One of the latest in Craft Recordings’ excellent Bluesville reissue series is a hard to find (and rather collectible) 1961 release by the great blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins called Blues In My Bottle. Recorded exactly one week after I was born, the all-analog process (AAA) lacquers for this outstanding reissue were cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab at Blue Heaven Studio. The perfectly quiet, well centered 180-gram vinyl was pressed at Quality Record Pressing in conjunction with Acoustic Sounds.
Blues In My Bottle offers an extremely strong production aesthetic as far as early blues records go but the notion of whether it is “demo disc” worthy for showing off your audio system may be a matter of personal preference. I found the recording to be super intimate, just Lightnin’ Hopkins’ voice and acoustic guitar recorded in early stereo.
The kicker for me is the simple rawness of the recording which makes this album feel extra authentic on many levels. Stick with me here. You see, it seems that Mr. Hopkins, no doubt enthusiastic about recording, got a little too close to the microphone on certain tracks such as “Wine Spodee-O-Dee.” This resulting distortion (probably sending the VU meter into the red) is precisely what makes this recording feel so incredibly real, and in your face. Its less like you are listening to a studio session and more like he is performing in a club or bar where the artist moves around a bit periodically.
Don’t get me wrong: the recording is really good overall. Hopkins’ guitar sounds quite rich and natural, almost alarmingly so for recording that is 65 years old. And of course the songs are haunting, from “Death Bells” to “Jailhouse Blues” — this is some real deal acoustic blues.
A used copy of Blues in My Bottle surfaced in the bargain bin at a local record store just in time for this review, giving me a useful point of comparison for the new edition, even if it was not a rare original pressing. Probably from the late 1970s or early 1980s, it feels similar to the old Fantasy Records “Original Jazz Classics” series. However, instead of the ID number using the OJC prefix, it says “OBC” which I’m assuming means Original Blues Classics.
The OBC version sounds pretty good too, and that same distortion is in place leading me to believe it is very much a part of the original recording.
Comparatively, this new Craft Bluesville edition sounds much warmer than the OBC edition. The vinyl and pressing quality are world’s better as are the production elements right down to the labels and cover art. As you can see from this picture, they didn’t put a whole lot of effort into trying to re-create the original cover look and feel. Thus it turned it out almost monochromatic. The new edition is clearly the one to get. Highly recommended.
Where to buy: $34.12 at Amazon
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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