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With his meteoric run of hits from early 1955 through late 1961, Chicago's Jimmy Reed reigned as the most popular bluesman of his day, rivaled only by fellow Mississippi transplant B.B. King. By the mid-'60s Reed was playing New York's Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theater and touring England as a star. Reed's sweet, Delta-inflected singing complemented the cool, walking bass shuffles of his cleverly crafted songs, the finest of which are to be found in this tasteful contribution to Rhino's Blues Masters series. Included here are chart toppers like "You Don't Have to Go," "Ain't That Lovin' You, Baby," "Baby, What You Want Me to Do," "Big Boss Man," and "Bright Lights, Big City," all durable standards that influenced a generation of rockers from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix and earned Reed his proper place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. --Alan Greenberg ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Anything by Jimmy Reed is good
Haven't as yet listened to this cd but I don't really need to to know how good this man was in his time. Everybody in to the blues knows Jimmy Reed and his easy going soft flowing style. The man had it all with some of his arrangements having grown into some of the most recognizable blues licks anywhere on the planet. The Stones covered him earlier in their career as did many others, and it;s just a shame how Mr. Reed's own personal life must have been painfull to the point of him drinking himself to death at the early age of 50. What ghosts must have hauted this man to drive him to such an early grave? I suppose we'll never know and it's probably just as well? Jimmy Reed was a public performer it's true. But firstly he was a man deserving of the respect he's been given in death atleast if not in life, and we should leave him to rest peacefully and leave his old past ghosts alone. Sleep well Jimmy!

The best available introduction to Jimmy Reed
There's really no sound in the blues as easily digestible, accessible, instantly recognizable, or as easy to play and sing as the music of Jimmy Reed. His best-known songs have become such an integral part of the standard blues repertoire, it's almost as if they have existed forever.
Elvis Presley covered Jimmy Reed, and so did The Rolling Stones and numerous hopeful garage bands, making him in reality one of the most influential bluesmen in history.

Many, many Jimmy Reed compilations have been released over the past forty years, including several repackagings of his classic 50s Vee-Jay material. Some of these compilations have been excellent, particularly the superb 1993 collection "Speak The Lyrics To Me, Mama Reed", while others have been really shabby, and since many of them have featured the same basic songs, it's kinda hard to discern which are worthwhile and which aren't.

Fortunately, Rhino's 2000 Blues Masters release provides first-timers with the ideal introductory package, presenting seventeen songs, including virtually all the very best of Reed's simple but supremely catchy boogie.
"Baby What You Want Me To Do" is here, perhaps the single most covered blues tune of all time, and so is "Shame, Shame, Shame", "You Got Me Dizzy", "Ain't That Loving You Baby", "You Don't Have To Go", "Big Boss Man", and many more. This one, and Recall's "Big Boss Man", are right at the top of a long list of Jimmy Reed compilations.

Love it, Love it, Love it!!!
We listen to this cd everyday--it's great, funny, and sounds cool as heck!

Jimmy Reed's Prime Tracks From the Vee-Jay Vaults
Of the Post-WWII bluesmen, Jimmy Reed was one of the most influential performers and certainly one of the most popular. While stories abound of his alcoholism (which would lead to his death in 1976 at the age of 50) and the resulting inappropriate behavior both on stage and in the studio, Reed still managed to place more singles on the pop chart than any other bluesman during his tenure on Vee-Jay.

Playing guitar and harmonica, his first big hit was the No. 5 R&B hit "You Don't Have to Go" in 1955, which featured the kind of loping shuffle that became his trademark. His music was simple enough for just about anyone to pick up a guitar and play his songs, but the power of his music was the irresistible boogie groove that his songs would mine. He followed that up the following year with another Top Ten R&B single "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby." But his biggest hits were the pop crossovers "Honest I Do" (No. 32, 1957) and "Baby What You Want Me To Do" (#37, 1960).

"I Ain't Got You," from 1955, will be recognized by most Baby Boomers as a Yardbirds cover, and Reed's original material would be covered by artists from Elvis Presley to the Rolling Stones.

Reed rerecorded many of his early hits for ABC-Bluesway from the mid-Sixties into the Seventies, but the tracks included here are all the original Vee-Jay recordings from 1953 to 1963. Quite simply, this is the best single-disc collection of Reed's work. His other must-own release is Mobile Fidelity's Jimmy Reed at Carnegie Hall/The Best of Jimmy Reed (now available on Collectables.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A little disburbed
It's a great CD, but I get a little disturbed by a little remark by many reviewers of the blues. The remark is "...when the music of bluesmen cross over to pop." That is a misconception! The correct statement is "...when pop crossed over to Blues, R&B, Soul, Rock & Roll, Disco, etc." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

I GOT RIPPED!!!
The Elvin Bishop CD I received was not even Elvin Bishop.This CD case was right and even the CD looked right, but when played, it was something I had never heard!I am VERY unhappy about this.

fooled around and fell in love
I would like to get the song lyrics of "fooled around and fell in love". Where can i get them?

Best of Elvin Bishop (Polygram)
Elvin Bishop was, is and continues to be one of the best rock blues guitar players of our time.This CD contains some of his best and well known classics.For Elvin Bishop fans this CD is a must. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Muddy Waters started out playing acoustic blues in the Delta, and it shows on this return to his roots, designed to appeal to the mid-1960s surge of interest in folk music. The back of the CD includes a photo of Waters with bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon, as well as a very young Buddy Guy, gathered around a single microphone. This particular CD reissue includes five bonus tracks, among which are "The Same Thing" and "Short Dress Woman," which take advantage of the longer CD running time. All of the other reasons to hear this one remain--Waters's strong, confident voice, the relaxed smoothness of the material, and the surprisingly clean recording, made even cleaner by the digital remastering. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Great "Muddy Unplugged"
Before the blues revival of the 60s really kicked into gear, Muddy Waters and Chess Records made this acoustic album to attract the attention of the folk-loving coffee house crowd.

But "Folk Singer" is really no more of a folk record than anything else Muddy Waters did; it is simply Waters playing the blues the way he did it back in the 40s - acoustically.
He is backed on the first nine cuts (which made up the original "Folk Singer" LP) by Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon, and occationally drummer Clifton James, and goes through songs like Sonny Boy Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl" and his own "Country Boy" and "Feel Like Going Home".

A few songs don't take too well to this bare-bones arrangement...the s-l-o-w rendition of Willie Dixon's "My Captain" threatens to stall altogether, and the almost whispered vocals used on that song, and on "Cold Water Blues" as well, don't suit Muddy Waters' usually gruff, boastful singing style.
But most of what's here is very good, although it's a shame that Waters' slashing slide guitar playing is inexplicably absent on many tracks (the solo performance of "Feel Like Going Home" is a notable exception, though).

