Product Description
With a foundation in American blues, multi-instrumentalist Mahal built his music from many genres, constructing a sound that is uniquely his own. He is equal parts historian and innovator, keeping musical traditions alive by giving them a fresh voice and context. His catalogue is celebrated on Taj Mahal: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection. A comprehensive label anthology, the set contains thirteen albums (15 discs), including what many consider Taj Mahal's finest work, chronicling his recording career from its inception to worldwide acclaim. It also includes Rising Sons, his groundbreaking band collaboration with Ry Cooder. Though their mid-'60s recordings went unreleased at the time, their music was hugely influential on their peers, including the Rolling Stones, with whom both Mahal and Cooder soon collaborated. Sounder soundtrack marks the beginning of Mahal’s parallel occupation as a sought-after film score composer while the two-disc set The Hidden Treasures of Taj Mahal 1969–1973 includes a full disc of previously unreleased studio material and a second disc which premiers a live concert recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London on April 18, 1970.

[tracklisting]Disc: 1
1. Statesboro Blues - Rising Sons
2. If the River Was Whiskey (Divin' Duck Blues) - Rising Sons
3. By and By (Poor Me) - Rising Sons
4. Candy Man - Rising Sons
5. 2:10 Train - Rising Sons
6. Let the Good Times Roll - Rising Sons
7. .44 Blues - Rising Sons
8. 11th Street Overcrossing - Rising Sons
9. Corrina, Corrina - Rising Sons
10. Tulsa County - Rising Sons
11. Walkin' Down the Line - Rising Sons
12. The Girl With Green Eyes - Rising Sons
13. Sunny's Dream - Rising Sons
14. Spanish Lace Blues - Rising Sons
15. The Devil's Got My Woman - Rising Sons
16. Take a Giant Step - Rising Sons
17. Flyin' So High - Rising Sons
18. Dust My Broom - Rising Sons
19. Last Fair Deal Gone Down - Rising Sons
20. Baby, What You Want Me to Do - Rising Sons
21. Statesboro Blues - Rising Sons
22. I Got a Little - Rising Sons

Disc: 2
1. Leaving Trunk
2. Statesboro Blues
3. Checkin' Up On My Baby
4. Everybody's Got to Change Sometime
5. E Z Rider
6. Dust My Broom
7. Diving Duck Blues
8. Celebrated Walkin' Blues

Disc: 3
1. Good Morning Miss Brown
2. Corinna
3. I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll
4. Going Up to the Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue
5. Done Changed My Way of Living
6. She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride
7. The Cuckoo
8. You Don't Miss Your Water ('til the Well Runs Dry)
9. Ain't That a Lot of Love
10. The Cuckoo
11. New Stranger Blues
12. Things Are Gonna Work Out Fine

Disc: 4
1. Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')
2. Take a Giant Step
3. Give Your Woman What She Wants
4. Good Morning Little School Girl
5. You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond
6. Six Days On the Road
7. Farther On Down the Road
8. Keep Your Hands Off Her
9. Bacon Fat

Disc: 5
1. Linin' Track
2. Country Blues #1
3. Wild Ox Moan
4. Light Train Blues
5. A Little Soulful Tune
6. Candy Man
7. Cluck Old Hen
8. Colored Aristocracy
9. Blind Boy Rag
10. Stagger Lee
11. Cajun Tune
12. Fishin' Blues
13. Annie's Lover

Disc: 6
1. Fishin' Blues
2. Ain't Gwine to Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')
3. Sweet Mama Janisse
4. Going Up to the Country and Paint My Mailbox Blue
5. Big Kneed Gal
6. You're Going to Need Somebody On Your Bond
7. Tom and Sally Drake
8. Diving Duck Blues
9. John, Ain't It Hard
10. She Caught the Katy and Left Me a Mule to Ride
11. You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love the Way You Strut Your Stuff

Disc: 7
1. Happy Just to Be Like I Am
2. Stealin'
3. Oh Susanna
4. Eighteen Hammers
5. Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day
6. Chevrolet
7. West Indian Revelation
8. Black Spirit Boogie

