ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 18, 2001
By Steve Newton
R.L. Burnside is one of the most popular blues artists around today, but up until five years ago he was barely known outside of his native northern Mississippi hill country.
After being featured in the 1991 documentary film Deep Blues, and releasing the influential Too Bad Jim CD at about the same time on the then-fledgling Fat Possum label, Burnside came to the attention of New York City wildman Jon Spencer, who got him touring with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
From his Mississippi home, Burnside recalls how that relationship led to the recording of 1996’s A Ass Pocket of Whiskey, one of the most righteous old-blues-guy/young-rocker collaborations ever.
“We’d be sittin’ back in the dressing room,” drawls the former sharecropper and juke-joint proprietor, “and I’d be tellin’ him all them old dirty stories. He liked that, and he said, ‘Man, we oughta make an album out of that.’ I said, ‘No, man, I can’t do that out in the public!’ But he said, ‘If you ever decide to do the album, R.L., just call me; we’ll do it.’ I said, ‘Okay.’
“So we’d been home about three or four days, and we were sittin’ out there in my back yard drinkin’ some beer and some white lightning, and the phone rings. I had one of them cordless phones, you know, and my granddaughter brought that in the yard. ‘Hello, R.L., this is Jon. Are you ready to do the album?’ I said, ‘Hell, yeah, if it don’t help me, it can’t hurt me none.’ In about two days, he came down and rented one of them hunting clubs about five or six miles out from where I live at, and we did the album in four hours.”
An over-the-top party record—which Billboard likened to “the Stooges backing up Bo Diddley”—the outrageous A Ass Pocket of Whiskey made Burnside an unlikely champion of the indie-rock world. It led to the recording of Mr. Wizard in ’97 and 1998’s Come On In, which pitted his raw blues against modern electronica, courtesy of producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliot Smith).
Come On In was a critical and commercial success, with Burnside’s evocative voice and mantralike guitar riffs being embraced by a growing legion of new fans. It included a curious photo of the grizzled bluesman standing in his kitchen, holding a Stratocaster and gazing toward a heavily padlocked fridge. The chains have come off that appliance since then, though.
“I got a chance to take ’em off after some of the kids left the house,” explains Burnside with a chuckle. “When they were there, I’d buy my wife what she needs, and they’d go in and eat it up. I said, ‘I’m gonna have to lock this thing up!’ ”
One of those fridge-raiding rascals, drummer Cedric Burnside, will accompany his granddad at Richard’s on Richards on Friday (January 19), along with guitarist Kenny Brown, the elder Burnside’s “adopted son”. Brown handles the acoustic guitar on the title track of Burnside’s latest CD, Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down, which carries on his late-’90s tradition of mixing samples, scratches, and funked-up beats with a sometimes joyous, sometimes mournful backwoods-blues vibe.
At 74, Burnside doesn’t get around that much anymore, although a recent road trip had him playing the famed House of Blues in Chicago. You’ve gotta wonder what could lure him to that city, considering the brutal facts laid out in “R.L.’s Story”, Heaven’s closing track. Against a haunting backdrop of reverb-heavy slide guitar, Burnside details how a sizable portion of his family was killed there in the 1940s, all murdered within a year’s time.
“I had two uncles and two brothers and my father,” he says, “five of us people got killed there. My dad got his cheque, and some of them dope smokers killed him and robbed him. And one of my uncles got killed by some guy about his wife—he caught him with his wife. And I don’t know…one of my brothers was a doctor, and I think he was sellin’ drugs, then he quit, so they killed him.
“It’s changed a little now,” notes Burnside of the Windy City, “but it’s still rough up there. Course, it’s rough all over the world. Even down in Mississippi some.”
R.L. Burnside sounds off on the things that enquiring minds want to know:
On how a 74-year-old deals with the rigours of the road: “I just don’t travel as much as I used to. I used to go out and stay two or three weeks, but I won’t go out but four or five days now.”
On who he likes to listen to in his spare time: “Well, I listen to a lot of music, but I stick with the blues. I like them Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, and stuff. I like them kinda blues.”
