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Most Things Haven't Worked Out

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Most Things Haven't Worked Out
Studio album by
Released1997
GenreBlues
LabelFat Possum
ProducerBruce Watson, Matthew Johnson
Junior Kimbrough chronology
Do the Rump!
(1997)
Most Things Haven't Worked Out
(1997)
God Knows I Tried
(1998)

Most Things Haven't Worked Out is an album by the American musician Junior Kimbrough, released in 1997.[1][2] It was his third album for Fat Possum Records and the last before his 1998 death.[3]

Production

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All of the album's songs were written by Kimbrough, who generally did not cover the material of other musicians.[4] He elected to keep his mistakes and missed notes on the tracks.[5] Three of the tracks were recorded at his Mississippi juke joint.[6] John Hermann helped produce a few of the songs.[7] Kenny Brown served as the second guitarist.[8] The title track is an instrumental.[9]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Boston Herald[10]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[11]
The Commercial Appeal[5]
DownBeat[12]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide[13]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[14]
Winnipeg Sun[15]

The Village Voice wrote: "Lurking beneath an ostensibly primitive surface are suggestions of jazz-inflected bluesmen like Robert Jr. Lockwood."[16] Guitar Player determined that "there's a deeply hypnotic quality to Junior Kimbrough's old-as-all-of-time slow blues, perfected over a lifetime of playing jukes around Holly Springs, Mississippi."[17] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said that "Kimbrough plays the blues to mesmerize, with elements that give trance, ambient/techno and dub its entrainment and rock and roll its visceral claw and kick."[18]

The Washington Post noted that "Kimbrough has a soft spot for love songs and slowly grinding dance grooves."[19] The Boston Herald concluded that "what sounds primitive at first gains unexpected power through repetition and deceptively sophisticated shifts of texture, tone and rhythm."[10] Robert Christgau praised "Lonesome Road".[11]

The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings considered Most Things Haven't Worked Out to be Kimbrough's best album.[14]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Lonesome Road" 
2."I'm in Love" 
3."Everywhere I Go" 
4."Burn in Hell" 
5."Most Things Haven't Worked Out" 
6."Leave Her Alone" 
7."I Love Ya Baby" 
8."I'm Leaving You Baby" 

References

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  1. ^ Morris, Chris (Dec 7, 1996). "Epitaph to distribute Fat Possum". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 49.
  2. ^ Garbarini, Vic (Oct 1997). "Most Things Haven't Worked Out". Playboy. Vol. 44, no. 10. p. 26.
  3. ^ Pareles, Jon (21 Jan 1998). "David (Junior) Kimbrough, 67, a Blues Musician". The New York Times. p. D24.
  4. ^ Rubin, Mike (3 Feb 1998). "Junior Kimbrough, 1930–1998". The Village Voice. Vol. 43, no. 5. p. 130.
  5. ^ a b Ellis, Bill (May 10, 1997). "Recordings". The Commercial Appeal. p. C3.
  6. ^ a b "Most Things Haven't Worked Out Review by Paul Collins". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  7. ^ Ellis, Bill (23 Nov 2001). "Captured by that wild hill boogie". The Commercial Appeal. p. G2.
  8. ^ Timberg, Scott (Apr 24, 1997). "Real blues". Music. The Day. New London. p. 4.
  9. ^ "Junior Kimbrough – You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough". Reviews. No Depression. November 2002.
  10. ^ a b "Discs". Boston Herald. 30 Jan 1998. p. S28.
  11. ^ a b "Junior Kimbrough". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  12. ^ Hadley, Frank-John (July 1997). "Most Things Haven't Worked Out". DownBeat. Vol. 64, no. 7. p. 63.
  13. ^ MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 209.
  14. ^ a b The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 347.
  15. ^ Sterdan, Darryl (Sep 26, 1997). "Blues". Winnipeg Sun. p. 38.
  16. ^ Marlowe, Ann (27 May 1997). "Playing possum". The Village Voice. Vol. 42, no. 21. p. 70.
  17. ^ Obrecht, Jas (Jun 1997). "Lonesome road blues". Guitar Player. Vol. 31, no. 6. p. 113.
  18. ^ Kuelker, Michael (24 July 1997). "Most Things Haven't Worked Out Junior Kimbrough". Go. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 8.
  19. ^ Joyce, Mike (31 Dec 1997). "Blues & Roots: The Mississippi Sound". The Washington Post. p. C7.