Born in 1924 in Woodville, VA, guitarist-singer John Jackson was one of 14 children from a financially poor but musically prosperous farming family: his father played guitar, his mother favored the accordion and harmonica, and Jackson himself mastered the so-called “Piedmont” style of blues guitar, a technique in which the thumb plucks a bass line while the other fingers pick out melody and accompaniment on the higher strings (an approach also used by Rev. Gary Davis, Sonny Terry, Josh White, and many others). The Video Collection opens with a passably entertaining 1986 documentary entitled An American Songster, capturing the amiable, self-effacing Jackson sittin' and pickin' at home, telling tales, and chatting with friends, neighbors, and other musicians (we also see him using a bulldozer to dig graves, one of various work gigs he has had along the way). The bulk of the remaining hour is drawn from Jackson's two 1999 appearances on Horses Sing None of It!, a cable TV show hosted by folkie Ralph Litwin, featuring Jackson performing a handful of country blues classics (“Key to the Highway,” “Bucket's Got a Hole in It,” “Troublin' Mind”), ably displaying his fluid, dexterous picking style (on both guitar and banjo) and rough-hewn but appealing voice. Sure to appeal to fans of fingerpicking blues guitar, this mixed bag collection is a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)
John Jackson: The Video Collection 1970-1999
(1999) 88 min. DVD: $24.95. Vestapol Videos. Volume 24, Issue 3
John Jackson: The Video Collection 1970-1999
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