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Blues heretic >> R.L. Burnside don't care none, he just does what he wants by JOHNSON CUMMINS
It's an electronic blues record, on the Epitaph label, no less, and as questionable as it sounds on paper... it actually works. Blips and bleeps intermingle with howls and slide guitar as the whole thing is centered around an irresistible hip hop beat. I talked to 71-year-old Burnside from his home 10 miles outside of Hollis Springs, Mississippi and, much like Ralph Macchio's character in Crossroads, I listened to this legend as he schooled me on the real blues. "The blues people thought I was getting away from the blues when I started working with Jon Spencer," he says, "but I sold more of that record than all my other records combined. I'd rather make music for the youngsters, because they're the ones who buy the records. "I love playing the blues and that's all I know. So when the record company said they wanted to make a dance record I thought, 'Why not?' Because I always knew blues music was dance music and I could always use a little bit of money." True, it was probably main producer Tom Rothrock's vision to marry the hypnotic qualities of electronic music and blues, but the end result still bears Burnside's signature. David Bowie and Madonna can keep their finger on the pulse by namechecking all the current crop of remix wizards, but when I ask R.L. about working with Tom Rothrock (Beck, Foo Fighters) and Alec Empire (Atari Teenage Riot), he simply describes the both of them as "pretty good." As far as capturing the sound correctly, he responds, "People seem to like it, so I guess we did it right." As Burnside tries to shout over the noise of his grandchildren, he agrees that life has become a lot easier since his days doing farmwork to make ends meet. And a lot of that is due to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. "After we played with them one night, Jon said he wanted to make a record with us. I remember thinking, 'Who the hell would want to buy that?'. But he insisted people would like it, so we rented the hunting lodge down the street, some equipment and did that record in four hours. Ever since then I've been making more money in two hours than I did spending a whole day working on a farm." Playing with the Beastie Boys in Toronto will provide Burnside with his largest audience ever and, even though he's in his seventies, he's only begun to hit his stride. As exciting as the road is, though, he tries to get back home as much as possible. "I can't go on the road too much because I've got to look after my family--my daughter and grandchildren live with me. I also can't get time to go fishing on tour, which is really frustrating. I try to go fishing every day with my friends up here. If the record company wants me to go away for more than two weeks, I just can't do it. If they ask me why, I just tell them those catfish are biting." R.L. Burnside performs at Café Campus, Monday, August 17, 8pm, $10
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R.L. Burnside don't mind ruffling a blues purist's feathers. He's been fielding the flak ever since he worked with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on 1996's A Ass Pocket of Whiskey. If that album ruffled a few feathers, then this year's Come On In will have those same purists apoplectic with rage.