Editorial Reviews, June 5, 2009

The folks at Dust-to-Digital are in the business of reclaiming and documenting America's musical past and they are quite good at it. Their collection of pre-war gospel music, Goodbye Babylon, is a stunning success and has become a cornerstone of any collection of American vernacular music. This latest release, Take Me to the Water - Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950, is less ambitious in scope but in many ways just as successful.The book itself is a small (6x8.75 inches) volume comprised of 75 sepia-toned plates of baptisms from the collection of Jim Linderman. The credits state that the majority of these photos were found at flea markets, auctions and antique shows and as such are almost completely without documentation. Although a little disappointing, this lack of documentation adds to the mystery of the volume - these people standing in the water could be anyone from almost anywhere. Interspersed among the images are a brief essay by Luc...

GRAMMY NOMINATED BEST HISTORICAL RELEASE 2009Review by John Foster, Accidental Mysteries, April 2009FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE, COLLECTOR JIM LINDERMAN has searched high and low for authentic things--unique and special objects that define the artistic culture of the American experience. From folk art to popular culture, from pulp fiction to Delta Blues-- Jim is a walking authority on so many things American they are too numerous to mention. One thing is certain-- his collecting interests are for things that have fallen through the cracks, those things lost and forgotten--the box of material under the table at the flea market booth. If it wasn't for dedicated collectors like Jim Linderman-- so many important objects about our culture would have surely been lost to time and indifference.TAKE ME TO THE WATER: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890 - 1950 is Linderman's first book. The 96-page hardcover book (8.75 x 6 inches) has 75 sepia...

GRAMMY NOMINATED BEST HISTORICAL RESEASE of 2009"Instantly become(s) the definitive volume on the subject"-- Joey Lin Anonymous Works May 2009"One is reminded of the commonality of the human experience...I can put it on any time and immediately feel a sense of renewal and relief"-- Other Music Newsletter May 2009"Raw, unvarnished emotion...leaps out. Whatever your beliefs, you'd have to be made of ice yourself not to be moved by the spirit coursing through the images and music of Take Me to the Water."-- El Toro Weird at My School June 2009"Just Wonderful...like you've stumbled upon a forgotten box of family photos hidden in a mildewed corner of the basement"-- Anne Kristoff The Southernist June 2009"Gorgeous...collected over the years by Jim Linderman, a character who seems the perfect subject for a Harvey Pekar comic. Faith isn't a requisite for finding the power in either the visual or aural representations of this...