Thunder 'N Lightnin' (Remastered)

Thunder n’ Lightnin’ is arguably the best of the four albums that this Oklahoma-born folk singer cut for the tiny Horizon label early in his career. After a stint in the Navy, the young Axton found himself at loose ends in San Francisco; he wasted no time in establishing himself as a formidable presence on that city’s folk circuit. He had a gruff voice, adeptness as both a finger-picker and flat-picker, and an enviable skill for fashioning original compositions out of folk standards. As such, he resembled a mellowed-out West Coast analogue to the sandpaper-throated blues revivalism of New York’s feted “Mayor of MacDougal Street,” Dave Van Ronk. On Thunder n’ Lightning, Axton turns in authoritative, unaccompanied performances of the Reverend Gary Davis’ “Cocaine Blues,” Leadbelly’s “Midnight Special," and even a few original numbers that borrow liberally (but with great gusto) from masters like Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, and Bo Diddley.