And the first two bonus tracks, which are taken from an April, 1964 session, are even better. The acoustic format is partly abandoned, and Otis Spann is added on piano. He plays superbly on Willie Dixon's "The Same Thing" (my favorite rendition of that song), and on the great slow groove of Waters' own "You Can't Lose What You Never Had".

The final three tracks are neither acoustic nor particularly folkish, adding sax and clarinet (played by Elmore James' saxist J.T. Brown) to a full blues combo which also includes harpist James Cotton.
Brown plays great clarinet on the jazzy "Short Dress Woman", and the swinging "My John The Conquerer Root" is one of the best songs on the album, which ends with the fine L.J. Welch tune "Put Me In Your Layaway".

"Folk Singer" is one of the great blues LPs of the 60s, and once you've got the Muddy Waters "essentials", this is where you go.
A fine, mellow blues record.

Redemption for the Legend
"~Folk Singer is a stunning return to acoustic folk blues for Muddy Waters. The remastering is superb and the picking and rhythmic patterns of a young Buddy Guy is mouth dropping. If you're going to get a Muddy Waters cd, don't waste your time with a greatest hits package, you can't listen to the blues like that, it's more a feeling at a certain point in time, and at the time of this recording, all the artists were on the same page. development and history of American music. This and Newport are pillars in the folk/blues movement of the late 50's and early 60's.

Everything Muddy ever recorded is real folk blues!
I first heard this record at a place called "The Commune" a house I stayed in while travelling through Detroit a lot back in the late 1960s working for the Young Socialists. I learned, not with music but in the brain, some of these songs like "My Home in the Delta" and they are so classic that they became part of my brain and my understanding of the blues both as a listener and as a performer. I only got the CD about 10 years ago.
This is classic music. This is your basic strong Muddy Waters performance coming straight at you. This record reminds you that no matter what instrument a blues artist plays, no matter what level of world class excellence a blues artist achieves on an instrument or as a band leader---and Muddy was all that and more--BLUES IS A SINGER'S MUSIC. A BLUES SINGER MAKES THE MUSIC WORK BY THE REALITY THAT SHE OR HE PUTS INTO THEIR VOCAL INTO the feeliong of the song whether it is funny, sad, angry, ironic, or all of them together. Blues is about reality, and this music is about reality.
It's interesting that just as we folkies back around 65 realized through Bob Dylan and other folks that being folk music had nothing to do with whether you used an electric or acoustic guitar but what kind of music you were playing, Muddy came out with this record on which he used his acoustic but had supurb backing from the great buddy guy on electric, and Willie Dixon and adds piano and bass and more instruments on other cuts. Are these tunes any more folk music than his superb electric sets from 1947 on? Are these tunes if they are so folk, any less the product of a great conscious artist and arranger assisted by another one, the great Willie Dixon, a combination for the Chicago Blues analgous and just as productive as Strayhorn and Ellington in Jazz?
As someone who more or less performs in the category of folk singer and blues player, I find these artificial barriers between folk and popular forms of blues and country music to be the silly ignorance of people with bad views of culture. So much of the value of real folk music that was coming out of existing traditions of African Americans and Southern whites, among others, has been missed by people propelled by these ignorances.
Two non blues examples I can give are Woody Guthrie and Doc Watson. All the time Guthrie lived in Oklahoma he was a piano player and a mandolin player, two of the standard backup instruments for Texas and Oklahoma ranch dance music. However, when he arrived in Los Angeles got in touch with the "people's music" crowd, he was informed that a true folk performer played the guitar. Guthrie learned to play the guitar in LA on his radio program.
When Ralph Rinzler met Clarence Ashley at the Galax Fiddlers convention and told him he wanted to record him and would be down to North Carolina to record him, Clarence showed up at the studio with Doc Watson with his favorite guitar, his Les Paul Custom, the instrument he learned to do all his lead guitar fiddle tunes (most of which Watson recorded first on the mandolin before he dutifully recorded them on Acoustic guitar).
Everything Muddy ever recorded is real folk blues!

*****************A ZILLION STARS***************************
This is it! If you don't like this music, then you really can't be into the blues. It may be acoustic, but it's got all the power, feeling and raw emotion that is Muddy Waters, from "My Home Is in the Delta" to the last note. The backing band is great and the sound is so good you'll think they're playing in your head. I recommend this to anyone, not just as great blues, but as great music.

This IS the blues...10 big fat stars!
This is one of the most awesome blues discs I have come across. It's actually older than I am, but the sound is awesome. It was playing in the other room, and I kept wondering who was yelling at me! Muddy's known for his electric side, but this doesn't lose anything by going acoustic. With Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon as the backing band, how can you go wrong. A great CD for those interested in the REAL blues. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The best of Buddy Guy's Chess sides
If you're only going to buy one Buddy Guy-album, I'd probably go with Rhino's career-spanning "The Very Best Of Buddy Guy".
But this one is pretty much a must-have as well. Rhino's disc does include a handful of Guy's Chess sides, but his years at Chess were arguably his best period, and this excellent 15-track compilation brings together the cream of the crop.

These classic 60s recordings burn with unbridled passion - just listen to the smouldering slow blues "Leave My Girl Alone" and "I Cry And Sing The Blues". George "Buddy" Guy is one of the very few bluesmen whose vocals (occationally) match the intensity of the great Elmore James, and his guitar playing is superb - an obvious source of inspiration to men like Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Also, the sound on this anniversary compilation is magnificent. Excellent transfers and spacious stereo mixes make these forty-year old recordings sound as sharp as anything you'll ever hear coming off the laser beam. If you are into 60s electric blues, this is a must-have purchase.

smooth and smoking
Buddy Guy is THE definiition of the blues. This album is a collection of the Chess recording years and is one of those albums i can put on and let run straight through. The first song on the album "Worried Mind" is a great lesson in "less is more" guitar soloing. "I found a true love is buttery smooth and "leave my little girl alone" is a blues classic. If your not convinced that this is a great album just remember that Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton considered Buddy one of their biggest influences.

If you only want to buy 1 Buddy Guy disc, this is it!
An excellent overview of Buddy's 60's material, some of his best. You really can't go wrong with this CD. Great stuff!

