Album: Taj Mahal, The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969-1973 (Sony)

 

Was there ever a more joyful sounding bluesman than Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, aka Taj Mahal, the original post-modern primitive?

This good-value double album pairs unreleased studio tracks with an Albert Hall concert from 1970. The studio stuff from Bearsville and New Orleans is the best, while the concert has Jesse Ed Davis and John Simon in the band, and features a terrifically choogling "Checkin' Up On My Baby".

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