Johnny Jenkins - Blessed Blues (Music CD)

Twenty-six years after releasing Ton Ton Macoute, Johnny Jenkins -- a local legend around Macon, Georgia -- released his second album, Blessed Blues. Featuring a selection of new songs, classic covers, and a new version of his 1962 hit "Miss Thing" (also known as "Love Twist"), Blessed Blues gives a good idea why Jenkins is revered in his homestate. His playing is swampy, dirty and impassioned -- it is soaked in the sounds of the deep south. Blessed Blues doesn't clean up his sound at all, preferring to showcase Jenkins in all of his gritty glory. On the whole, it isn't quite as searing as Ton Ton Macoute -- after all, that featured support by Duane Allman -- but Blessed Blues proves that good things are worth waiting for. ~ Thom Owens