Buddy's Blues
Great compilations of the performances from Guy's best time in his career.

great blues music
as always buddy plays great blues musi ... Read more

Amazon.com

When The Band's drummer Levon Helm set up a Woodstock-based recording studio and production company in 1975, his first client was the legendary bluesman Muddy Waters. Surrounding him with familiar sidemen Pinetop Perkins and Bob Margolin, plus such simpatico rock and blues stalwarts as The Band's Garth Hudson on accordion and organ, Paul Butterfield on harp, and Howard Johnson on saxophone, the 60-year-old Waters responded with the smoothest and most supple singing of his career. These two sessions are as delightful as any in his long association with Chess Records, and they signify his last album with that label. Among this Grammy Award-winning work's highlights are Muddy's original composition "Born with Nothing," featuring his stinging signature slide; his joyful R&B covers of "Let the Good Times Roll," Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," and Louis Jordan's "Caledonia," this last graced by a looping Hudson accordion solo; and the previously unreleased bonus track, "Fox Squirrel". --Alan Greenberg ... Read more

Reviews (6)

God Bless Garth Hudson
Not a five star album, but contrary to what other reviewers would lead you to believe, Garth Hudson's accordion and organ really add a nice flavor to this album. They provide a nice counterpoint to the blues harp and piano. What I appreciate about this album is the loose, swampy blend of accordion, harmonica, and piano. If you enjoy the textured arrangements of The Band's albums and you like Muddy Waters, you really can't go wrong with this disc at this low retail price. Three and 1/2 stars.

i think this is great
i still think this is an exelent cd unlike other reviewers i don't think it fair to compair this to fathers and sons this is different yes but you would'nt to keep doing the same things over & over the music & sound quality are great an easy 5 star cd a must have for a muddy fan unlike electric mud.

3 1/2 stars. Some fine moments
"Fathers And Sons" remains Muddy Waters' best collaboration with his many younger admirers, but his "Woodstock Album" is certainly worth a listen as well, even if Band organist Garth Hudson's accordion on songs like "Caldonia", "Funny Sounds" and "Going Down To Main Street" is a very unusual choice which doesn't suit the songs particularly well.

I would have given this album four stars if it hadn't been for that annoying accordion which only detracts from the power of Muddy Waters, because the songs are generally very good, and Waters himself plays great slide guitar on a couple of mercifully accordion-free numbers.
"Why Are People Like That", "Born With Nothing" and "Love, Deep As The Ocean" are particularly good, featuring excellent piano playing by Pinetop Perkins, and great blues harmonica by Paul Butterfield.
Waters' take on Louis Jordan's "Let The Good Times Roll" is pretty good as well, and so is the CD bonus track "Fox Squirrel".

Not too many people realize how incredibly important the drummer is in electric blues music...the reason why many contemporary blues recordings fall flat is simply because the drummer can't play the blues, resorting instead to a stale, plodding rock rhythm.
If you listen to blues drummers like Willie "Big Eyes" Smith or the great Fred Below you'll understand what I mean. They knew how to get a real swinging groove going, and fortunately the Band's Levon Helm proves to be a fine blues drummer.
This album was Helm's brainchild, and he and Perkins are the main reasons why it works in spite of that awful accordion!

not true Muddy
This album was a disappointment. I was looking forward to Muddy's covers of "Caldoinia" and "Kansas City" but it wasnt what I thought itd be. Dont get me wrong, Muddy himself was fine, but he gets overshadowed by the musical collaborators. There is an overuse of harmonica and organ, and the annoying presence of ACCORDIAN! Accordians and Waters do not mix. This over-instrumentalization leaves the album sounding lame and folky and not bluesy. If you're looking for Muddy's later work, try "Blues Sky", with Muddy working with Johnny Winter and his back to basics production.

Funky!
Winner of a Grammy in 1975, The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album is one funky, greasy taste of Muddy at his finest. Driven by Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, as well as blues stalwarts Pinetop Perkins, Paul Butterfield and Bob Margolin, Muddy sounds like he's having a good old time, breathing new life into such standards as Caldonia and Kansas City. If you like the blues, Muddy-style, you'll love this album. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Master of the Blues Guitar
Absolutely stunning collection of Freddie King's two instrumental albums from the early sixties. All the favorites are here (Hideaway, The Stumble, San-Ho-Say, etc.). A cram course for aspiring blues guitarists. In impecable stereo for the first time.

The "Holy Grail" of blues guitar
I was looking for the song "Remington Ride" when I stumbled across this CD last week. My motivation is that I am learning blues guitar (at the tender age of 40-something) and the name Freddie King is one I have been hearing about for some time. Little did I know that I had found a "blueprint" (pardon the pun) for learning the blues. This disk is packed with some of the best blues licks imaginable, starting with the much covered Hideaway. Whether you're a blues purist or a newcomer to Freddie King, like I am, this is one for your collection.

Freddie King, more than "just picking"
For my money, this is the best Freddie King available. It is actually a combination of his two all-instrumental lps, "Let's Hide Away and Dance Away" (1961), and "Gives you a Bonanza of Instrumentals"(1965). It contains his classics, "Hideaway","The Stumble", "San-Ho-Zay", the extended raveup "Remington Ride" (based on the bluegrass original!) and many other great tunes. In his playing you can hear the roots of Clapton, Peter Green, Magic Sam,and almost any other blues-based guitarist who came after him. The playing is almost architectural at times, humourous at other times, and, especially in some of the longer instrumentals, monsterously expressive. His music combines qualities of Chicgo and Texas blues with instrumentation that is like surf music and early rock n roll, making for an overall unique sound. Don't miss it! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great blues-slash soul-slash funk!
Magic Sam Maghett was a bluesman from the Mississippi Delta first and foremost, but he was also instrumental (so to speak) in introducing an element of soul in his music, which was called "soul blues" or "west side soul".
The soul element is especially prominent when listening to Magic Sam's vocals, which are those of a soul singer rather than a blues singer, but most of the songs are structured and played mostly like blues numbers (except for the funky drumming by Odie Payne).

This album doesn't contain the obvious number 1 (or five star) hit - unlike his previous album, "West Side Soul" - but the quality of the songs is uniformly high, with "I Just Want A Little Bit" and "Keep Loving Me Baby" among the best songs.

"Black Magic" is a fine album, made with a contingent of very skilled musicians (Maghett himself being one), well produced (that is, not over-produced), and certainly recommendable to everyone with an interest in both blues and soul.

