Here's just a few of the book and video reviews in the current issue of Dirty Linen.

Robert Johnson: At the Crossroads; The Authoritative Guitar Transcriptions
transcribed by Scott Ainslie and Dave Whitehill
Hal Leonard Publications (1992)

Between the myth-mongering about Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads, the fight for his now-considerable royalties between many people (not all of whom are in any way related to him) and the rumors of screenplays, what exists in the realm of the known is actually precious little. There's the box set of all his existing recordings, which came out in 1990 and was a huge commercial success; there are the few musicians still alive who knew him, most of whom are not talking; now there are these guitar transcriptions. It's easy enough to see why there would be a market for such a book - practically everyone who ever picked up a guitar has wanted to play like Robert Johnson, and every blues guitarist from Eric Clapton to Buddy Guy bows toward Johnson's home town of Hazlehurst, Michigan, as a cultural Mecca. And a good job was done - the tablature seems accurate - an occasional song is about a half-step down from the proper key, although it's hard to say what was sped up or slowed down slightly in the mastering process. Although Western notation is inadequate to explain how Johnson really played, Ainslie does his best, duplicating Johnson's quirky timing as closely as possible with shifting time signatures, and signifying something of his attack by using notation for up and down strokes, hammer-ons, and string muting (of which there is plenty). What makes this book truly valuable, however, is the biography that precedes the transcriptions. While every other biography I've ever seen is high on speculation and myth-mongering, Ainslie takes a realistic look at what the world in which Johnson lived might have really been like. As a black man in a racist South, and with his tastes for danger, alcohol and womanizing, his early death was not all that unexpected. The image of Johnson as some kind of idiot savant now seems cruelly misplaced, because a lot of thought obviously went into his music. There is a battle going on for who owns the rights to the few pieces of Johnson's life still out there - mostly his songs and a scant few photos, and the truth may never be known. At least we have a definitive transcription of what really happened within the music, imperfect though it may be. This is about as close to knowing the truth as Johnson fans can ever hope to get. [Hal Leonard Corporation/ 7777 W. Bluemound Road/ P.O. Box 13819/ Milwaukee, WI 53213] - Dave Beltane (Sherman Oaks, CA)

On the Back Porch with Barry & Holly Tashian
Cherry Lane Music (1995),ISBN 089524974X songbook

Call it a best of in sheet music form, as Barry and Holly put the notation (and chords) to some of their own favorites among the songs they've recorded together. Add to that a very brief history of the pair, and you have a document that is quite perfect for the back porch. Or the music room. Or even, if you're that ambitious, the stage. [Cherry Lane Music/ P.O. Box 430/ Port Chester, NY 10573] - Chris Nickson (Seattle, WA)

Pierre Bensusan
The Guitar of Pierre Bensusan Volumes One & Two
Stefan Grossman's Guitar WorkshopGW 938, GW 939 (1995)
Pierre Bensusan
Pierre Bensusan in Concert
Vestapol 13045 (1996)

If you want to learn how to play the guitar, you might as well learn from the best. Pierre Bensusan, one of the key promoters of DADGAD tuning, takes you on a gentle instructional excursion through his unique sound and playing style in Volumes One and Two. You'll learn about Pierre's unique approach to playing the instrument (if he can hum it, he can play it) and how he manages to make his fingers fly over the fret-board (practice, practice). Of interest is his disclosure of how he spent years studying classical piano and how that has influenced his guitar playing.

The teaching instruction is top-quality with lots of close-ups of the necessary finger and chord positions. Bensusan is a fascinating storyteller who quickly charms and relaxes the viewer with stories of his early days as a struggling young guitarist. He spends time discussing his own philosophy of music appreciation, and shares insights on how he listens to other instruments and then tries to incorporate their "colors" into his own special sound. Bensusan is a lively performer and teacher, and these videos will certainly be of interest to any guitarist wishing to work in DADGAD tuning. Both volumes come with study booklets that contain all of the music in tablature format. Some of the songs taught in these volumes are: "Suite Flamed," "Nice Feeling," "Flamorgan Aire," "La Femme Cambree," "Shi Bhig Shi Mhor," "Voyage for Ireland," "Merrily Kissed the Quaker," "Hekimoglu," "The Rakish Paddy," "Heman Dubh," and "Maurice in Wonderland."

Also of interest is Bensusan's performance at the Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse in 1995, videotaped by Vestapol. Seventy-five minutes of Bensusan's glorious and evocative music is presented in front of a hushed audience of fans. Tunes include: "Wu Wei," "The Last Pint," "Four A.M.," "Montsegur and Around the Day in 80 Worlds," "La Femme Cambree," "Bamboule," "Agadiramadan," "Cordilliere," and "Slow Air." [Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop/ P.O. Box 802/ Sparta, NJ 07871] [Vestapol, distributed by Rounder] - T.J. McGrath (Hamden, CT)