisper to ask: 'So why you figure they be so jumpy on the trigger. So quick like that, to assassinate black?'" [13]

Bass Player called the album "a revelation—a nasty, Old School blues album with tinges of boogie-woogie, African soul, hip-hop, blazing yet sensitive slide guitar, and pristine production." [14] The Commercial Appeal thought that the album "shows that one can embrace roots and still be forward looking ... Rarely has traditional sounded more modern." [15] The Ottawa Citizen opined that "this definitely isn't for your 12-bar, hard-core crowd, but for those who're a little more interested in where the blues and grown-up R&B might be headed in the not-to-distant future." [11]

AllMusic wrote that "it's an easy leap for Harris from folklore to urgent urban settings; his depiction of a police car as a fearsome, prowling Biblical beast makes 'Santoro' especially disturbing." [9]

Track listing

  1. "Giddyup" - 0:18
  2. "Frankie Doris" - 2:52
  3. "Money on My Mind" - 3:31
  4. "Don't Let the Devil Ride" - 2:10
  5. "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" - 2:53
  6. "Capitaine" - 2:06
  7. "Santoro" - 2:36
  8. "Fire on the Radio" - 0:27
  9. "Fire" - 5:09
  10. "BB" - 2:18
  11. "Downhome Prelude" - 0:09
  12. "Downhome Sophisticate" - 3:17
  13. "Sista Rose" - 6:28
  14. "Black Maria" - 4:32
  15. "Chinook" - 2:30
  16. "Money Eye" - 4:04
  17. "Where the Yellow Cross the Dog" - 1:53
  18. "F'shizza (Santoro Remix)" - 5:40

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References

  1. ↑ "RECORDINGS". Chicago Tribune. Arts & Entertainment. 2 June 2002. p. 7.15.
  2. ↑ "Corey Harris Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Hadley, Frank-John (Sep 2002). "Corey Harris: Downhome Sophisticate". DownBeat. 69 (9): 66–67.
  4. ↑ "Corey Harris". Billboard.
  5. ↑ Pareles, Jon (13 June 2002). "A Bouncy Collage of Styles, Each Given a Personal Twist". The New York Times. p. E5.
  6. ↑ van Vleck, Philip (May 18, 2002). "Downhome Sophisticate". Billboard. 114 (20): 21.
  7. ↑ Reid, Robert (25 May 2002). "Corey Harris Downhome Sophisticate". The Record. p. C6.
  8. ↑ Terrell, Steve (14 June 2002). "Beyond the blues". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. P48.
  9. 1 2 "Downhome Sophisticate - Corey Harris | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  10. 1 2 "Robert Christgau: CG: Corey Harris". www.robertchristgau.com.
  11. 1 2 "Recordings". Ottawa Citizen. 11 May 2002. p. K4.
  12. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (February 12, 2004). "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide". Simon and Schuster – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ "Corey Harris Keeps Moving Beyond the Blues Horizon". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Bradman, Elton (Jun 2002). "Corey Harris: Downhome Sophisticate". Bass Player. 13 (6): 76.
  15. ↑ Jordan, Mark (20 July 2002). "KIDJO, LOBOS, HARRIS DELIVER REFRESHINGLY PERFECT ALBUMS". The Commercial Appeal. p. E4.
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