When Taj Mahal started making music more than 60 years ago, no one else sounded like him. From the get-go, Mahal incorporated Caribbean and African stylings into the blues, connecting it more deeply to its origins. Now, more than six decades, and some 60 records into his career, Mahal’s become a treasured voice in the wider world of roots music.
The first thing to know about Mahal’s long and verdant career is that he doesn’t mark it by any rigid, business-oriented distinction and certainly doesn’t believe it stared when he began performing publicly. Instead, his is a cosmically connected talent, rooted soul-deep, and tethered outside the realm of the human body or music industry.
Mahal piqued public interest with his early albums like Taj Mahal (1968), The Natch’l Blues (1968), and Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff (1972). Foundational songs from those albums including “Cakewalk Into Town,” “Corrina,” “She Caught the Katy,” and Mahal’s version of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” remain some of his most beloved. They laid down the groundwork for a cultural shift in the music scene, which endured well beyond early success and built behind it generations of musicians who heard Mahal’s music — the way he spoke truth to power, and joy to hate — and knew they could do it too.
Mahal has performed everywhere from on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, to recent appearances with a 69-piece classical orchestra and the Morgan Freeman Symphonic Blues Experience, and on The Kelly Clarkson Show. He’s won five Grammy Awards (plus another 18 nominations) and plays 20 instruments. More importantly still, his early embrace of the banjo on stage helped reclaim the banjo for Black musicians (though Mahal is quick to remind anyone listening that all American music was influenced by ‘the continent,’ as he dubs Africa).
Nearly 84 now, Mahal is as live wire as ever. Thoughtful, inquisitive, and cheeky, he’s an animated conversationalist, peppering discussion with accents and impressions, and funny faces to land his points. His latest album, Time, is his first collaboration in 18 years with his long-standing backing Phantom Blues Band, and features a never-before-heard Bill Withers song.
On release day for his latest album, Mahal sat down with No Depression to answer a few questions. Like other pieces in No Depression’s In The Deep End series, questions start easier then get progressively…deeper. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
