JUKE BLUES MAGAZINE 
U.K. 
Issue # 66 Winter 2008

Now wait a minute, this is raw…Big Joe Shelton, straight from the Black Prairie region of Mississippi, home of Willie King, who makes a guest appearance on the title track. Energetic and exciting, there’s even some of King’s political edge creeping in too. “Black Prairie Blues” comes highly recommended, and guaranteed to get your toes tapping.
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Living Blues Magazine review of
 Black Prairie Blues
December 2008
Issue # 198

Mississippi native Big Joe Shelton is one of the blues’ many unsung local heroes—while he may not be a well known name on the national scene, he has played the King Biscuit Blues Festival (now the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival) toured Europe, and jammed with legends like Junior Kimbrough, R. L. Burnside, Big Joe Williams, and Alabama bluesman Willie King, who make a guest appearance on Black Prairie Blues.
Shelton’s vocals and harmonica get the job done, but his real strength lies in his songwriting. All 15 tunes on the set list are original numbers, and even in the album’s weaker moments, Shelton performs with an unrelenting passion. He covers all the blues canon with a pen guided by years of experience playing in the deep south: promiscuity on Scratchin’ Yo Itch; booze on One’s Too Many; a relationship on the rocks on Nothin’ Can Save It; wild Saturday nights down in Cat Fish alley; and the ubiquitous disrespectful female on Be A Woman; a high energized rocker that closes the album. The timely Elmore James-style slide blues Hope We Live To See The Day delivers both a poignant critique of the war in Iraq and a call for peace, with Shelton reminding us that “Jesus don’t like killin’, no matter what for,” and the title track finds guest Willie King taking a break from the Liberators to contribute tasty lead guitar to the mix.
No doubt Shelton’s got the goods and Black Prairie Blues is a solid, enjoyable record that should broaden his fan base. The CD is available at www.bigjoeshelton.com.

Roger Gatchet
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I would give this CD more than 5 stars if I could.  It's currently in our top five rotation.  Please....Please, Joe, make more CDs!
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BLUES REVIEW MAGAZINE
OCT / NOV 2008

Tom Hyslop

Harp player Big Joe Shelton should be named an auxiliary member of the Mississippi Chamber of Commerce for advancing his home state’s interest with Black Prairie Blues (Alt 45 records). The title cut, featuring Willie King on guitar, presents a hard-hitting roster of blues titans from the Mississippi-Alabama border; the hard-shuffling “In Mississippi” touts the local character. “Best I Can Tell” is a solid slow blues: “Devil Lives in Memphis” borrows from “Roll and Tumble”; and an Elmore James feel informs “Hope We Live to See the Day.” “One’s Too Many” and “Can’t Come Back” effectively blend humor with plainspoken truth. Shelton’s vocals are sometimes overly mannered, but he’s a strong songwriter.
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