Various Artists - Dark Was the Night: A Tribute to the Music of Blind Willie Johnson

Blind Willie Johnson was the stuff of legend. A Texas street-corner singer and slide-guitar player in the manner of a bluesman, he instead evangelised his passionate belief in the Bible. Between 1927 and 1930 he wrote and recorded only 30 songs but they were so extraordinarily powerful they have been revived by many a later folk singer and rock guitar player. Here, folk performers from North America and Britain pay tribute to Johnson with 14 of his most striking songs such as Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground) performed by The Positively Testcard, God Moves On The Water (The Henrys with Margaret O'Hara), When The War Was On (3 Mustaphas 3), John The Revelator (Julie Murphy & Richard Llewellyn), Let It Shine (Mike Seeger & Alexia Smith) and Tear This Building Down (Helen Watson & Heather Greenbank).