Taj Mahal - In Progress & in Motion: 1965-1998
Our Price: $39.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $18.88 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Taj MahalEdition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 1998-10-13
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond
- Corrina
- Checkin' Up On My Baby
- Leaving Trunk
- Buck Dancer's Choice
- Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue
- She Caught The Katy & Left Me A Mule To Ride
- Aint Gwine Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')
- Stagger Lee
- Built For Comfort
- Natural Man
- Railroad Bill
- Texas Woman Blues
- Early In The Morning
- Dust My Broom
- Blind Boy Rag
- Oh, Susanna
- Cakewalk Into Town
- Fishin' Blues
- Nobody's Business But My Own
- Sweet Mama Janisse
- Little Red Hen Blues
- Mary Don't You Weep
- Sweet Home Chicago
- Frankie & Albert
- M'Banjo
- Statesboro Blue
- Bye & Bye
- Six Days On The Road
- We Gonna Rock
- Aint It Funky Now
- Tom & Sally Drake
- Fishin' Blues
- Blues With A Feeling
- Freight Train
- When I Feel The Sea Beneath My Soul
- West Indian Revelation
- Eighteen Hammers
- Johnny Too Bad
- Slave Driver
- Clara (St. Kitts Woman)
- Do I Love Her
- Everybody Is Somebody
- But I Rode Some
- Crossing
- Sentidos Dulce (Sweet Feelings)
- The Most Recent Evolution Of Muthafusticus Modernusticus
- Curry
- Follow The Drinking Gourd
- Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)
- Little Brown Dog
- Senor Blues
- Aint That A Lot Of Love
- Take A Giant Step
Free Music Notes for In Progress & in Motion: 1965-1998
Free Music Review: The Best intro to Taj I've found
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought my first Taj Mahal LP sometime around 1968 and have kept tabs on the dude ever since...because my vinyl collection shows signs of wear (to be expected after 40 years of repeated play) I went looking for replacements for my many Taj recordings, something like 20 total records, and was hard-pressed to find a collection that represented what I felt was his best material. This three-disc offering comes nowhere near covering it all, but is a fine place to start.
Over the years many people have tried to "turn me on" to Taj as someone they just discovered, largely through the many so-called Greatest Hits releases under his name...many folks have the impression that he's a Mississippi blues man, a roots-cliche sharecropper's son whose showcase tunes are things like "Fishin Song," "She Caught the Katy and Left me a Mule to Ride," etc.
This is good for a chuckle to anyone who knows the man and his work...Facts be told, Taj Mahal hails from Springfield, Massachusetts and never picked cotton...the son of middle-class professionals, his father was a musician's musician who though not a well-known name was highly respected by those in the know, who nicknamed him "The Genius" not just for his musical accomplishments, as the man also spoke seven languages. Taj's mother was also steeped in music and held a master's degree in early childhood education. Taj graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, studying science, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine...not a typical background for a blues artist, some would say, and critics have stated that his music isn't truly blues and lacks "purity," whatever that means...a ridiculous claim since the blues historically has been a fluid style, marked by improvisation and interpretation, and Taj Mahal has experimented with styles all his career...he's an artist who defies labels and pigeon-holes.
One of his signature tunes (and one of my favorites no matter how many times I hear it) is "Take a Giant Step." This Brill Building/Carole King song was originally a bubble-gum ditty recorded by The Monkees, believe it or not. Keeping the same tune and lyrics Taj renders this irritating and forgettable Top Ten '60's a.m. radio number into something very special and poetic. That's the kind of magic the man has.
Many of his musical ventures can't be labelled as anything but pure Taj Mahal. His recordings range from delta-style acoustic guitar and harp to sophisticated urban electric blues. Some of his best is pure Reggae. Some is island music, calypso. Some is Rhythm and Blues, and some is buttkickin' Rock and Roll. He's ventured into Motown-style Doo-Wop. Some of his stuff is pure jazz. Sometimes his only accompaniment is his own acoustic guitar, and sometimes he plays backed by orchestras, or by full brass sections. He plays two-piece numbers with his guitar backed by tuba ("Cakewalk Into Town" is one song that always makes me grin). Almost without exception his music works...he never short-changes his audience and although his album releases number in the dozens I'm hard-pressed to find a single mediocre cut.
