"Here we have almost half of the recorded output of the most important sanctified blues singer, the uncompromisingly intense singer/songwriter/slide guitarist Blind Willie Johnson. Like most street-corner singers, the Texas-based Johnson developed a unique sound you could no doubt have heard from blocks away. The bullfrog-like voice he preferred to use was rougher than sandpaper, though he could employ a gorgeous tenor when he chose to. Several of the songs he wrote became instant classics (""Nobody's Fault But Mine"" ""The Soul of a Man""), while others were later adopted by the folk revival (""If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down""). His facility with the guitar was extraordinary, and is best heard on """"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground,"" a song that suggests a preacher's singing followed by a congregation answering back in song, all replicated on acoustic slide guitar accompanied by Willie's almost entirely wordless moaning-singing. Ry Cooder has suggested that it is ""the most soulful, transcendent piece of American music recorded in the 20th century.""