15. Taj Mahal—World Music
I'd imagine, if I really did know the world was going to end in the immediate future, what I'd want to do the most is spend as much time as humanly possibly with the people closest to me. My wife, my family, my friends, I'd want to tell all of them how much they had meant to me in this life. I think the end of world would leave most of us craving the warmth of human connection, and fortunately for the world, Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, better known as Taj Mahal, is an absolute genius at giving that warmth a musical form.
Even though
World Music is not an actual album—it's a compilation of songs culled from several of Taj's 1970s releases—it somehow manages to hang together as one amazingly well. The fact that's bookended by the beautiful instrumental track "When I Feel the Sea Beneath My Soul" probably does a lot to hold it together, but more importantly it's the consistent warmth that shines through every track here, even one as angry as his cover of Bob Marley's "Slave Driver", that makes for a unified listening experience. It's really pretty amazing how unified it is, to tell the truth, as the influences present range from the Cajun to the African to the Caribbean to a surprising Chuck Berry cover.
There's one particular song I'd like to point out here too: "Clara (St. Kitts Woman)", which is essentially a love song to his deceased grandmother. I have to confess this is one of those handful of songs that chokes me up literally every single time I hear it. It always makes me think of my own grandmother who, though not from St. Kitts and not named Clara, was one the kindest, most wonderful people I have ever known. And I can tell when I listen to this song that Taj can relate to that.