This is perfect, what can I say.
Sam is first rate. If you like Buddy Guy you might like Sam. If you like Otis Rush, you will almost certainly like Sam. If you like good music with soul, rythm and feeling- this is it. Not too much production, not stripped down either. It is a happy medium for most blues fans. There isn't an overboard horn section or interfering keys, or crazy looped guitar tracks. This is pure taste. A piano that plays perfectly to the music [ Sam learned by West side soul to only play with the best. ] and one Tenor Saxaphone for a few tracks to add some layers. Sam plays lead and some extra rythm. He is the only vocalist. There are two tunes that are kinda soul/ r and b. And the rest are solid blues, sometimes funky, sometimes slow. Sam is one of the great blues singers and innovators. This record does have a happy medium in a lot of respects. You got an instrumental. You got guitar playing that is technically respectable and creative but totally tasteful and with a feel for the music. Sam doesn't drill over the music with confused lines that go no where in particular like alot of bluesmen tend to do. He plays with his band. He solos and he shines, but he doesn't ever mess up the sound of the songs. Its got the slow soul, the feel good, the funk, everything. This album and West side soul are Sam at his peek, and the cream of the electric blues players. The man was an all around innovator of blues music, live he played bass, drums, Harmonica, Piano or whatever the band needed, it didn't matter. He Pushed the cool blues ahead. He and Otis Rush changed the game. And Sam has a respect for Otis because he did his songs, like Keep loving me on here and My Love Will Never Die on West side. I tell everybody I know who likes good music- If you don't know this guy, then you are missing a big piece of the puzzle. This is where it's at. His two major studio records and only real studio Lps are two of my favorites out of hundreds of albums. I can't even see how anyone could not like this.

Magic Sam ---One of the greats who died too soon
Magic Sam's Black Magic and West Side Soul are 2 of the greatest blues albums of all time--absolutely essential for any one who loves urban electric blues. The singing is absolutely incredible --one of the most powerful and expressive voices in the history of the blues. His guitar playing, rhythmic drive, and arrangements are also excellent and unique-he died soon after these 2 albums were recorded just as he seemed about to break out into stardom. His slow songs exhibit a soulfulness that is incomparable and the faster songs have a drive and excitement that is also beyond compare. You can't go wrong with these two albums--highest recommendation possible.

A Definitive Electric Blues Album
I first heard this album (as vinyl) in 1969. As a guitarist and bass player who lived in Chicago on the South Side at the time, blues was in my BLOOD then - as it still is. I had several opportunities to play with Otis Rush on the West Side, and was going to play with Magic Sam . . . when he died.

This album is sheer beauty. Unlike his other blues counterparts in the city at the time, Magic Sam had a very R&B flavor to his blues - clean, always in tune, using that Fender reverb in ways that Otis, Buddy and others didn't. Yet he had an intensity that truly . . . well, touched me. Magic was a wonderful guitar player - and one hell of a singer. he was a gifted musician.

I Love This Album
Honestly, I'd never actually heard Magic Sam when I bought this album, but a lot of reading on the blues brought me to purchase Magic Sam's "Black Magic." I now own everything Sam-related I can get my hands on. This album is my favorite, and while others may recommend "West Side Soul" over this, "Black Magic" seems to be his most steady and arranged material available. Magic Sam blends Chicago blues sound with a soul inspired voice that is both riviting and relaxing. Everyone I have had listen to this album ends up loving it. "Black Magic" is constantly in my listening rotation, and I would recommend this album highly to anyone who has any taste for soul, R&B, or the blues. ... Read more

Album Description

36 of the late great blues guitarist/ vocalist's finest recordings for the Vee-Jay label, including 'Bright Lights, BigCity', 'High And Lonesome' and 'Ain't That Lovin' You Baby'. Double slimline jewel case. 1999 release. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

BIG BOSS MAN!
LOVE JIMMY REED ALL OF HIS MUSIC! #1 THE BEST! ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Awesome, but Wed & Thurs in SF even better!!!!
Albert is THE master!! This CD is truly powerful guitar playing and great vocals! A must for ALL Blues and rock fans.
As great as Live Wire / Blues Power is, it is very misleading to say that these were the best songs of the live SF shows. ALL songs were great, and the "leftovers" that were placed on the Wednesday night in San Francisco and Thursday night in San Francisco were just as good. All three CD's form the greatest collection of the sweetest guitar playing ever!!!! He was the TRUE master. It's amazing how few paople know about this secret pearl of music.

One Of The Great Live Blues Albums!
Legendary blues guitarist Albert King really hits his stride on this CD (originally released in 1969). Worth it just to hear the uptempo classic "Night Stomp". Arguably, this is King's best album. All the tracks are great, and this is one disc that really sticks-to-your-ribs, and one that you will go back and play again and again! A great disc for budding blues guitarists to listen to... you'll be hard-pressed to find a better teacher (with the possible exception of Freddie King). Regardless, this disc is a must for both blues and rock fans alike. Well worth the price.

king of the flying v's and more....
This is a seminal album....one of the finest live concert recordings ever, irrespective of genre. I saw King Albert twice at the Fillmore East in the old days [this one was recorded at Fillmore West], and this CD [or my old vinyl LP for that matter] captures him in all his live glory. Albert was a consummate professional who hadn't played large venues for the most part in his career when Bill Graham tapped him for the Fillmores, and he succeeded in pleasing [no, knocking out!!] audiences and turning them on to the blues....if you're counting your coins and wondering which next blues CD purchase will best serve your budget [or even if you're made of money and don't care either way but love the blues] - BUY THIS ONE!!!

Albert King's Most Influential Live Album!
Well the Blues is meant to be played live. It was never a genre for three minute radio songs. When Albert king signed at Stax he produced several hit singles beginning with "Laundromat Blues" and going on from there. This was his first live album- ever. He produced three recordings from it, this one and "Wednesday and Thursday Night in San Francisco". The latter two were not released until 1990 when the Stax label was ressurrected under the Fantasy organization. Albert plays a host of new material and reworkings for this LP. It was his first outing at the Fillmore where he was the headliner. He woos the young audience and introduces them to what the blues is all about. He opens the set with Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man", a tune he used for about a dozen years after this as his opening with his line "take off your shoes and slip them under the seat". He goes into the title track "Blues Power" from here. This a Talking Blues, a type that Albert excelled at. B.B. and Freddie never did any talking blues, Albert loved to talk! It is interesting that this type of blues originated in Appallacia with white players in the 1920s. Albert is the all time virtuoso of the talking blues witness "Matchbox", "Cold Feet" and others. This ten minute outing contains a comprehensive overview of his guitar style. It is very excellent and the tone of his guitar is fabulous. It of course has his signature stop break he first recorded at Chess in 1961 with "Won't Be Hangin Round". SRV used it in Texas Flood (Live)! This song has a lot of jargon that places Albert as an older player with a young audience, such as "Soda Fountain" and "Guys and Gals"..however, it's over their heads, they were into his guitar. The title "Blues Power" is of course the catch phrase of the sixties various "Powers" (Austen Powers!!) and like "Born Under A Bad Sign" (Age of Aquarius!!)these attempts at contemporizing the blues were lost in the fabulous guitar work outs. No one cared about the lyrics or content only the sound.

