Best of Maggie Bell: Sound & Vision [PA]

Performer: Maggie Bell
Artist: Taj Mahal; Midnight Flyer; British Blues Quintet; Albert Collins
Distributor: Phantom Import Distributi

Notes: Personnel: Maggie Bell (vocals). Despite the slightly presumptuous title, there's no disputing the quality of the music here. Maggie Bell is one of the most extraordinary British vocalists of her generation, with a quality and timbre that few performers (female or male) were able to truly rival, and an ear for rearrangements that could transform the simplest song into a blues-drenched epic. But to cherry pick just a dozen songs from her catalog and omit Stone the Crows from the tally is to leave the listener screaming for more -- which, of course, is what all good "best-ofs" should do. This set gathers material from just four primary sources: the two albums Bell cut for Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label during the mid-'70s, her late-'70s hook-up with the band Midnight Flyer, and some more recent concert work with the British Blues Quintet; add her theme song to the TV show Taggart to the brew, and you have a reasonable but by no means definitive glimpse into Bell's mighty musical engine room. The accompanying DVD is more satisfying, although in echoing two of the performances on the audio disc, it is possible to nurture a vague sense of dissatisfaction. Shot live in Montreux in July 1981, with Taj Mahal and Albert Collins among the guests, it's a phenomenal performance, as fiery as it ought to be, and beautifully filmed and recorded. A fascinating interview wraps up the package, but in truth, Bell deserves a much farther-reaching "best-of" than this. ~ Dave Thompson

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5