Document & Eyewitness [Box set] [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Details
The Early 80's Live Album from the Postpunk Quartet was Recorded in 1979 at the Notre Dame Hall and in Montreux, Most of the Recordings Come from an Appearance at the Electric Ballroom in 1980.

Tracks:

Finest Worskong
Welcome to the Occupation
Exhuming McCarthy
Disturbance at the Heron House
Strange
It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine)
The One I Love
Fireplace
Lightnin' Hopkins
King of Birds
Oddfellows Local 151

Amazon.com essential recording

Singer Michael Stipe finally confesses that even he doesn't know what he's trying to say--among the lines flying by are "tryin' to tell you something we don't know" and "there's something going on that's not quite right." But R.E.M.'s roar is at its sharpest, as Peter Buck's guitars twist up surf riffs and the Bill Berry-Mike Mills rhythm section captures the force of forebears Big Star and the Byrds. After half a decade of college-rock heroism, R.E.M. achieved its first hit album thanks to the rambling "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and the gentle (but subtly barbed) "The One I Love." --Steve Knopper

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R.E.M. Photos

More from R.E.M.

Lifes Rich Pageant
The Best of the I.R.S. Years: Collector's Edition
Fables of the Reconstruction

Customer Reviews:

Ends the I.R.S. days on a high note.......2007-07-05

After years of being virtually unknown away from the indie/college scene, R.E.M. makes a break for the pros thanks to commercial breakthroughs like "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World As We Know It." And unlike their next album, these hits were actually pretty darn good! This is an eclectic R.E.M. at their best; consistency in sound and mood reigns over their other great albums, but this one feels thrown together with purpose and sense. It also continues the progression towards a clearer, richer production that started with Pageant; too bad the overall quality can't match the previous record.

Because this effort does a good job of straddling their indie and popular phases, this is a good entry point for R.E.M. starters (along with Automatic). No one said that message songs need to be drab and somnolent, but is the goofy pop hook on "Exhuming McCarthy" really the best choice? And thus is the quarrel with Document: it's already pushing for the slick sound when the music would be better suited with an edge. Despite the hiccups, there are several quality moments here, and still a good choice for fans and newbies alike. "Disturbance At the Heron House," "King of Birds," and the aforementioned hits are the best bets.

Best cuts: "The One I Love," "Disturbance At the Heron House," "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," "King of Birds," "Finest Worksong," "Strange," "Welcome to the Occupation," "Lightnin' Hopkins"

Document of a Great Band at their Peak.......2007-03-06

R.E.M. one of the few good bands of the '80's (along with U2 and a few others), and this is arguably the best record of the decade, not to mention easily the best thing the group ever did. This was also the group's breakthrough, containing their first Top 40 hit: The One I Love, which can best be described as Led Zeppelin filtered through The Byrds, only without each group's bad elements - none of the former's brainless lyrics or the latter's ill-advised forays into psychedelia. The One I Love happens to be their best song, with a jangly riff, simple yet cryptic lyrics (I'm with Michael Stipe's interpretation about how it's people who use others over and over, but that's just me), and a dramatic ending. Hit #2 was It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine) - Subterranean Homesick Blues for the information age, namechecking everyone from Lester Bangs to Lenny Bruce (Right? Right!) and featuring what may very well be the best sing-along refrain of all time. There have been several, let me add. Finest Worksong also got, and deserved plenty of attention - a straight ahead rock 'n' roller that's uncharacteristic of the group's classic sound, but rocks just the same. Some of this has been unjustly overlooked, though: King of Birds is an experiment with Indian instrumentation and rhythms that works better than most others do, calling to mind similar-sounding Beatles tracks such as Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown). Continuing in the bird thing, there's also the disquieting Disturbance at the Heron House. Plus this contains one of the group's most experimental tracks, period: Exhuming McCarthy, which works in keyboards, horns and even a vocal sample of Joseph Welch damming McCarthy. Pretty creative, and one of the best here. Strange and Fireplace (both featuring Michael Stipe's ill-advised hard-rock singer impression) don't really work out, but the rest does. It's too bad R.E.M. sold out RIGHT after this release, seeing just how good it is.

