Pickin' High Cotton is Memphis Gold's vision of traditional blues -- not a laid-back acoustic outing, but a passionate, politically charged portfolio of the African American blues experience with a stripped-down contingent of his usual backing. Yet the sound is still multi-layered, with guitars, harmonica and drums, recalling Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and the sanctified boogie that Memphis Gold played in church. He pulls no punches on songs like "How You Gonna Play the Blues," reaches back into history with "John Brown," deals with a stark episode of his own life in Washington, D.C., on "Homeless Blues," and hits a more upbeat mood on "Plow My Mule" and "Biscuit Boogie." As usual, Memphis Gold (Chester Chandler) produced this CD himself, this time with Eric "High Cotton" Selby as co-producer. Sidemen include Jay Summerour, Robert Lighthouse and Linwood Taylor.