On how he came to record the old Aretha Franklin hit “Chain of Fools” on his latest album: “Some people at the record company heard me sing it, you know, and they said, ‘Uh, R.L., can we put that on the album?’ I said, ‘If you don’t get mad you can.’ ”
To hear the full audio of my 1999 interview with R.L. Burnside subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 400 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with:
Dave Martone, 2020
Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, 2006
Joss Stone, 2012
Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest, 2005
Jack Blades of Night Ranger, 1984
Colin James, 1995
Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown, 1998
Tom Cochrane of Red Rider, 1983
Ed Roland of Collective Soul, 1995
Taj Mahal, 2001
Tom Wilson of Junkhouse, 1995
Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, 2003
David Lindley, 2002
Marty Friedman of Megadeth, 1991
John Hiatt, 2010
Nancy Wilson of Heart, 2006
Jeff Golub, 1989
Moe Berg of the Pursuit of Happiness, 1990
Todd Rundgren, 2006
Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, 2001
Steve Earle, 1987
Gabby Gaborno of the Cadillac Tramps, 1991
Terry Bozzio, 2003
Roger Glover, 1985
Matthew Sweet, 1995
Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds, 2003
Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars, 2001
John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, 1995
Steve Hackett from Genesis, 1993
Grace Potter, 2008
Buddy Guy, 1993
Steve Lynch of Autograph, 1985
Don Wilson of the Ventures, 1997
Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, 1998
Trevor Rabin of Yes, 1984
Albert Lee, 1986
Yngwie Malmsteen, 1985
Robert Cray, 1996
Tony Carey, 1984
Ian Hunter, 1988
Kate Bush, 1985
David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, 1984
Jeff Healey, 1988
Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip, 1996
Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, 1993
Colin Linden, 1993
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, 1995
Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, 1986
Elliot Easton from the Cars, 1996
Wayne Kramer from the MC5, 2004
Bob Rock, 1992
Nick Gilder, 1985
Klaus Meine of Scorpions, 1988
Jason Bonham, 1989
Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, 1991
Joey Spampinato of NRBQ, 1985
Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, 2003
Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, 2003
Steve Kilbey of the Church, 1990
Edgar Winter, 2005
Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde, 1990
Randy Hansen, 2001
Dan McCafferty of Nazareth, 1984
Davy Knowles of Back Door Slam, 2007
Jimmy Barnes from Cold Chisel, 1986
Steve Stevens of Atomic Playboys, 1989
Billy Idol, 1984
Stuart Adamson of Big Country, 1993
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, 1992
Warren Haynes of Gov’t Mule, 1998
John Bell of Widespread Panic, 1992
Robben Ford, 1993
Barry Hay of Golden Earring, 1984
Jason Isbell, 2007
Joey Belladonna of Anthrax, 1991
Joe Satriani, 1990
Vernon Reid of Living Colour, 1988
Brad Delp of Boston, 1988
Zakk Wylde of Pride & Glory, 1994
John Sykes of Blue Murder, 1989
Alice Cooper, 1986
Lars Ulrich of Metallica, 1985
John Doe, 1990
Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, 1992
Myles Goodwyn of April Wine, 2001
John Mellencamp, 1999
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1999
Kenny Aronoff, 1999
Doyle Bramhall II, 2001
Jon Bon Jovi, 1986
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1992
Randy Bachman, 2001
Little Steven, 1987
Stevie Salas, 1990
J.J. Cale, 2009
Joe Bonamassa, 2011
Tommy Emmanuel, 1994
Rob Baker of the Tragically Hip, 1997
John Petrucci of Dream Theater, 2010
Eric Johnson, 2001
Stu Hamm, 1991
Gene Simmons of Kiss, 1992
Ace Frehley from Kiss, 2008
David Lee Roth, 1994
Allan Holdsworth, 1983
John Mayall of the Bluesbreakers, 1988
Steve Vai, 1990
Tony Iommi of Heaven and Hell, 2007
Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1996
Geoff Tate of Queensryche, 1991
James Hetfield of Metallica, 1986
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990
Rick Richards of the Georgia Satellites, 1988
Andy McCoy and Sam Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, 1984
Steve Morse, 1991
Slash of Guns N’ Roses, 1994
Brian May from Queen, 1993
Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers, 1991
Jake E. Lee of Badlands, 1992
Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1997
John Fogerty, 1997
Joe Perry of Aerosmith, 1987
Rick Derringer, 1999
Robin Trower, 1990
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, 1994
Mick Ronson, 1988
Geddy Lee of Rush, 2002
Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult, 1997
Michael Schenker, 1992
Vince Neil of Motley Crue, 1991
Vinnie Paul of Pantera, 1992
Joan Jett, 1992
Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, 1988
Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, 1989
Rob Halford of Judas Priest, 1984
Bill Henderson of Chilliwack, 1999
Paul Rodgers, 1997
R.L. Burnside, 1999
Guthrie Govan of the Aristocrats, 2015
Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe, 1985
Carlos Santana, 2011
Walter Trout, 2003
Rudy Sarzo of Quiet Riot, 1983
Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil, 2001
Tommy Aldridge, 2001
Donald “Duck” Dunn, 1985
Mark Farner of Grand Funk, 1991
Chris Robinson of Black Crowes, 1990
Jennifer Batten, 2002
Mike Fraser, 2014
Leo Kottke, 2002
Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, 2002
David Gogo, 1991
Booker T. Jones, 2016
Link Wray, 1997
James Reyne from Australian Crawl, 1988
Mike Rutherford of Genesis, 1983
Buddy Guy, 1991
Country Dick Montana of the Beat Farmers, 1990
Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers, 2016
Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1986
Lindsay Mitchell of Prism, 1988
Buddy Miles, 2001
Eddie Money, 1988
Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, 1983
Gaye Delorme, 1990
Dave Murray of Iron Maiden, 1984
Graham Bonnet of Alcatrazz, 1984
Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac, 2016
Doc Neeson of Angel City, 1985
Rik Emmett of Triumph, 1985
Sonny Landreth, 2016
Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders, 2016
Jeff Beck, 2001
Albert King, 1990
Johnny Ramone of the Ramones, 1992
Peter Frampton, 1987
Otis Rush, 1997
Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip, 1989
Leslie West of Mountain, 2002
Steve Howe of Yes, 2017
Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, 1983
Uli Jon Roth, 2016
Poison Ivy of the Cramps, 1990
Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1985
Greg Lake of ELP, 1992
Robert Plant, 1993
Malcolm Young and Brian Johnson of AC/DC, 1983
Warren Zevon, 1992
Tal Wilkenfeld, 2016
Steve Clark of Def Leppard, 1988
Ronnie Montrose, 1994
Danny Gatton, 1993
Alex Lifeson of Rush, 1992
Ann Wilson of Heart, 1985
J.J. Cale, 1990
Yngwie Malmsteen, 2014
Chris Cornell, 2008
Long John Baldry, 1985
Allan Holdsworth, 1983
Kim Mitchell, 1984
Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers, 1994
Derek Trucks, 1998
Susan Tedeschi, 1998
Joe Satriani, 2018
B.B. King, 1984
Albert Collins, 1985
Ronnie James Dio, 1985
Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, 1984
Dick Dale, 2000
Greg Allman, 1998
Dickey Betts, 2001
….with hundreds more to come