Robert Belfour (Holly Springs, Mississippi)

Robert Belfour was born in 1940 in the middle of Mississippi Hill Country. It took him 59 years to get his first record released. Hill Country, as opposed to the Delta, is rough terrain where the poor survive by share cropping.
The music played there is by nature a rough and rural blues. Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside and Otah Turner's Fife and Drum Band all hail from the same area and they all got discovered in their later lives.
Otah saw his first record hitting the market when he was 90. The fife is is a  flute made out of cane.

Now Robert Belfour's father taught him to play the resonator guitar when not working out in the fields. He finally moved to Memphis where he worked construction for 35 years. But he didn't leave his music behind.
He has a unique style of playing combined with a deep booming voice. On all tracks you'll just hear his voice and guitar sometime a lone drummer.

Belfour may not be the biggest name out of the lot but  right now I think he's better than either Burnside or Kimbrough.


From 1996 onwards young white kids who lived among their black heroes took the tradition of Hill Stomp further and electrified it. The North Mississippi Allstars and brother band Hill Country Revue have been preaching their music the world over.

Oklahoma Blues - A tribute to J.J.Cale (2010)

To tell the truth friends I never was an acolyte of tribute albums. I am of the opinion that the artist in question knows best what to do with his/her own songs.
There are exceptions but not many. The only one that springs to mind is 'Por Vida - a tribute to Alejandro Escovedo'. It served a good cause as well. When Alejandro was down with hepatitis and couldn't pay his medical bills some of his friends got together and recorded this double cd. All the proceeds went to the artist who, I'm happy to say, is now back on track again.

You'll get to hear Lucinda Williams, Calxico, Howe Gelb, Jayhawks, Son Volt, M.Ward.

'Oklahoma Blues' is not your regular tribute. That is to say it's not the usual one song/one artist record.
A bunch of recording artists from the small Zoho blues label took it upon themselves to fill a disc with Cale songs. Some appear as much as five times, other do two or three songs.
'Money talks' for example appears here in two very different versions.

We all know the music of J.J.Cale is extremely laidback but I'm happy to say that is not noticeable on this record.
Here the versions range from swamp blues to southern rock to a-capella.
What drew me in the end were the artists, especially JJ Grey and Swamp Cabbage.
Now Swamp Cabbage hails from Florida just like Grey and with 'Honk' and 'Squeal' they already have two fantastic albums under their belt.
Here they perform five songs, one with JJ Grey singing and two with Wet Willie's Jimmy Hall. (Money talks, Don't cry sister, Sensitive kind, Cajun moon, Old blues).
Great versions, all of them.
Rufus Huff do Cocaine and Crazy Mama southern rock style and the veteran gospel band the Persuasions do I'll make love to you anytime and Travelin' light.
All of Oklahoma Blues is a great listening experience really showing what can be done with J.J. Cale songs in any other style.