Jimmie Lee Robinson doesn't do everything in the standard 12-bar blues form; sometimes he half-sings, half-talks through songs, or varies the tempo, breaks up the rhythms and paces the performances in an unusual manner. His solos also aren't the usual piercing or flashy phrases and riffs, but sometimes more decorative or sparse underneath the words. His diverse style and unpredictable vocal manner make this one of the more striking modern blues outings in quite some time, despite the fact that he's neither a great vocalist nor a spectacular instrumentalist. But he's written much of the material, and those songs that he covers, such as
Lightnin' Hopkins' "Can't Be Successful" or
Big Bill Broonzy's "Ken To The Highway," are certainly not reflective of their original creators.