Alice Stuart, “Statesboro Blues” (1972 / 2008)

Memories are short, and so most of us can’t remember much in the way of great women guitarists of the 1960s. Some would cite Bonnie Raitt, and they wouldn’t be totally off base, although who’s heard much from Bonnie of late? The hard-core blues fanatics may possibly remember the slide-guitar stylings of obscure players like Ellen McIlwaine, who used to put on some great Hendrix-inspired electric performances in places like Philadelphia’s Academy of Music back in the late 1970s. But how many of us remember Alice Stuart, who made her first recordings as a ‘folkie’ back in the mid-1960s and then turned blues-rocker with her excellent LP “Believing” (1972), which featured, among other things, the Tower of Power horn section.

Mostly, though, it was a great album of guitar-driven blues, including fine renditions of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” (don’t let anyone tell you the Allman Brothers own this one) and the now-obscure country classic “Golden Rocket” by the great Hank Snow. “Believing” also sounds superb on the vinyl release, unlike many rock recordings of that era. The voices are clear and true, and Stuart’s fine rhythm section is steady in the pocket and vividly rendered on LP without the digital hash of CD sound that would have been inflicted on her music a decade later (if only she’d bothered to stick around for ‘perfect sound forever’).

The video provides an acoustic update of her music and showcases the hard-won nuances of her playing. Here’s Alice playing “Statesboro Blues” with Nashville session man Brad Davis on rhythm guitar. Since the 1960s, her voice has picked up some welcome grit and wisdom, and now she really does sound like a righteous blues singer instead of just a fine blues picker with a somewhat too-crystalline voice, as was the case with her early releases. The Martin D-18 is the one she got as a high school graduation present in 1963, just a few years before she—like a lot of other us music lovers—converted from earnest folk singer to serious rocker as the Sixties wound down in 1972. Luckier than most of us, though, Alice retired from the pop music scene shortly after her 1972 breakthrough album, only to resurface in the mid-1990s after spending a few decades taking care of family. No wonder her chops are unscathed and the music is better than ever.

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