REM5 Document CD.......2007-01-16

Product was in excellent shape, Item cost & shipping were reasonably priced, and arrived in a very timely manner considering I ordered it late in the 2006 holiday season. Thank you AMAZON.

The manifesto.......2006-12-01

The most aptly-titled R.E.M. album, this is really, in a nutshell, the mission statement if you will of the band. Using this album as a base of comparison, a person can listen to each of its other albums and get an appropriate read of the test subject's poppiness, or its political tone, or almost whatever angle they want to look at.
It's their manifesto, if you will, and the album which (appropriately so) everything after would be compared to due to the fact that it is the album first widely accepted by both the college radio and pop radio communities as well as critics.
Starting with the songs (almost) everyone knows, "The One I Love" and "The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" are staples of classic modern rock, and deservedly so. Michael Stipe could really be singing the alphabet in "The One I Love" and I wish that people would get over the issue of it begin a misunderstood song. It's the MUSIC and vocal melody of it that made it great. Pete Buck's guitar in that song is likely his most memorable single lick, and the dynamics of the song (from subdued verses to screaming chorus) paved the way for a lot of later pop music by many alt acts (Nirvana in particular).
"The End of the World..." has admittedly devolved over the years into a frat-party favorite, but that's not R.E.M.'s fault. It remains one of the best takes on apocalypse I've ever heard. Bring it on...
But as per usual the hits (both real and imagined) aren't the best songs on an R.E.M. album, and they're certainly not the most important ones on Document.
"Welcome To The Occupation" and "Disturbance At The Heron House", as well as "Oddfellows Local 151" and "Exhuming McCarthy" are the best examples of sociopolitical songwriting the band ever had. This is perhaps due to the fact the band became so big (and thus less on the pulse of the everyday man) on subsequent releases. These four, and in particular the first two listed, are among my personal favorites of the band's career.
1987 was a huge year for alternative rock, perhaps the biggest between 1976 and 1991. Key releases by many artists (U2's The Joshua Tree, INXS's Kick, 10,000 Maniacs' In My Tribe, The Replacements' Pleased To Meet Me) really pushed the genre toward the end of that decade with more energy than gathered at one point prior.
Document was at the center of that push, and is a must-own for not just alt. rock fans, but really anyone who studies and enjoys the development of pop music in America.

'Document' of Brilliance.......2006-09-11

'Document' is arguably R.E.M.'s best album. That's a pretty bold statement, considering R.E.M. has had the best roll of studio albums of any group since the Beatles. Now just like the latter, critics and fans could easily pick out 'Murmur,' 'Out of Time,' and 'Automatic for the People' as their magnum opus; however, there is at least enough evidence to put 'Document' at least among their top works.

It must be conceded that not all of the lyrics make sense. However, it doesn't take too much scholarship to point out that the theme of reform is in every corner on every song. (Notice, too, the image of fire is a major thread in several songs.) There's the call to justice and equality on the opener "Finest Worksong". With troubadour vocals and Peter Buck's blaring guitar, it is a majestic anthem. Then, U.S. policy in South America is addressed in "Welcome to the "Occupation," a stirring protest with beautiful, intricate guitars and spare, poignant lyrics. "Exhuming McCarthy" stirs up the smugness of the newly rich and arrogant. With bright instrumentation, it is a perfectly pleasing piece of pop music. Next, "Disturbance at the Heron House" gets confused, but it seems to speak about environmentalism, equality, and Darwinism in the same breath. Shimmering musically, Michael Stipe's needling vocals zero in on the subject matter like few songs previously. The variety is remarkable and the energy is laudable, but their next two numbers outdo both with "Strange," an honest caveat about dangerous drugs, and, especially, with "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". The latter is played and sung like it's Armageddon. The lyrics are presented like rap with a trajectory the genre usually lacks. Bill Berry's drumming, Michael's annunciation, and Mike Mill's and Peter's playing come together synergistically for what has to be their all time best song. The second half isn't a slouch either. "The One I Love," their first top ten hit, is beautiful for its devotion, angst, and able guitar. "Fireplace" continues the theme of reform with an able commentary about the church or state, or a similar organization. The extended metaphor and the firey saxophone work together well in one their better written songs for this outing. "Lightning Hopkins" continues the firey language and skilled musicianship, delivering a scathing sermon. One of the most dramatic moments starts off slowly. The truly eloquent "King of Birds," a beautiful, soaring song articulately speaks of a vision of flight from oppression. Then, the fire of reform is also given some its most idiosyncratic treatment on the finale "Oddfellows 151," a stab at some decadent group or another.

