JOHN LONG "LOST & FOUND" Source: Americana-UK.com Date: 11/2006 Writer: Michael Mee

The sticker on the front of John Long's Lost and Found claims that it is 'destined to be a classic'. Whichever well-meaning soul thought of that couldn't have been more wrong, Lost and Found was a classic from the very second the producer shouted 'It's a wrap John'. There is nothing you could do to any of the songs that would improve them, and it certainly doesn't take time to appreciate their natural beauty, the attraction and affection is instant.

In many ways Long is a throwback. A blues musician for over 40 years, it was only when a demo found its way to Randy Chortkoff, head of Delta Groove, that he was brought 'in from the cold', stuck in a studio and given the opportunity preserve the music that is his life rather than just his chosen profession.

And Delta Groove couldn't be a more suitable home for John Long because, with Fred Kaplan on piano, Long slips, slides, glides, grooves and bottlenecks his way through an album of classic, old style magical acoustic blues.

His is the kind of music that is completely untainted by the 'poison' of showbusiness, Lost and Found isn't just entertaining it's the chronicle of one man's trials and tribulations. When John Long plays, he cuts straight to the quick, 20 years ago Muddy Waters described him as the 'best young country blues artists playing today', nothing but the 'young' has changed, his currency of straight from the heart, dirtrack, shoeless blues has retained its gilt edged value.

A great deal of credit must go to the label and producers for having the foresight to bring a musician as real and full of integrity as Long into the studio in the first place, and then show the good sense to leave him pretty much alone. With only a steel guitar for company, Long immerses himself completely in the likes of Blues And Boogie Woogie. With an almost satanic howl at the end of every phrase it's a chilling and memorable moment.

Wherever the blues takes John Long on Lost And Found, the listener keeps returning to the album's authenticity, this is how the blues used to be when it was in the hands of the true original greats. As a singer he is unyielding, as a guitarist he is dynamic without being in the slightest theatrical. On the evidence of Lost and Found it would be quite easy to believe that Robert Johnson wasn't the only one to swap his soul at the crossroads. The latent menace that hangs over Foot Stompin' Daddy comes from somewhere deep within.

On an album of acoustic blues, Johnny Long generates his own electricity, Mean Ole Rootin' Ground Sloth and both versions of Leavin' St Louis, one solo one with Kaplan on piano, will send a short, sharp shock down your spine.

Until this release, Johnny Long seemed destined to follow in the footspeps of many a blues genius before him, remaining an undiscovered gem. Now that the world will discover his immense talent for itself, his life could change irrevocably. Without doubt "Lost and Found" is the best blues album I've heard in years.