Albert does a reworking of his first minor hit with King Records "Blues At Sunrise" with a small amount of Hendrix type feedback (he'd been doing this for a long time) and it's a great slow blues offering. He also does the closest thing to a slide riff he'd ever done with B.B. King's "Please Love Me". "Night Stomp" is an interesting reversal of the famous 9th chord runs he did in Overall Junction. He wrote this tune with the album's producer Al Jackson, Jr, the famous drummer of the MG's. He also wrote "Cold Feet" the talking blues, with Albert! The album closes with "Look Out" which was of course "Overall Junction" redone. This is interesting with the strange almost Buddy Guy bends he produced- it's different from anything he ever recorded.
This is a classic recording. It was at a time when the blues revival of the sixties was waning and Jimi Hendrix (who played with Albert) had taken the blues to a new level of blues-rock. Albert became accepted as an innovator of modern urban blues with his soulful recordings for Stax records. However, live he always played traditional blues and often his set included tunes from the 1940s (check out the other two albums e.g."Driftin Blues"). I saw him in 1990 and his set included "Stormy Monday" and "Move To The Outskirts of Town". Get all three of these CDs, they are an historic record of the blues influence on music of the 1960s.

Forget SRV? I dont think so.
I agree with all the positives about Albert King, he certainly is CLASS. I do disagree with the person who said "forget SRV" yeah right! He was CLASS too, wasn't he?? ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

For the completist, this three-CD, 72-song box remains the definitive collection of one of the leading lights of Chicago blues. The collection spans 25 years, beginning with rare early recordings with pianist Sunnyland Slim and moving through Waters's peak '50s period, which offered the legendary support of Jimmy Rogers, Little Walter, and Otis Spann. Luminaries including Pat Hare, James Cotton, Earl Hooker, Buddy Guy, and Pinetop Perkins all make valuable contributions to his '60s work. Along with his original hits and his noteworthy Willie Dixon interpretations, Chess wisely includes his lesser-known covers of Big Bill Broonzy, Howlin' Wolf, Guitar Slim, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, and Sonny Boy Williamson. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (16)

The best from the best
This is the only box set that I can think of that could be essential. All of these historic recording, represents one of the greatest achivements of popular music in the 20th century. Muddy Waters changed music forever. The first half of disc one alraedy delivers some of best performance ever, like 'feel like going home'and 'cant be satisfied', Muddy's first big sellers that turned him into a star. He was still playing very much in the Delta style, although by that time he was cooking in juke joints with one of the best blues band ever. The recordings included in the second half of disc one and practically all disc two are simply in a league of its own, comparably only perhaps to Elvis sun sessions and Loui Armstrong hot five and sevens in terms of perfection and influence in music. Disc three proves that the man could not make a bad record, and includes a live track from Live at Newport, your next essential purchase.
The box includes a booklet with details of every session, and essays on Muddy the man and the musician. This is as good as blues music can get.

If You Only Had One Blues Album.....Yep, This Is It!
A comprehensive collection from the best bluesman ever. Sure, others have done significant recordings, established new sounds, forged creative sounds, but no one has been *the man* for decades, like Muddy has. Regardless of whether it is these priceless early recordings where the genius was just starting to come through or whether it is any of the numerous eras Muddy went through, they are all well represented on this set.

The supporting book is one of the best I've seen ever. It is comprehensive, has new and unusal photos, and gives a good history of Waters' recordings.

The one belongs in the "if I was on a desert island and take only one CD, which one would it be" category.

The most complete overview of Muddy Waters' Chess sides
More casual fans will probably be better served by MCA/Chess's much cheaper (but very good) two-disc compilation "The Anthology: 1947-1972". But if you're looking for the best and currently most thorough available overview of Muddy's recordings for Aristocrat and Chess, this is it.
It is not the final word on Muddy Waters - his excellent latter-day recordings with Johnny Winter as producer aren't here, and you'll need some of his live stuff as well - but these 72 tracks do include the vast majority of his best songs from 1947 and twenty-five years on.

Disc one spans 1947-1954, and most of the 24 tracks feature just Muddy Waters on slide guitar and bassist Ernest "Big" Crawford backing him, although the great Sunnyland Slim rolls the ivories on a few songs, like the delightful 1947 single "Gypsy Woman".
Muddy's arsenal of slide guitar riffs may seem limited, but his playing on the 1948 hit "I Can't Be Satisfied" and the mellow "Train Fare Home" is really great, demonstrating what a fine guitarist he actually was.

Percussion doesn't show up until two-thirds of the way through the disc, when the "classic" Muddy Waters band begins to take shape: Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on second guitar, drummer Elgin Evans, and Otis Spann playing the piano.
Along with the songs already mentioned, the lean, mean "I Feel Like Going Home" and "Rollin' And Tumblin'" are among the highlights on disc 1, which ends with the tough, swinging "Blow Wind Blow" and the classic "Hoochie Coochie Man". Big Walter Horton plays superb harmonica on "Blow Wind Blow".

Disc 2 includes the majority of Muddy's classic 50s singles, from "I'm Ready" and the thumping "I Just Want To Make Love To You" to "Got My Mojo Working", the Bo Diddley-ripoff "Mannish Boy", and the superbly swinging "I Love The Life I Live, I Live The Life I Love". Harpist James Cotton appears for the first time on "I Love The Life I Live", blowing a truly inspired harmonica riff.

There are several lesser-known songs here as well, including previously unreleased takes and singles which make their LP/CD debut on this album. Most of them are good, although not quite great, with the exception of a very fine rendition of Jimmy Oden's "Take The Bitter With The Sweet".

Disc 3 covers 1960-1972, and includes a few live recordings, as well as two alternates from the sublime "Fathers And Sons" sessions. Opening with the great live "I Feel So Good" from the Newport album, it is highlighted by Muddy's version of Eddie Boyd's "Twenty-Four Hours", the definitive renditions of his mid-60s hit singles "The Same Thing" and "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had", and a hornless version of "Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man When I'm Gone", one of the few good cuts from the otherwise forgettable "London Sessions" album.

There is nothing here from the misguided and completely superflous "Electric Mud", or from Muddy's last Chess-effort, "The Woodstock Album", but that detracts nothing from the greatness of this compilation, the finest overview of Muddy Waters' Chess sides available.

