The first time New England native John Fusco came to this crossroads, as a young musician who had already had the honor of meeting and learning from blues masters such as Frank Frost and Sonny Terry, he ended up deciding to head back north to pursue another of his passions, filmwriting.
And though you could take the man out of the crossroads, you apparently couldn’t take the crossroads out of the man, with Fusco’s first screenplay in fact telling the tale of a young classically trained guitarist (played by Ralph Macchio) who ventures south with an old bluesman in search of a long-lost song from blues master Robert Johnson, who, legend has it, promised his soul to the devil during a visit to the crossroads in exchange for the ability to play better guitar.
With Confessin’ the Blues (BMG), the Stones provide blues fans with another terrific gift, this one in the form of a 2-CD, 2-LP or 5 10-inch vinyl compilation featuring original versions of some of the genre’s greatest artists and tracks as selected by the Stones. While the Stones have probably performed or recorded most of these songs themselves at some point throughout their five and a half decades together, this compilation presents its 42 tracks as originally recorded by the likes of Waters, Wolf, Berry, Guy, Little Walter, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James and more.
Bonfanti and Milner share primary vocals, with Milner’s smooth, often jazzy delivery nicely balancing Bonfanti’s gruff voice to create the aural equivalent of the chocolate and peanut butter combination of a Reese’s peanut butter cup.