Sue Foley ONE GUITAR WOMAN

Sue Foley
One Guitar Woman
Stony Plain Records

A Gorgeous Gateway to the The Women That Were at The Forefront Of The Blues

The download of this album arrived late last week while I was busy editing photographs; but as I already own a couple of Sue Foley albums didn’t feel the need to check out the accompanying e-mail; but remember being a bit narked at it arriving so close to release day.
Anyway, I was busy again yesterday and casually pressed ‘play’ and went back to work. It was about 5 songs in when I realised that these songs were the polar opposite of what I was expecting!
I double checked; and in fairness to Ms Foley … there’s a clue on the album cover; she has put down her trademarked pink Telecaster and replaced it with a gorgeously tuned acoustic!
So, coffee in hand I had to start again and concentrate.
When I first discovered Sue Foley via the Queen Bee compilation, alongside Bonie Raitt she was the only female I knew of that played the electric guitar… and what a way she played!!
This album finds Sue Foley paying homage to the Godmothers’ of Blues Music, with songs dating back as far as before WWI and from a fabulous cross section of Blues pioneers too.
My original problem was not recognising Sue’s unique voice on the opening track Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie, the Elizabeth Cotten song (covered by both the Grateful Dead AND Gillian Welch!) … but now I’ve played it several times, it’s actually quite exquisite …. with Sue sounding a bit 1960’s Bob Dylanish in her phrasing and her guitar picking is seamlessly wonderful.
This is followed by the slower and darker, In My Girlish Ways (Memphis Minnie) one of four songs I have on a compilation album dating back to the turn of the century. It’s fair to say and true of a lot of songs here; Sue delves deep in her singing and playing, but also manages to make the song a lot easier on the ear than the original version not least her rendition of another Memphis Minnie song, Nothing in Rambling.
What I like best here is that Sue’s versions of these songs, while obviously paying homage to her mentors, never sounds like a dry history lesson like others have done over the years; here she captures the frisson of excitement that Freight Train, Lonesome Homesick Blues and Motherless Child Blues must have generated ‘back in the day’, but make them easily accessible for a 21st Century audience who think they’ve ‘heard it all before.’
I can’t find any reference to the stunning instrumentals Romance in A Minor or La Malaguena but they are both absolutely beautiful with hints of Howe Gelb’s Flamenco/Spanish album Alegrias from many years ago.
It’s not always a ‘given’ that an accomplished electric guitar player can transfer those skills to the acoustic; but Sue Foley manages that like a Mastercraftsman (Master Craftswoman does’t scan).
That’s what makes this very special, the combination of her guitar playing, and the way she fills the words and stories with a deep seated love that comes across in every groove.
There appears to be only one new song here; and Maybelle’s Guitar fits in like a delicate hand in a velvet glove and only narrowly misses out on being in the running for RMHQ Favourite Song.
That title is a coin toss between Sue’s heart crushing version of Sister Rosetta’s Tharpe’s My Journey To The Sky which simply breathtaking; and a song by someone I’ve never heard of, Geeshie Wiley and Last Kind Word Blues, a desperately emotional tale of a man going off to war and fearing he may not come back ….
“If I get killed, if I get killed, please don’t bury my soul
I prefer just leave me out, let the buzzards eat me whole
When you see me comin’, look ‘cross the rich man’s field
If I don’t bring you flower, I’ll bring you bolted meal”
Wow!
There’s a lot of reasons to buy this album; but first and foremost it’s a gateway to the Blues, especially the women that were at the forefront but have sadly not been remembered as well as their male counterparts have done.

Released March 28th 2024
https://suefoley.com/

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