{"product_id":"taj-mahal-essential-taj-mahal-the","title":"ESSENTIAL TAJ MAHAL, THE","description":"Personnel: Taj Mahal (vocals, whistling, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, National guitar, dobro, fife, harmonica, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, upright bass, finger cymbals, hand claps); Taj Mahal (mandolin); Jesse Ed Davis (guitar, electric guitar, piano); Ry Cooder (guitar, mandolin); Denny Freeman, Eric Clapton, Etta Baker, Abdul Wali, John Hall, John Porter, Johnny Lee Schell (guitar); Hoshal Wright (electric guitar); Mike Campbell (12-string guitar); Sonny Rhodes (lap steel guitar); Toumani Diabat? (kora); Michael Barretto (baritone ukulele); Rudy Costa (saxophone, kalimba); Joe Sublett (tenor saxophone); Howard Glover \"Johnny\" Johnson (baritone saxophone, flugelhorn, tuba, hand claps); Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone, flugelhorn, tuba); Darrell Leonard (trumpet, French horn, trombone); Earl McIntyre (bass trombone, tuba); The Texacali Horns (horns); Jon Cleary (piano); Mark Goodman (electric piano, synthesizer); Merl Saunders, Mick Weaver, Rob Hyman (organ); Kim Jordan (keyboards, synthesizer); Earl Lindo, Wayne Henderson (keyboards); Jennifer Acosta (synthesizer); Gary Gilmore (electric bass); Ozzie Williams (drums, drum programming); Mark Singer, Greg Thomas , Andy Kravitz, Richie Hayward, Tony Braunagel (drums); Kwasi \"Rocky\" Dzidzornu, Ralph MacDonald, Bill Summers, Kwasi \"Rocky\" Dzidzournou (congas, percussion); Myrick Guillory (rub-board); Daryl Hall, Daryl Hall \u0026amp; John Oates, Tommy Henderson, Melody McCully, Pamela Vincent, Joyce Wilson, John Oates (background vocals); Eric Bazilian (lap steel guitar); Bob Stewart (trumpet, flugelhorn, tuba); Joseph Daley (trombone, tuba); John Simon (piano, electric piano); Al Kooper, Bill Payne (piano); Kester Smith (drums, percussion); Chuck Blackwell , Sanford Konikoff (drums); Babatunde Olatunji (congas, djembe, shekere, percussion); Larry McDonald (congas, percussion); Robert Greenidge, Andy Narell (steel drum); Merry Clayton, The Pointer Sisters, Sheryl Crow, Claudia Lennear (background vocals).\nLiner Note Author: Tom Surowicz.\nRecording information: Athens, GA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Burbank, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Encino, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Hollywood, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Kauai, HI (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Los Angeles, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); North Hollywood, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Pinnacle, NC (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); San Francisco, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); The Fillmore East, NY (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); The Mint, Los Angeles, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999); Van Nuys, CA (08\/17\/1967-04\/??\/1999).\nPhotographers: David Gahr; Marc Norberg; Sam Emerson Loew; Al Vandenberg; Chris Felver; Amalie R. Rothschild.\nArrangers: Taj Mahal; Etta Baker.\nAn impressive two-disc compilation, THE ESSENTIAL TAJ MAHAL lives up to its name by charting the path of the acclaimed blues guitarist\/vocalist's career from 1967 to 2004. Though always rooted in the blues, Mahal has incorporated other styles into his distinctive sound, including folk, R\u0026amp;B, and reggae. Proceeding in chronological order, this set begins in the late '60s, presenting tunes such as \"The Celebrated Walkin' Blues,\" a spare song that features Mahal accompanied only by his former Rising Sons bandmate Ry Cooder on mandolin; and the gentle, lilting \"Take a Giant Step.\" The second disc finds Mahal easing into a potent version of Bob Marley's \"Slave Driver,\" while \"The New Hula Blues\" is a deft Hawaiian slack-key\/blues hybrid, revealing the breadth of his stylistic range. As a relatively concise yet remarkably thorough overview of Mahal's decades-spanning catalogue, this 36-track compilation is absolutely indispensable.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenre: Blues\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat: CD\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReleased: 08\/16\/2005\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Taj Mahal","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44584815886569,"sku":"VFPG7L-P8TI-00","price":20.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/files\/taj-mahal-essential-taj-mahal-the_KkfZs.jpg?v=1758832675","url":"https:\/\/www.vibinvinyl.com\/products\/taj-mahal-essential-taj-mahal-the","provider":"Vibin' Vinyl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}