Precious Bryant – Fool Me Good
Raised in Georgia’s lower Chattahoochee Valley, Precious Bryant hails from, and is steeped in, similar tradition to blues foremother Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. Akin in both spirit and execution to Jessie Mae Hemphill, Bryant is a genuine article of truthful expression, coupled with artful chops. As with many blues and R&B greats, Bryant’s first performing experience came from within the Baptist Church, spiraling outward to festivals; it was only in the late 1960s that she was recorded (by folklorist George Mitchell).
Schooled in a sprawling family of musicians including guitarists, singers, and fife and drum players, Bryant began to perfect her signature fingerpicking at age 9, when she first took to guitar, writing song lyrics down while listening to the radio and figuring the accompaniment by ear. At 60, all that tender magic, now warmly womanish, finds itself unfurled on Bryant’s exceptional full-length debut, Fool Me Good. Patterned and pliant, her plucky notes resonate like a homing device; the voice breaks, bends, and blesses.
From “Broke And Ain’t Got A Dime”, Bryant’s opening take on Blind Willie McTell’s “Last Dime Blues”, it is clear that this album is supremely special as is its mistress. Comprised of half a dozen originals, including “Don’t You Wanna Jump” — the first song she ever wrote — along with variations on traditional blues and spirituals and a smokingly sweet rendition of “Fever”, Fool Me Good is essentially the collected standards of a legendary country blueswoman.