Ever wonder why no one plays guitar like Lightnin' Hopkins anymore, or what Robert Johnson or Leadbelly would sound like if you could actually hear them over the hiss of their primitive recordings? That's Junior Kimbrough's music, except there's something more. Charlie Feathers, who learned guitar from Junior and later went on to collaborate with Elvis Presley, once called Kimbrough "the beginning and end of music," a description which isn't far off. In addition to the ghost of the delta blues, one hears the timeless threads that tie American music together in the wailing riffs Junior coaxes out of his guitar. When Kimbrough died last January, he was touted in his obituary as one of the most innovative and influential blues guitarists of his time. In addition to 36 children, Junior left behind what is considered one of the best blues albums of the past fifty years, 1992's All Night Long.

The posthumously released God Knows I Tried is actually a collection of recordings spanning his recording career with Fat Possum Records, which regretfully didn't begin until 1992. On these tracks, Junior plays a swirling, almost hypnotic blues, sometimes more akin to the improvisational jams of psychedelic rockers than to traditional blues. Junior's notes fall over a percussive backbeat provided by an aggressive rhythm section that can be heard knocking off Memphis- style R+B or pounding out rock n' roll as often as they deal the blues. Kimbrough himself blurs the lines between genres, sometimes singing in a high and lonesome bluegrass holler, and other times in a deep, gravely blues moan. On "Tramp" he rips off on a dissonant, screeching tangent that would bring a twisted smile to the face of any post- modern rocker before roping things back into a classic blues progression.

Like Kimbrough's other works, the tracks here are recorded live-- the man knew no other way-- and the live recordings add an improvisational dimension to Junior's music. Despite some missed notes and beats and Kimbrough's occasionally directionless guitar- playing, the band always seems to connect, building a slow burning tension throughout the jams and bringing the songs back from the brink.

So while the songs presented on God Knows I Tried may not be as surprising or seamless as All Night Long, they are certainly a fitting epitaph for Kimbrough's music and a testament to its influence.

-Neil Lieberman