The Blues Album on Syd Barrett's Turntable - MADCAP LAUGHS Photo Shoot

Listen to Taj Mahal's "The Natch'l Blues" with Syd Barrett in this unique video!

When asked what music he'd been listening to, Syd said: “During the past six months there have been some very good things released. The best things I've bought are the new Taj Mahal album, Captain Beefheart and The Band. I don't think any of them have influenced my writing though. I've been writing in all sorts of funny places.”

Of course, in the interview Syd could have been referring to the third Taj Mahal album, the double Giant Step / De Ole Folks At Home (Direction S8-63820/1) which was released in the UK in November 1969, but I like to think he meant The Natch’l Blues.

Fortunately, with only around two dozen Direction LPs to deal with, it was a relatively easy task to work out that the record is The Natch’l Blues (Direction S58-63397) the second album by bluesman Taj Mahal and the 10th LP issued on the label. It was a fairly new release in the UK at the time, appearing in March 1969 (although the US version had been released several months earlier on Columbia with a totally different sleeve design).

How do we know this? Zooming in, Syd’s record shows five banded tracks. Four of them are roughly the same width, but the last one “Done Changed My Way Of Living” is much wider, running around seven minutes. Not one of the other 25 Direction LPs have tracks which exactly match this pattern (yes, I methodically worked through all 50+ sides). So, by a process of eliminaton, it can only be side one of The Natch’l Blues. ~ Stuart Penney

TRACK LISTING:

Side 1
1. "Good Morning Miss Brown"
2. "Corinna"
3. "I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll"
4. "Going Up to the Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue"
5. "Done Changed My Way of Living"

Side 2
6. “She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride"
7. "The Cuckoo" (Traditional)
8. "You Don't Miss Your Water
9. "Ain't That a Lot of Love"

2000 CD Reissue Bonus Tracks
10. "The Cuckoo" (Alternate Version)
11. "New Stranger Blues"
12."Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine"

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