Henry Qualls
Blues From Elmo Texas
(DBS8901)
Henry Qualls: Blues From Elmo Texas (DBS8901)
Somewhere out there, about forty minutes away from the twisted metal mess we call Dallas, is a tiny, hidden town called Elmo. On a Saturday night, this hideaway is best known among "them that know" as the place to eat some righteous barbecue and listen to a great performer doing what he does best out in his own backyard. The sixty something year old musician takes out his 1958 Montgomery Wards "Marquis" guitar, the one he sometimes frets with a Tabasco sauce bottle and begins to play some Blind Willie Johnson tunes. You can almost imagine yourself there, the scent of pit grilled meats heavy in the country air as the day turns to night and the music starts.
Welcome to the world of Henry Qualls. The CD is called Blues From Elmo Texas. In case you never get the chance to venture out to that little Texas hamlet, this release from DBS will definitely put you in the zone.
Often eerie, the raw intensity and bare bones honesty of Qualls' performances are remarkable and consistently breathtaking. His interpretations on tunes like Little Son Jackson's "Ticket Agent" or Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby" carry this wonderful asperity; a melodic rigor and severity that is captivating to the ear. His forays into gospel, represented on the album by tracks such as "I Shall Not Be Moved" and "Motherless Children" are moving, fierce and emotional. He even tackles odd choices, like the 1960's pop tune "Bread And Butter" with his own distinctive flavor of country blues styling.
According to the literature, these recordings were cut direct to two-track, using analogue tape with very little fiddling around or studio intervention. Amen to that. The last thing anyone should do is get between Qualls and the music. One listen to "The Elmo Stomp" will tell you it is the spontaneous, rough, rugged nature of the tone that sets this CD light years away from the guys out there attempting to cultivate and fake it.
Qualls is the real thing. If this were a perfect world, this CD should be the first of a series.
- Bill Fountain -
Southwest Blues CD Review - September 1999
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