The energy, variety, and concept all solidify 'Document'. Also, the recent acquisition of producer Scott Litt enabled the band to reach heights not known previously. What a trek they took from their brilliant debut 'Murmur' to this expert classic! 'Document' has to be one of the top ten albums of all time.

Complete Recorded Works of Son House & the Great Delta Blues Singers

Average customer rating:

WARNING TO JSP COLLECTORS
Son House was the grandaddy of 'em all!
Great Stuff, Some Repeats
Awesome
A COLLECTION OF SOME OF THE FINEST DELTA BLUES

Complete Recorded Works of Son House & the Great Delta Blues Singers
Son House
Manufacturer: Document
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

Acoustic Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

Slide Guitar | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Traditional Blues | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Delta Blues | Blues | Indie Music | Stores | Music

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The Complete Library of Congress Sessions, 1941-1942
The Complete Recordings
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James
Avalon Blues : Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings
Complete Recorded Works (1928-1929)

ASIN: B000000J26
Release Date: 1994-05-27

Tracks:

My Black Mama-Part I
My Black Mama-Part II
Preachin' The Blues-Part I
Preachin' The Blues-Part II
Dry Spell Blues Part I
Dry Spell Blues Part II
Walking Blues
M & O Blues
Future Blues
Mississippi Bottom Blues
Rowdy Blues
Cottonfield Blues-Part 1
Cottonfield Blues-Part 2
Dough Roller Blues
Jumpin' And Shoutin' Blues
Bedside Blues
Fare Thee Well Blues
Traveling Mama Blues
Outside Woman Blues
Nehi Blues
Married Man Blues
Third Street Woman Blues
Mississippi Jail House Groan
Ham Hound Crave

Customer Reviews:

WARNING TO JSP COLLECTORS.......2007-05-30

First of all, this is a great album, but I wanted to issue a warning to those that like to get the JSP Box Sets. Songs 1-9 are on the Charlie Patton JSP Box set. Blind Joe's "Outside Woman Blues", and "Nehi Blues", as well as all of the Rube Lacy selections are on the Paramount masters JSP Box Set. I'm not really sure about the remainder of the material. Still it's a great album & a great listen (If nothing else, I could use it in my car).

Son House was the grandaddy of 'em all!.......2006-04-16

If you're interested in the blues roots of rock, you've come to the right place. Son House laid down tracks that have echoed down to this day, and he may have been the first true wellspring of what became rock. I've been a listener and collector of what's now called classic rock for more than 40 years, and I have never found an earlier or truer original source than Son House. With all the fuss being bestowed on Robert Johnson these days, here's a clue: Son House taught RJ how to play! Listen to this album and hear the foreshadowings of ALL the great music to come... Truly great guitar pickin', and a voice as rough, plain and honest as Mississippi dirt clods... You may not want to put this album on Infinite Repeat, but you will not walk away unimpressed or unmoved. IMHO, Son House truly deserves the title of Great Grandaddy of Rock!

Great Stuff, Some Repeats.......2005-01-30

Son House is essential to any blues collection. And as is usually the case with pre-war blues artists, Son's early stuff is better than the 60's revival stuff. That said, the company put songs on here by other artists that already appear on Mississippi Masters--which I also highly reccomend, especially for Geechie Wiley's "Last Kind Words." This CD would be 5-star and beyond if it weren't for those repeated songs.

Awesome.......2003-12-10

"Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers" isn't entirely devoted to Son House. There are cuts by several other musicians, including Rube Lacy, Joe Calicott, and House's onetime playing partner Willie Brown, but this disc, which contains Son House's complete 1930 session, is the best place to get his earliest songs.
The sound quality is not excactly stellar, mainly due to the inferior quality of Columbia Records' original masters and horrible quality pressings, yet the power and intensity of Son House's huge voice and slashing slide guitar playing cuts through the pops and hisses like...well, a cutting thing.
Also, this CD is one of the very few which features both the previously unreleased test acetate of "Walking Blues" (the basis for Robert Johnson's song, not the other way around), and the second parts of House's three two-part singles. Listen to "My Black Mama part II", and you'll recognize it as the original version of "Death Letter Blues", complete with House's magnificent, wailing slide guitar riff.

