by Bill Dahl
Down Home is one of the very few classic blues albums of the 1980s. Hill revitalized the genre among African-American listeners with his &Down Home Blues,& which earned instant standard status. But the entire album is tremendously consistent, with the percolating R&B workouts &Givin' It Up for Your Love& and &Right Arm for Your Love& contrasting with an intimate &Cheatin' in the Next Room& and the straight-ahead blues &Everybody Knows About My Good Thing& and &When It Rains It Pours.&