Robert Nighthawk
's restless, itinerant spirit led to great gaps in his recording career, and as a result, he's not nearly as well known as he should be. He learned guitar from
Houston Stackhouse
, knew
Peetie Wheatstraw
, was playing with
Sonny Boy Williamson
and
Big Joe Williams
in the '30s, and has even been credited with teaching
Muddy Waters
how to play slide, yet his name is probably unknown to most casual
blues
fans. Another problem is that previous
Nighthawk
recordings tended to focus on a specific recording session or label affiliation, so mainly only
scholars and fanatics understood what a pivotal personality
was to the development of
electric blues
from the acoustic
Delta
sounds.
Prowling With the Nighthawk
is the first major overview of
and his various performing aliases, covering a 15-year time span and recordings on several different labels. Chronologically, these recordings start out in the Mississippi Delta (though they were all recorded in Illinois) with acoustic guitars and harmonica, then start to move into modern
territory when
electrified his guitar in the early '40s and began to develop his signature style of slide playing. The most recent recordings, dating to the early '50s, add a full rhythm section and even approach the sound of
rock & roll
on a couple cuts. Rather than present it chronologically, however, the folks at
Document
made the decision to program this as an album rather than a scholarly review of singles. So while the sound quality jumps around a bit (and this is the best most of this material has ever sounded), the variety of material from different times ultimately makes for a better listen than presenting each session in order. Once you've heard
's mature slide style, there's no mistaking it for anyone else, and it's quite interesting to trace his development as a player over time, from the acoustic forays of the '30s to the fantastic electrified solo on
"Return Mail Blues"
in the late '40s. Despite his lack of name recognition,
was one of the greats, and
is a great collection of some truly vital material. ~ Sean Westergaard