Great place to start.............
For those of you who like the old blues,then I suggest that you get this one.It may not have everything he ever did and there may not be very many rare tracks,but why quibble? Great playing,soulful singing and memorable melodies......Listen to this legendary bluesman who inspired The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton,among others....BUY IT!!!

In short: all you need
Okay, that's it, that way my review right there in the title.
These three CDs have every important studio recording that Muddy Waters made for Chess - all you need besides this is "Live at Newport", and you're set. Well, that, and maybe the acoustic "Folk Singer" album.
Having said that, this is an expensive set, and in spite of some extra tracks (most of which aren't absolutely necessary), it may be too expensive.
The double-disc "The Anthology: 1947-1972" costs almost twenty bucks less, and serves its purpose almost as well. And you can use the money you save to buy Waters' three Blue Sky-albums :o) ... Read more

Amazon.com

Trying to boil down a prolific 40-year career into 18 songs is an impossible task, but that doesn't stop Rhino from taking a shot. To its credit, this single-CD compilation reaches across many labels, highlighting Guy's explosive work for Chess and Vanguard in the 1960s, Atlantic in the 1970s, and diverse labels in the 1980s. On the other hand, his Chess and Vanguard work deserve significantly more attention than they're given here. In addition, Guy's rejuvenated 1990s work for Silvertone is completely ignored. The result is a rather cursory overview of Guy's career, despite the high quality of what is present. The benefit of this approach, however, is that it displays Guy's versatility: The Guy of feverish guitar pyrotechnics, wailing vocals, and rocker intensity lives alongside a smoother, more soulful and melodic Guy.--Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (8)

The all around best intro cd to Buddy Guy!
There are too many great blues artists out there to spend a fortune on every artists complte recordings would cost tens of thousands of dollars, so getting comprehensive samplers of the artists earliest recordings in the best way to go. This cd have mostly the 50's & 60's sessions, his early stuff, and a bit towards the end of the cd his later works, but just a small sampling, the majority of the cd is his best work for Chess and other jump blues labels. This cd is exellent and is the difinitive sampler(though one should not overlook his duo albums with junior Wells), this cd will do a fine job of summing up Guy in his early prime and middle years. Guy has an incredibly piercing voice, similsr in texture and feeling as BB King, though less of a baritone, and his guitar solos, are creative, and even jazz and improvisation occur every so often. This cd is full of energetic performances, from shuffling jump blues to slow blues drags, it's all great stuff. Essential for any blues collection, to be complete.

Like sands thru the hourglass, so are the days of our lives
This is the life, a great cd of blues, lot's of love, peace and yeah man, his guitar is sweet soundin' with some jazz licks. As the world turns baby...

****1/2
This is a very credible attempt to summarize Buddy Guy's entire (pre-Silvertone) career on a single disc.
"The Very Best Of Buddy Guy" encompasses Guy's 1957 demo "The Way You Been Treating Me," a couple of Cobra sides, four of his hottest Chess sides, a few recordings for Vanguard and Atlantic, and three from Buddy Guy's days with the British JSP label.

Four Chess sides isn't really enough, but the compilers have done a fine job considering they only had 80 minutes of disc space to work with (the CD clocks in at approximately 75 minutes), and many songs, such as "First Time I Met The Blues", "Sit and Cry (The Blues)", and "My Time After Awhile", do rank among Guy's very best songs, showcasing his powerful, intense vocals and smouldering guitar playing.
A very good introduction to the reigning king of Chicago blues.

a must have
Buddy Guy is one of the baddest ever.he lays something on those strings.this set is a great introduction to this Genius.he really is something else Live.hearing his Rawness here is a must for any Lover of Guitar based music.what a Great Musician!check this out.

This is where it all started folks!
A wonderful collection from possibly one of the best guitarists there has ever been. Alot of older stuff, so the quality on CD is a bit less than sharp. But, that is what it was back then! A must have. This man should be on the finger tips of every blues guitarist... ... Read more

Amazon.com

Why settle for one great female vocalist when you can get three, especially when they're stylish soul diva Irma Thomas, Tracy "Mother Earth" Nelson, and swamp rocker (and roller) Marcia Ball. The talented trio take the Sing It! title seriously, belting all hues of blues with satisfying sass and sincerity. Backed by a fine and funky band of Memphis-soul stalwarts and New Orleans session stars, the ladies shine both individually and as a team. Thomas, the longtime "Soul Queen of New Orleans," struts her stuff on the Bobby "Blue" Bland classic "Yield Not to Temptation," while Ball puts some patented bayou boogie, powered by her slinky piano lines, into her spotlight songs. Nelson repeatedly stops the show with her enormous, wraparound voice, transforming tunes like "In Tears" from simple country-flavored ballads into cathartic emotional experiences. But it's the combined voices that makes the session so special, and the title track, a soulfully scintillating second-line anthem, is the most enjoyable example of the vocal virtuosity of these women. It's a quintessential New Orleans celebration of singing, well worth the purchase price by itself, and it, like the entire album, also serves as an excellent sampler of the multiple talents of the superb song stylists involved. --Michael Point ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Lovely songs, don't miss them!
This was the first CD that I can hear these three great musicians. However, I love it so much and go to bed with this CD almost everyday. Whenever I hear this CD, I always find a passion. If you are a person who hides the passion of love deep in your heart, Dont miss it!

this cd will give you goos bumps
Anything with Tracy Nelson on it is bound to be great and this collaboration with two other wonderful singers is as good as it gets. The funky Memphis sounds are a perfect vehicle for these three strong female voices and to hear Tracy and Marcia Ball wail with Irma Thomas, one of their mentors, is a treat. This CD should be a best seller. All the love and pain these women have shared comes through on every note. check it out. they deserve to be heard.

Good Music, good singing
It's not often you listen to a cd and it's all good. This is a very good collection of songs, sung by three very good singers. I would recomend this cd to a Martian that just landed on earth and wanted to know what "SOUL" music and good singing was. Get this one, you'll be glad you did, it's the best.

These gals are the stuff.
I actually heard these ladies first on Austin City Limits and decided that I needed the CD. Friends take one listen to this CD and fall in love with it just as I did. They like it so much that I am eager to let them take it home. I have bought FOUR copies and sent TWO as gifts. And I don't even have a copy for my own right now. My female friends have shared with me that this CD is highly suitable for listening while taking a candle-lite bath to soak away those "man-trouble" blues and also while trying to shake the road-rage syndrome on the ride home from work (of which I agree). BUY IT. And share it with a friend.

