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Critic's Review
Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Although this release is titled The Blues of Snooks Eaglin, there isn't really a whole lot of blues here, which isn't a complaint, since most of Eaglin's output defies easy categorization anyway, and whether you call it blues, R&B or New Orleans street music, it hardly matters, since it's going to sound mostly like Snooks, and that's always a good thing. With his Ray Charles-derived vocals and his stinging, fluid and decidedly funky guitar lines, Eaglin walks his own walk, and on this live set with an unknown rhythm section from 1985, he flirts with soul, pop and rock, and yes, even the blues, delivering two blistering Freddy King covers ("San-Ho-Zay" and "Hideaway") along with a version of J.B. Lenoir's "Talk to Your Daughter" and a Cajun-fueled original, "Country Boy Down in New Orleans," making for a wonderful document of his casual hometown sets. The final four tracks are taken from a mid-'80s live show in a small New Orleans club by Bill "Boogie Bill" Webb and Harmonica Slim, and while they have a certain archival interest, Webb's guitar amp sounds blown, his guitar struggles to stay in tune, and his raw, rough style contrasts sharply with Eaglin's funked-up smoothness, making Webb's cuts feel like an unnecessary footnote. Snooks' set carries the day, though, making this disc well worth a spin.
