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Down Home (Z. Z. Hill album)

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Down Home
Studio album by
Z. Z. Hill
Released1982
GenreBlues
LabelMalaco[1]
ProducerTommy Couch, Wolf Stephenson

Down Home is an album by the American blues musician Z. Z. Hill, released in 1982.[2][3] "Down Home Blues", the album's first track, was a crossover hit, and is regarded as a blues standard.[4][5] The song is said to be the best selling blues single of the 20th century.[6]

The album peaked at No. 209 on the Billboard 200.[7] It has sold more than 500,000 copies; for a time, it was Malaco Records' biggest seller.[8][9]

Production

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Down Home was produced by Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson, and was recorded in Jackson, Mississippi.[10] "Down Home Blues" was written by George Jackson.[11]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Robert ChristgauA−[13]
The Clarion-Ledger[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[15]
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide[16]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[17]

Ron Wynn of The Boston Phoenix said that the album represented "red-clay soul at its peak, a memorable blend of country blues, R&B desire, and gospel conviction."[18] The Clarion-Ledger noted the "enormous crossover possibility."[14] Bill Bentley, in LA Weekly, called Down Home the best album of 1982.[19] Living Blues wrote: "With all due respect to Robert Cray's greater success on the pop charts, Z. Z. Hill's 'Down Home Blues' is the most influential single blues recording of the '80s, and perhaps is the modern day blues anthem."[20]

MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide called Down Home "maybe the realization of [Hill's] life's work."[16] AllMusic deemed it "one of the very few classic blues albums of the 1980s."[12]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Down Home Blues"5:10
2."Cheatin' in the Next Room"3:32
3."Everybody Knows About My Good Thing"4:53
4."Love Me"3:44
5."That Means So Much to Me"3:53
6."When Can We Do This Again"4:15
7."Right Arm for Your Love"3:28
8."When It Rains It Pours"3:37
9."Woman Don't Go Astray"2:20
10."Givin' It Up for Your Love"3:17

References

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  1. ^ "'Last Soul Company' Details the Story of Malaco Records". NPR.org.
  2. ^ "Z.Z. Hill | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Guralnick, Peter (2020). Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316412643.
  4. ^ Gussow, Adam (September 28, 2020). Whose Blues?: Facing Up to Race and the Future of the Music. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469660370 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Harper, Alan (February 15, 2016). Waiting for Buddy Guy: Chicago Blues at the Crossroads. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252098284 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Moser, Daniel R. (2 Apr 1999). "Collection of Soul". Ground Zero. Lincoln Journal Star. p. 19.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2010). Top Pop Albums (7th ed.). Record Research. p. 354.
  8. ^ Ollison, Rashod (25 May 2016). "ZZ Hill, King of Southern Blues". The Virginia Pilot.
  9. ^ Morse, Steve (16 Feb 1986). "Black, 'Pop' Still Separate, and Unequal". The Boston Globe. p. B1.
  10. ^ Sullivan, Steve (May 17, 2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442254497 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "George Jackson". Obituaries. The Independent. 23 Apr 2013. p. 42.
  12. ^ a b "Down Home - Z.Z. Hill | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  13. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Z.Z. Hill". www.robertchristgau.com.
  14. ^ a b Burnett, Brown (28 Mar 1982). "On Music". The Clarion-Ledger. p. 3G.
  15. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 293.
  16. ^ a b MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 263.
  17. ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. 2006. p. 257.
  18. ^ Wynn, Ron (January 26, 1982). "Red-clay soul". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  19. ^ Bentley, Bill (6 Jan 1983). "Scoring the Clubs". LA Weekly. p. 58.
  20. ^ Weinstock, Ron (March 1990). "Blues: Rare and Well Done". Living Blues. Vol. 21, no. 90. p. 77.
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