Tracy and Irma great combo.
This was the first I have ever heard of any of these ladies. Tracy and Irma stand out and You don't know nothin'about love, is the most powerful piece on the cd. Tracy is heard all over this cd with power force and beauty. I enjoy her thoroughly and will look for some of her solo stuff in the future. She crosses between gospel and blues with authority and passion. The highlight of this cd is the last song You don't know nothin' about love Great song ... Read more

Album Description

Take two critically acclaimed bluesmen, team them up in a recording studio, hit the ‘Record’ button, and listen as the magic begins to flow. Case in point: Kenny Neal and Billy Branch’s new Alligator album, DOUBLE TAKE. Kenny Neal is a critically acclaimed triple-threat bluesman, whose guitar and harmonica prowess are matched note for note by his soulful singing and passionate performances. Billy Branch is among the best blues harmonica players in the world. He is a gruff and potent vocalist, a groundbreaking solo artist, a valued session player and leader of the venerable Sons Of Blues. Neal and Branch got together in a studio in France in 1998 and recorded a magnificent acoustic album (released only in Europe), paying tribute to past musicians and laying the path for a bright and uncompromising future for the blues. Now that album—DOUBLE TAKE—is finally seeing the light of day in the United States. From St. Louis Jimmy’s Goin’ Down Slow to the Little Walter gems My Babe (written by Willie Dixon) and I Just Keep Loving Her to Sonny Boy Williamson’s Don’t Start Me Talking to the originals Billy and Kenny’s Stomp and Northern Man Blues, the two trade vocals in a relaxed and warm meeting of styles, riffs, whoops and hollers. Blending deep blues tradition with a contemporary, pulsating edge, Neal and Branch deliver a foot-stomping and spirited look into the blues through the eyes of two remarkable musicians who will continue to be at the forefront of the blues world for many years to come. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great blues
This is a fantastic piece of work, I am a blues musician and I know good blues. If you buy this disc you will not be sorry. These two go together like butter and toast. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

One of B.B. King's first pop-inclined efforts, this CD features the support of rock- and blues-raised session players. King's progeny, in a sense. Keyboardist Al Kooper is the most notable, but it's guitarist Hugh McCracken who engages the master in a six-string duel on the jam "Cryin' Won't Help You Now/You're Mean." The album also contains King's breakthrough hit "The Thrill Is Gone." King didn't particularly enjoy the tune when he recorded it. But when he returned to the studio the next day to hear the strings that were added to sweeten its chorus in his absence, he was as taken by the transcendent, majestic sweep they lent his performance as the rest of the world was soon to be. Indeed, his visceral vocal and stinging guitar leads define the bittersweet aftertaste of lost love. While the sheen of the hit's production stands out among this album's cuts, the unvarnished emotion of its lyrics is what the blues is all about. --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Didn't work for me...
I'm a fan of B.B. King's work and have plenty of his albums. This one simply did not measure up for me. I give it three stars mostly because I am a fan. I would suggest instead getting either Live at the Regal or Live at Cook County Jail. There was a CD available with both on it but I think it may be out of print.

Completely well
this is BB King's first Blues cut's from the mid 50'ies
before this he was doing gospel to me it is more Funk and R&B lot's of Phat horns and the big Hammond in the back ground then Blues..but it will make your feet happy and he sings lot's on this something he does not do much of anymore.A must have if you dig BB king

BB's greatest
This is still my favorite BB record, one that always improves my day. It should be combined with "Live and Well" to get more of the BB-Jerry Jemmott combination. Jerry's bass pushes BB and the band to even greater heights than usual. CD burners: combine the "Well" section with the "Completely well" set for complete bliss. It's nearly always in my car's CD to combat road rage.

B.B. KING: Professor Of The Blues!
Ain't it the truth? "The Bluesmeister" B.B. King never misses a step on "Completely Well". In fact, "The King Of The Blues" is just smokin' with his "gal" Lucille the entire way, from the very first note of "So Excited" to the final fade out of "The Thrill Is Gone", which is B.B.'s first and only Top 40 hit single here in the U.S.. With each and every song on "CW" a true winner, you'll want to hit the ol' continuation button on your stereo to derive maximum musical pleasure from this one. As your doctor will tell you, he'll/she'll suggest that you listen to "Completely Well" (or any of B.B. King's masterworks) twice daily, and will ask you to call him/her in the morning! Yes, folks, "CW" is a sure fire cure for the blues, or for whatever else ails you. Heck, you don't even have to be sick to reap the benefits of great listening pleasure from "Completely Well". This is one CD you definitely need to have in your collection. With this remastered edition, complete with artwork and liner notes, you can't lose. Don't let this one pass you by!

An Essential Blues Album
I bought this album in '69 when I was fourteen and have been loving it ever since...nice to have the remastered CD. B.B. King breaks out of the blues into the realm of soul on this collection (recorded over two days). The backup band is excellent, although, never mind the Amazon.com review, Al Kooper doesn't play on it (Paul Harris handles keyboards). The most amazing thing going on here is the interplay between King and the legendary bassist Gerald "Fingers" Jemmott, who played on some of Aretha's best Atlantic sides. King authors or co-authors most of the titles and they are all solid songs. He's never sang better and Lucille wails. Besides, every record collection must include "The Thrill Is Gone," one of the greatest soul/blues cuts ever. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Hubert Sumlin
Hubert was one the great electric lead players, an influence on all after him, but somewhere along the line he started BS'ing, and never found the need to -really- PLAY again, as the audience doesn't seem to notice the difference. Too bad for all of us. Blues fans: It's ok to love someone and still be critical; it'll improve the music.

Essential
If you buy one record combing the talents of the vastly neglected Sunnyland Slim, the prodigous Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf's back-up man, Hubert Sumlin, this would be it. Stripped down blues with a feeling. More real soul than a crate of SRV CDs. Dah real thing.

Sumlin's amazing talking blues...
Sumlin's amazing talking blues. Sunnyland's valuable blue piano. Great CD. Buy it!!

Legend of blues...
This is a historical recording in a blues festival. Artists named in this CD are not only the blues masters but also the artists who did not release many records as a primary artist. Great blues after great blues. Awesome CD.

Masterful Blues From Some Blues Masters
This LP was cut in East Germany while the gang was over in Europe for the American Folk Blues Festival in 1964. The musician names on this CD ought to give you a clue as to how great it is. This is some awesome blues. Check out the amazing power on the Sumlin cuts "I Love" and "Hubert's Blues"...unbelievable stuff. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fine, but not as good as their first
This is a reprise of the wonderfully successful first album these two did together. It is worth having not only for their obvious enjoyment working together, but for the terrific job in "Let The Good Times Roll".

Otherwise, this is not as good as the first effort, which I thought had much more wide range of songs. Make that your first purchase of these two.

