Sad Days, Lonely Nights

If All Night Long was a great electric blues portrait, this sophomore release, given more widespread distribution via Fat Possum's deal with Capricorn, is an extension of the portrait, but with a lot more grit and grind thrown in, given a darker, deeper sound by a change in location (still Kimbrough's joint, but a different building). The vocals are further back, buried in the thick, heavy electric mix — some of this music here is Southern electric blues sounding about the way it might when the apocalypse is just around the corner. Forget the fancy stuff, the polished edges, the studio touches — there are no second takes, no overdubs, no last chances. It's terrifyingly compelling at times. Junior Kimbrough plays the blues with a raw edge, and it's brilliant, dark and mesmerizing — and it's on CD, with nothing buried, nothing hidden, and nothing safe, all the sharp edges intact.