House's seven songs are the highlights of this collection, but there is a lot of other stuff here which is certainly of interest to fans of classic Delta blues. The gruff-voiced Willie Brown's two cuts are almost as powerful as Son House's, particularly the great "Future Blues" (listen to Brown snapping the bass strings).
And fine waxings by Kid Bailey and Joe Reynolds in particular makes this a great collection of Delta blues as recorded by Paramount Records in 1929-30.

A COLLECTION OF SOME OF THE FINEST DELTA BLUES.......2003-02-06

I absolutely love this CD and find myself listening to it over-and-over again. I ordered it for the Son House material but have found the Willie Brown and the Garfield Akers songs to be every bit as fantastic! Although I especially like the three musicians already mentioned, there is not a dud in any of the remaining tracks. If you like delta blues and don't have this CD you are missing one of the greatest musical treats you're liable to find.

Average customer rating:

The Complete Recordings Of Tommy Johnson
As good as it gets.
Essential!
One of the Most Unique of the Early Blues Players
The Victor tracks are worth the price of the CD

Complete Recorded Works (1928-1929)
Thomas "Snake" Johnson
Manufacturer: Document
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Delta Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

Acoustic Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

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Complete Recorded Works of Son House & the Great Delta Blues Singers
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ASIN: B000000J25
Release Date: 1994-05-27

Tracks:

Cool Drink OF Water Blues
Big Road Blues
Bye-Bye Blues
Maggie Campbell Blues
Canned Heat Blues
Lonesome Home Blues (Take 1)
Lonesome Home Blues (Take 2)
Big Fat Mama Blues
I Wonder To Myself
Slidin' Delta
Lonesome Home Blues
Untitled Song-Take 1 (Morning Prayer Blues)
Untitled Song-Take 2 (Boogaloosa Woman)
Black Mare Blues (Take 1)
Black Mare Blues (Take 2)
Ridin' Horse
Alcohol And Jake Blues

Amazon.com

Evidence of the strange genius of Mississippi bluesman Tommy Johnson is limited to 17 recordings from two late-1920s sessions. It is the first of these, for the Victor Company, that produced the recordings upon which Johnson's lofty reputation rests. Sung in a husky falsetto, somewhere between an African field holler and an Alpine yodel, "Cool Drink of Water Blues" stands atop a pinnacle in the richly inventive Delta blues tradition with younger cousin Robert Johnson's "Hellhound on My Trail" and Skip James's "Devil Got My Woman." "Canned Heat Blues" is a bittersweet paean to the older Johnson's penchant for imbibing tins of jellied kerosene, and was a modest hit in that era's "race record" market. Also notable from his 1928 session were the influential "Maggie Campbell Blues," "Big Road Blues," and "Big Fat Mama Blues," while the recently discovered Paramount session was remarkable for "Slidin' Delta" and "I Wonder to Myself." --Alan Greenberg

Customer Reviews:

The Complete Recordings Of Tommy Johnson.......2006-11-10

Tommy Johnson was one of the most unique and influential delta blues men in the history of American music. He has inspired such artists as Howlin' Wolf, Houston Stackhouse, and Robert Nighthawk.
The Complete recorded works of Tommy Johnson is essential to all lovers of blues and American roots music.
Sadly Johnson only recorded 17 classic sided and they are all present on this collection. The sound qualitiy is also superior to previous releases of these tracks. If you only have a few Tommy Johnson tracks on various compilations, it is worth the price to have them all in chronological order as they are presented on this disc. You get to hear what a dynamic artist Johnson was and how he took the influence of Delta greats Charlie Patton and Ishmon Bracey, and even the falseto vocal stlylings of Jimmy Rodgers, and turned them into something totally unique and timeless.
A must have.
-Devon Wendell