Whatever he does, whatever gutsy new approach he takes, his music never sounds experimental or contrived--it's instantly recognizable as pure Taj Mahal, and even in his darkest blues numbers his music is somehow joyous--articulate, witty and a master musician, the cat never fails to bring a smile to my face.
In any case, if your only exposure to Taj has been one of the single-disc "Greatest Hits" or "Best Of" collections, you've never heard even a basic sampling of the man's vast body of work. In this three-disc set you still get only the barest of introductions, but it's the best starter collection I've come across and will steer you towards more of what he has to offer. For those unfamiliar with Taj Mahal I'm a little envious--you've got a lot of joy lying ahead.
In Progress & in Motion: 1965-1998 Poster
Taj Mahal has become a blues ambassador, carrying the music to new audiences and melding it with other influences. It's altogether appropriate, then, that three of the early tracks on this three-CD set are unreleased from the Rolling Stones 1968 musical experiment, Rock and Roll Circus. This box emphasizes (but is not limited to) Taj's early career--the late-'60s through the mid-'70s--and whether he's playing solo acoustic instrumentals ("Buck Dancer's Choice"), revving up a rock band ("Statesboro Blues"), or weaving his National Steel guitar around tubas ("Sweet Mama Janisse"), the blues element is never far from center. He even brings out the Pointer Sisters, who funkify the blues standard, "Sweet Home Chicago." The latter part of the box ventures into the 1980s and '90s, and features some songs for kids. Taj Mahal makes a world gumbo of the blues, spiced with a nice hot sauce. --Robert GordonBlues Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in All time favorite Musical artists part 6
Ana Popovic - Comfort to the SoulRelease date: 2003-10-07; Music CD
Best price: $5.45
Price in other shops:
Jo Ann Kelly - Black Rat SwingRelease date: 2003-03-03; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Toumani Diabat? - KairaRelease date: 1991-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.04
Price in other shops:
Karla Bonoff - Karla BonoffRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.43
Little Feat - Waiting for ColumbusRelease date: 2002-04-02; Music CD
Best price: $15.49
Price in other shops:
Kirsty MacColl - Tropical BrainstormRelease date: 2001-04-24; Music CD
Best price: $10.91
Price in other shops:
Marvin Gaye - Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin GayeRelease date: 2000-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $8.67
Price in other shops:
Kaki King - Legs to Make Us LongerRelease date: 2004-10-05; Music CD
Best price: $8.37
Price in other shops:
Irma Thomas - Live! Simply the BestRelease date: 1991-07-01; Music CD
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
King Curtis - Live at Fillmore WestRelease date: 1999-01-19; Music CD
Best price: $10.06
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Taj Mahal: Autobiography of a Bluesmanby Taj Mahal, Stephen Foehr
Sanctuary Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 2002-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.88
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - Senor BluesRelease date: 1997-06-17; Music CD
Best price: $5.80
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal & the Phantom Blues Band in St. LuciaRelease date: 2006-01-17; DVD
Best price: $13.35
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - Phantom BluesRelease date: 1996-02-27; Music CD
Best price: $5.02
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - The Natch'l BluesRelease date: 2000-09-05; Music CD
Best price: $5.20
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - The Best of Taj MahalRelease date: 2000-09-05; Music CD
Best price: $5.77
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - Taj MahalRelease date: 2000-09-05; Music CD
Best price: $5.18
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - Mo' RootsRelease date: 2008-03-01; Music CD
Best price: $2.03
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - Giant StepRelease date: 1989-06-19; Music CD
Best price: $6.13
Price in other shops:
Taj Mahal - The Essential Taj MahalRelease date: 2005-08-16; Music CD
Best price: $17.79
Price in other shops: