Reviews (1)

Early female barrelhouse music
This is a collection of barrelhouse blues, rags and stomps from the 20's and 30's performed by women with often accompanied by male performers. You will find few familar names. Some, for example Mary Johnson, left blues for gospel; others are pseudonyms as is Dorthy Baker a.k.a. Doretha Trowbridge. The notes attempts to identify the individuals on the recordings gives an insight into the recording business that produced these recordings.

I wish that the notes provided the lyrics. "Satan Is Busy in Knoxville" for example lists unsolved crimes in Knoxville - lyrics I know no source for.

While all tracks are worth hearing (and rehearing), I find Lucille's Bogan's "Sloppy Drunk Blues" to be the most memorable cut with its low-key haunting accompaniment by Will Ezell. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

They're all here
The reviewer who said that SRV was not on this set obviously did not read the liner notes, which indicate that SRV played on the Lonnie Mack tracks from the Strikes Like Lightening sessions. The other artists the reviewer stated that were not there ARE, but are not the featured artist on the tracks.

I bought this set, and the 25th, when they came out and was really wowed by what I heard. Houndog Taylor is my favorite, followed closely by Koko Taylor and Albert "Master of the Telecaster" Collins. There is some really fine musicianship, great feel, and real respect for the blues displayed on this set.
Higly recommended.

Some good old blues
Amazon keeps inter-mixing the reviews for the 'Alligator Records 20th Anniversary Collection' album and the similarly named 'Alligator Records 20th Anniversary tour' album. So I will include a review of both here to set the record straight.

The 'Collection' album is by far superior to the 'tour' album. The collection has many artists on show and offers a bit of everything. The best tracks are AC Reed's 'These blues are killing me' with SRV brilliant on guitar, Little Charlie and the Nightcats with 'Rain', Roy Buchanan's classic 'Drowning on dry land', Koko Taylor with 'That's why i'm crying', Katie Webster with 'Pussycat Moan', Son Seal with 'Going back home' and Hound Dog Taylor and the classic 'Give me back my wig'. The album is uneven as you would expect for a label show case but well worth it as a introduction to a variety of blues styles and artists.

The 1993 20th aniversary tour album has only Li' Ed, (the late) Kattie Wester, Elvin Bishop, Lonnie Brooks and Koko Taylor. The album does typify Alligator records music that by my definition is mostly reasonable blues without being great. This live album has plenty of energy and is listenable, but fails to scale the heights I expect of the blues.

I discovered most of my favorite blues artists from this CD
Alligator records has some serious talent on it's label. Many of them are big names that you will recognize if you have been into blues for very long. I have tried samplers from other blues record labels and have been very disappointed with the mediocre talent on their label. Usually there are only one or two people -out of fourteen or fifteen - that stand out on other blues samplers. You will recognize that the vast majority of artists on Alligator Records are true talents - even if you don't like their style. This album is definitely worth the investment.

good,better,best
Alligator has compiled a very good collection of its artists on this CD. It has Iceman , SRV , KOKo , Son Seals, Johnny Winter and many other of the best of the blues. If you buy it, find some storage for the rest of your collection, because you won't remember who they are. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A treasure!
Anyone who enjoyed The Anthology of American Folk Music will love these Yazoo reissues. The nearly lost art of musical storytelling is preserved here in all its beautifully twisted glory. The entire set should be required listening in music classes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Thoroughly Entertaining
"Times, Vol 1" is the first of four CDs featuring blues, mountain music, sanctified singing, ballads, dances, and so on. Partisans of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music will also enjoy these Yazoo collections. The various styles are not "segregated," nor are the performers, and the program has a kaleidoscopic effect, playing up both similarities and differences among the numbers. The mood overall is upbeat but not jubilant.

My favorite track on Vol. 1, and one that should be more well-known and popular, is "Rabbit" Brown's definitive "Sinking of the Titanic." I can't find one "bad track on the CD - even when the music isn't especially engaging or distinctive, it still retains an ambience of age and distance, if that makes any sense. Consequently the CD admirably creates a mood and an illusion too, that the listener can peaceably coexist with widely divergent peoples simply by sharing their enjoyment in song and rhythm.

The CD mastering is excellent, for the most part, and only a couple tracks on Vol. 1 (specially noted: Ken Maynard's "Fannie Moore") are hampered by the excessive noise common to old 78s from private collections.

Vol 3 of this series sustains the high quality of this first volume, and doubtless all four volumes are worth owning. I know I enjoy these CDs as much as, or more than, any other collections of "folk music." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good compilation
This album is a compilation of the Alligator records artists in the 80s and offers many highlights. The style varies greatly from the blues/rock of the Kinsey report, to the country blues of Alvin Bishop, to the jazz of Charles Brown. The album is the best of the 'HouseRockin' series and offers a link to the various artists of the Alligator label at that stage. The many highlights include Lonnie Mack, Delbert McClinton, Kenny Neal, Tinsley Ellis, Lucky Peterson and William Clarke. ... Read more

Album Description

A collection of the best blues recordings featuring harmonica from the almost fifty year old label Delmark Records.Includes a previously unissued Junior Wells track from the "Hoodoo Man Blues" session with Buddy Guy.Other unreleased tracks include a Carey Bell instrumental and a marvelous performance from country blues artist Hammie Nixon with Sleepy John Estes. Also Little Walter, Big Walter Horton, Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Branch, Kim Wilson, and much more. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Essential Chicago Harmonica Blues
This is a great disc. If you want to learn about the range of harmonica blues styles, with a heavy emphasis on the sweet sounds of Chicago, this is a great place to start. Also, for long time fans of this music, there are several previously-unreleased gems from Jr. Wells, Carey Bell, and others. A must-have... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of those things that....
if people gave it half a chance, they'd thoroughly enjoy it. The voices and music are raw, soulful....defiant almost. Tunes about tough times, especially for a woman, sung by obviously tough ladies. Likewise, tough, raw, emotional voices. Some of these tunes are incandescent with intensity: St. Louis Bessie's "Meat Cutter Blues" is as confident in its dreams of illicit sex and Lucille Bogan's "Sloppy Drunk Blues" is sad in its loneliness and alcoholism.

Give these tunes whatever spin you like....but the basic notion is that these tunes will touch something in you....and you'll tap your foot at the same time.

Marvelous
Yazoo continues it's line of priceless collections made from nearly extinct 78's with this stunning set of sensual, deep soul sides. The sound quality has been masterfully restored - no easy feat considering the rarity and age of these finds. The intimacy of these piano masseurs - Pinetop Sparks, Roosevelt Sykes, and Cow Cow Davenport - and their women gives me goosebumps sometimes, sometimes it just makes me sigh. Sexy, warm, unbelievably artful - this music will make you wonder what the hell happened to music and why it hasn't been THIS good in fifty years. Great late night listening, makes drinking alone a very desirable thing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Brief, but very good
This half-hour of music was originally issued by Chess Records in 1967 as part of their budget-priced LP series "The Blues", collecting then-current singles by Chess artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson (II).

Volume 3 is one of the best in the series. There is not a whole lot here for long-time blues collectors, sure, but this is nevertheless a great CD for a half-hour drive, and newcomers will find it to be a good introduction to classic Chicago blues.

It features two singles by John Lee Hooker (a gritty, band-backed "It's My Own Fault") and Elmore James (the slow grind of "The Sun Is Shining"), two artists who aren't usually associated with Chess, but they did record a few sides each for Chicago's premier blues label. And Muddy Waters is here as well, of course, repesented by an early "Rollin' Stone" and a later band-backed rendition of Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go". Howlin' Wolf's awesome "I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" is another highlight.

There are also some relatively unfamiliar songs here, like Washboard Sam's up-tempo "Diggin' My Potatoes" (Sam, born Robert Brown, was the illegitimate son of Frank Broonzy, the father of Big Bill Broonzy), Jimmy Witherspoon's ballad (!) "Time Brings About A Change", and Little Milton Campbell's swinging soul-flavoured "Lonely No More".
Sonny Boy Williamson's "Fattening Frogs For Snakes" is perhaps the best song on the album, and one of the finest in Rice Miller's catalogue. And the album winds down with Jimmy Rogers' thoughtful "The World's In A Tangle".

All in all, this is a fine (albeit too brief) example of what the Chess vaults had to offer. A great listen. ... Read more

Album Description

Everyone who loves the blues knows Beale Street and the legacy of Memphis, where African-American musicians wove the sorrows of sharecroppers and day laborers into one of the world's great art forms.In the early part of the 1900's, few of the inhabitants were Memphians by birth; they came from the Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and the country areas of Tennessee, bringing the music of their homelands with them.Usually the compositions of W.C.Handy are regarded as the true music of Memphis music scene, but many kinds of music have been played in the city, most of them rougher and tougher than Handy's. Country blues, jazz, sweet music, the jug bands that played a little bit of everything-each form had its adherents.The musicians worked on the streets, in Handy Park, in Beale Street joints, and at picnics and house-parties given by the wealthy. This recording is a sample of the many musical styles that were evolving in the Memphis area.Most of the titles chosen here include the name of, or are inspired by, the town that is one of America's most enduring musical crossroads. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

King Snake releases another 'cool compilation!'
Florida's King Snake Records is renowned for its eclectic stable of uniquely stylish blues musicians like Sonny Rhodes, Bill Wharton, Ernie Lancaster, Dr. Hector and the Groove Injectors and many more. The qualityand scope of these lesser-known but fine artists attract major guitaristseager to perform or record with them. King Snake's aptly named newcompilation 'Hurricane' showcases the hottest of these musical mergers.Discover Floyd Miles with the Allmans' Dickey Betts, James and LuckyPeterson, Chicago Bob Nelson with Tinsley Ellis, Smokehouse with KennyNeal, or Alex Taylor with young slide sensation Derek Trucks. Excellentstuff, and with 19 tracks, there's lots of music for your money.

very nice
this cd is packed with some of the best guitar blues around. a perfect cd to get any party strarted.give this one a shot.....iam glad i did. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of the best blues CD's I've ever owned! Essential!
This is a wonderful blues CD. One of the best I've ever purchashed. It includes great performances by legendary blues figures such as Tommie Johnson, Willie Brown, Ishmon Bracey, Son House, Kid Bailey, Bukka White and others. This is the true Mississippi Delta Blues from the late 20's and 30's. The guitar work is mesmorizing and is a blueprint for rock and roll. There are 5 Tommie Johnson cuts, recorded for Victor, that are superb. He was as good as Robert Johnson, in my opinion. Yazoo captures these classic recordings with all that old Mississippi dirt with some scratchiness, yet the sound is vibrant and alive. Willie Brown's "Future Blues" and Tommie Johnson's "Canned Heat Blues" are worth the price of admission alone. Essential!

Furious Bottleneck Growl
The Yazoo label does it again!

This CD is essential for rare inclusion of all six demonic Son House performances originally cut on acetate in 1930. It was these recordings that inspired Alan Lomax to look up House in the early 40's for the Library of Congress Archives.

It is worth mentioning that do to Paramount's inferior treatment of the source material, there is considerable auxilliary noise on those six sides. But Son's guitar and voice still threaten to impale you like a hot skewer.

Son House would have been a preacher, but for the fact that he shot a man dead and was banished from Clarksdale for the rest of his life.

This was the belle epoque of Delta Blues, a time when the legendary rivalry between House and Charlie Patton was at a peak, and when another legend, Robert Johnson, would pick up a couple licks from Son House himself. The way of life that existed in the Delta back then is gone forever, and for all of that progress and new found civility, we shall never be fortunate enough to hear anything like this ever again.

For anyone hoping to hear a mellow country rover picking away on his front porch, Son House will send you to intensive care. This is truly "where the soul of man never dies." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Blues Primer
Wanna learn what the blues is all about? Grab this collection of music from the 60s and early 70s. I bought this tape and a harmonica in 1987 and taught myself to play on Muddy Water's 19 years Old.

Great Music, loads of fun and a great taste of country, jump, delta, chicago and electric blues.

buy buy buy ... Read more