A party!
BB and Bobby throw a great party here, beginning with Let the Good Times Roll. The beauty of this record, as with "BB and Bobby -- Together for the First Time Live" is the spontaneity of the live recording. Bobby tries to persuade BB to play some requests, a fan gets up on stage -- the fun of this record could never happen in the studio.

A very good value
I enjoyed all but two of the tracks on the original cassette I bought some time ago. An excellent version of both "Let the good times roll" and "The thrill is gone". ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Superb!
Originally issued by Atlantic Records in 1959, "T-Bone Blues" compiled 11 singles recorded between 1955 and 1957, and the 1994 CD reissue added four bonus tracks (including "Why Not", which Jimmy Rogers would later record as "Walkin' By Myself" and credit to himself, and a soulful rendition of Leroy Carr's "How Long Blues").

Many of these sides are re-recordings of Aaron "T-Bone" Walker's classic 40s sides, like "T-Bone Shuffle", "They Call It Stormy Monday", and "Mean Old World", and while any self-respecting blues collection should include Walker's original Capitol and Black & White singles (Rhino's "Blues Masters - The Very Best Of T-Bone Walker" is a great collection of those early sides), "T-Bone Blues" is perhaps the most satisfying album Walker ever made.

The sound is simply magnificent for mid-50s waxings, wonderfully clear and crisp and realistic, and T-Bone Walker is backed by men like Junior Wells, Jimmy Rogers, Ransom Knowling, legendary arranger/pianist Lloyd Glenn, and saxists John "Plas" Johnson, Jr., Edward Chamblee, Mack Easton, and Earl Hines-cohort Andrew "Goon" Gardner.
And T-Bone's own playing and singing is superb as well...just listen to his inspired soloing on "Blues For Marili", "Mean Old World", the classic "T-Bone Blues", and this the definitive rendition of "Papa Ain't Salty". It's a delight to hear him playing with Little Walter Jacobs on the 1955 recordings, which include a swinging "Play On, Little Girl" and the fine bonus cut "T-Bone Blues Special", and Walker's re-recording of "They Call It Stormy Monday" captures the essence of the magnificent original version from 1947, this time with stellar fidelity.

There are a number of amazing instrumentals here, too...T-Bone Walker duels with his nephew R.S. Rankin and highly esteemed jazz guitarist Barney Kessel on the up-tempo scorcher "Two Bones And A Pick", and comes off victorious. He may have been best known for his slow, after-hours blues laments, but T-Bone could cut it with the best of them no matter if the tempo was set at 50 or 150.
The highlights on this disc are too many to mention...among the best of the lesser-known songs are the up-tempo "You Don't Know What You're Doing", sung by Rankin, and the jouyous instrumental "Shufflin' The Blues", but literally everything is worth a listen.
An essential addition to any collection of electric blues.

NOT A FROZEN STEAK
One of the pioneers of the electric guitar,T-BONE WALKER was a prime inspiration for CHUCK BERRY and many others blues and rock stars.MEAN OLD WORLD,T-BONE BLUES,CALL IT STORMY MONDAY and BLUES FOR MARILI remain essential stuff.It is impossible not to think of CHUCK BERRY when you listen to this guy;the guitar technique is virtually the same, but CHUCK is a better lyric writer.SHUFFLIN'THE BLUES is the closest T-BONE song ever came of rock.The quiet man from TEXAS has certainly deserved his place among the true practician of the blues.The sound quality here is good because these are 1955-56-57 recordings and not the original IMPERIAL that are also available.

Largely Unsung Major Influence
Most of today's blues guitarists cite B.B. King as a major influence, but if they really thought about it a little more they'd realize that they owe as much, if not more, to Aaron Thibeaux [hence the nickname T-Bone] Walker. Borm May 28, 1910 in Linden, Texas, and after performing in medicine shows throughout the state in the Twenties and Thirties, he latched onto the electric guitar with gusto after first hearing Les Paul and his monumental invention.

Following a stint in California with the Les Hite orchestra his first success on disc came in 1943 with Freddie Slack & His Orchestra when Riffette charted at # 3 on what passed then for the R&B charts, and # 18 on the pop charts. He then secured a contract with Black & White where, in 1947/48 he had five selections make the charts. One of those was the classic Call It Stormy Monday [But Tuesday Is Just As Bad], and in this collection you hear a 1956 re-make done with Lloyd Glenn on piano, Billy Hadnott on bass, and Oscar Bradley on drums.

In 1948/49 he had three more charted singles for the Comet label, including T-Bone Shuffle. That is also re-done in this set - this time from 1955 with Goon Gardner on alto sax, Eddie Chamblee, tenor sax, Mack Easton, baritone sax, John Young, piano, Ransom Knowling, bass and LeRoy Jackson on drums.

This album clearly reflects Walker's never-ending experiments with the electric guitar in small groups, and his pleasant, definitely bluesy voice frolics through the selections, most of which he wrote, except for You Don't Know What You're Doing where the vocal is handled by R.S. Rankin.

Four pages of informative liner notes by Ralph J. Gleason top up an excellent buy. You won't be disappointed.

guitar playing never sounded so sweet!
one of my favorite blues cd's. the recording quality is superb for a late 50's album. i like his voice, which has a lot of depth and range. however, the main attraction here is his exquisite guitar playing. no wonder he was such an influence on blues guitarists b.b.king, otis rush, buddy guy, and countless others.

Excellant!!!
This is one of the best blues's CD's I have. The music and vocals are so smooth... I can't seem to stop listening to it. You can't go wrong with this one - check it out! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Millennium Blues Party brings the party to life
Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a new blues lover, this CD brings your listening pleasure to new peaks. This collection of nearly 80 minutes of blues tunes effectively brings together some of today's stars (Clapton, Cray) with past blues legends (Waters, Hooker).

If you're looking for some mood background music or some tunes to be a hit of the party...you need not look any further because Millennium Blues Party is your answer. Fact is...I'm not sure you can find a better mix of blues artists elsewhere!

MILLENNIUM BLUES
A GOOD VARIETY OF SOME OF THE BEST BLUES ON 1 CD DON'T PASS THIS ONE UP IT'S JUST AWSOME!! HI MOM.

The Best Of The Rhino Millennium Series
This series of CDs is not as bad as it sounds. This particular CD makes a fine introduction to the blues and is probably the finest of the group. It contains cuts from the best blues artists such as Muddy Waters, BB, and Albert King and also mixes in more recent artists such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Stevie Ray, and George Thorogood. As they said in the Blues Brothers, I suggest that you buy as many blues records as you can. This CD will certainly whet your appetite for more blues. ... Read more