Disc: 8
1. Conch Intro
2. Kalimba
3. Bound to Love Me Sometime
4. Ricochet
5. A Free Song (Rise Up Children Shake the Devil Out of Your Soul)
6. Corinna
7. Conch Close
8. Cakewalk Into Town
9. Sweet Home Chicago
10. Texas Woman Blues
11. Gitano Negro

Disc: 9
1. Needed Time
2. Sounder Chase a Coon
3. Needed Time (Hummin' and Pickin')
4. Morning Work/n' Meat's On the Stove
5. I'm Running and I'm Happy
6. Speedball
7. Goin' to the Country/Critters in the Woods
8. Motherless Children
9. Jailhouse Blues
10. Just Workin'
11. Harriet's Dance Song
12. Two Spirits Reunited
13. David Runs Again
14. Curiosity Blues
15. Someday Be a Change
16. Horseshoes
17. Cheraw
18. David's Dream
19. Needed Time (Guitar)
20. Needed Time (Banjo and Hand Clapping)

Disc: 10
1. Buck Dancer's Choice
2. Little Red Hen Blues
3. Oh Mama Don't You Know
4. Frankie & Albert
5. Railroad Bill
6. Dust My Broom
7. Built for Comfort
8. Teacup's Jazzy Blues Tune

Disc: 11
1. Johnny Too Bad
2. Blackjack Davey
3. Big Mama
4. Cajun Waltz
5. Slave Driver
6. Why Did You Have to Desert Me
7. Desperate Lover
8. Clara (St Kitts Woman)

Disc: 12
1. Music Keeps Me Together
2. When I Feel the Sea Beneath My Soul
3. Dear Ladies
4. Aristocracy
5. Further On Down the Road
6. Roll, Turn, Spin
7. West Indian Revelation
8. My Ancestors
9. Brown-eyed Handsome Man
10. Why?... And We Repeat Why?... And We Repeat!

Disc: 13
1. Satisfied 'N' Tickled Too
2. New E-Z Rider Blues
3. Black Man, Brown Man
4. Baby Love
5. Ain't Nobody's Business
6. Misty Morning Ride
7. Easy to Love
8. Old Time Song - Old Time Love
9. We Tune

Disc: 14
1. Chainey Do
2. Sweet Mama Janisse
3. Yan-nah Mama-loo
4. Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day
5. I Pity the Poor Immigrant
6. Jacob's Ladder
7. Ain't Gwine Whistle Dixie (Any Mo')
8. Sweet Mama Janisse
9. You Ain't No Street Walker Mama, Honey But I Do Love the Way You Strut Your Stuff
10. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
11. Shady Grove
12. Butter

Disc: 15
1. Runnin' By the Riverside
2. John, Ain't It Hard
3. Band Introduction
4. Sweet Mama Janisse
5. Big Fat
6. Divin' Duck Blues
7. Checkin' Up On My Baby
8. Oh Susanna
9. Oh Baby, Why Do You Wanna Make It Fat
10. Tomorrow May Not Be Your Day[/tracklisting]
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Amazon UK
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'Rama already had a promo copy of this, but that's a bit too much Taj for me.

You can never have too much Taj? I'm in at this price.

If I was a rich man.............

I picked this up yesterday at my local indie, and it's fabulous. This is the first time I've owned Giant Step, which is a wonderful record. But the real treat is Recycling The Blues, which had been out of print. The disco-era albums are weaker, but still have some nice songs. I'm going to be grooving to Taj for a while...at least until the Duane Allman box comes out in March.

His CBS period was his best work imo.

I've been playing the hell out of this box this week, and my wife has finally come around on Taj (after 15 years of my trying to convince her that Taj is the man). Now I have to get her out to see him live before he retires.

Warning: I met him in the 70's when I was a college dj. By far the strangest person I ever interviewed. Not mean or unpleasant, just not particularly sane.

I saw him about 10 years ago and he seemed really messed up on something. Saw him again last fall, and he was killing it. I guess it's a matter of when you catch him.