As good as it gets........2006-05-12

I have been a blues fan for forty years, and have listened to just about everybody, from Ma Rainey to Susan Tedeschi, with Muddy Waters and Lightning Hopkins on the way. Nobody is better than Tommy Johnson. Nobody at all. Johnson's great reputation is based on a pitifully small collection of recordings, over half of which were put out on the dreaded Paramount label (Paramount is the despair of blues fans -- on the plus side, without the label we might never have had recordings from Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, early Skip James and early Son House, to name only a few: on the other hand, we are constantly tantalized and frustrated by what we might have had if the company's recording standards had been of even average quality for the time {i.e., late 1920s-mid 1930s} instead of awful beyond description). In any case, the eight Victor sides Tommy Johnson made in 1928, and in particular Big Road Blues, Maggie Campbell Blues, Cool Drink of Water Blues and Canned Heat Blues are at the absolute acme of blues recordings. In terms of emotional power, intensity and sheer brilliance, I have never heard anybody in the blues genre I have thought to be Johnson's equal. I believe that you have to go to some of the great American jazz masters such as Louis Armstrong or Charlie Parker to find adequate comparisons.

This Document Records compilation is an absolute necessity for any serious collector of the blues, and particularly of early blues. There were many great bluesmen named Johnson: Robert, Blind Willie and Lonnie to name the best known. However, if you can only take one "Johnson" record down that Big Road, Tommy's is the one to take.

Essential!.......2004-04-12

Before Robert Johnson came along, and long before Son House started spreading the rumour that he (Johnson) had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his abilities on the guitar, a man fifteen years Robert Johnson's senior ever so often implied that his immense talent came as the result of a midnight deal with Old Scracth.

Thomas Johnson was born in 1896 down in the Mississippi Delta, and though his name is not as well known as those of Charlie Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson (no relation), he was one of the most important prewar bluesmen, and certainly one of the most talented.
He was also an uncontrolled alcoholic, and the fact that he lived to see sixty is something of a miracle. His "Canned Heat Blues" is certainly autobiographical, and his contemporaries have told about Johnson straining shoe polish through a slice of white bread in order to extract the alcohol.

But his music is something to behold. Johnson sounds totally immersed in it, his voice possessing an eerie quality enhanched by his occational falsetto moans, and this disc includes the original versions of "Maggie Campbell Blues", "Big Road Blues", and "Cool Drink Of Water Blues" (later recorded by Howlin' Wolf as "I Asked For Water (she gave me gasoline)").

Johnson plays alone on a few songs, but on most of these seventeen sides (which comprise his entire recorded legacy) he is backed by one or more additional musicians, most often a second guitarist. The first eight sides, Tommy Johnson's Victor sides from 1928, boast amazing sound quality...much (much!) better than Charlie Patton's or Son House's contemporary recordings, they're clean and crisp with just a little static, and every phrase and every instrument is clearly heard. Johnson was a talented and quite original guitar player, and it is a delight to be able to hear him so well.

The Paramount sides, on the other hand, are...well, Paramount sides. Much inferior in sound quality to the Victor sides, they are nevertheless well worth a listen, particularly "Alcohol And Jake Blues" and the battered "Lonesome House Blues".
On the best of these songs, Johnson's voice is positively frightening, and his "Cool Drink Of Water" is the sound of pure despair. This is some of the starkest, most powerful music you'll ever hear.

One of the Most Unique of the Early Blues Players.......2004-02-10

Tommy Johnson and Charlie Patton are perhaps two of the most unique and innovative rural blues players to have ever lived. As where Patton's style is coarse and rough, Johnson's style (at least when he is at his best) is incredibly smooth. Also Johnson's unique falsetto (which is yodel like at times) is amazing. These recordings bare witness to his talent even after nearly a century. It is a shame that these recordings are all that there is.

The Victor tracks are worth the price of the CD.......2003-06-18

I agree with the other reviewers, this is a must for any serious fan of the blues, but be prepared for the songs recorded by Paramount, which I found, at first listen, to border on inaudible (which is why I am docking this CD a star). This morning, however, I was listening to them again, and got into them more. That being said, the Victor tracks are unforgettable and worth the price of the CD all by themselves. ... I suspect that when Tommy sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, the Devil said, "Fine. I'll make you a great guitarplayer BUT half of the music you lay down is going to sound like you were playing outside in a hailstorm." Tommy probably smiled and said, "That's OK because I won't be around long. Just keep me stocked in 'canned heat,' brother." All joking aside, I urge you to check it this seminal music.