Reviews (42)

He's Got The Blues
Kenny Wayne Shepherd came on the blues scence with his first debut album Ledbetter Heights proving us all he's the next best young blues guitarist. Ledbetter Heights is filled with blues on songs like Deja Voodoo, and Shame, Shame, Shame. Their is also some slide guitar on Aberdeen. He does Stevie Ray Vaughan's cover on here also titled Im Leaving You (Commit A Crime). Ledbetter Heights is better than Trouble Is...the guitar playing is better I personally think. Kenny Wayne also does a slow song live titled While We Cry its alot like Lenny or Little Wing still has power. Ledbetter Heights is one of the best blues albums for any guitarist Highly Recomened!

Great debut album
Ledbetter Heights is a very strong debut album from Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Shepherd's guitar style is very reminiscent of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan. Most of the material here is very strong. The opening tracks "Born With A Broken Heart" and "Deja Voodoo" received extensive airplay on AOR radio and are both excellent tracks featuring Shepherd's outstanding playing. Other strong tracks include the slow blues of "Shame, Shame, Shame", the soulful "Riverside", and the driving "Aberdeen". His version of Howlin' Wolf's "I'm Leaving You (Commit A Crime) is also an excellent track. However, the best example of Shepherd's playing may be on the slow live track "While We Cry" and the killer ending title track which sounds like it would fit in nicely on Vaughan's Texas Flood album. Other tracks such as "Everybody Gets The Blues" and "What's Goin' Down" are decent, but not as strong as the rest of the album. A great debut, highly recommended to fans of blues guitarists such as SRV as well as the new breed of blues players like Jonny Lang.

eh... not great
I didn't care too much for this album, i'd rather listen to SRV than KWS... his playing definitely shows his SRV influence... but when it comes to the blues you'd be better off checking out Rory Gallagher, Kim Simmonds + Savoy Brown, Buddy Guy's Stone Crazy album... there are much better blues albums out there with better playing and vocalists... so i wouldn't start here.
and hey logan... this cd was, i believe, released in '95... and Yellow Ledbetter, by Pearl Jam was written in either '91 or '92, which means Pearl Jam didn't rip off KWS...

ROCK ON KENNY
adam pate ur a freaking idiot pearl jam ripped off kenny wayne man look and the dates smart one this album is great recomended for guitar players

decent
just my opinion, but i think his next effort "trouble is.." is a better cd. nevertheless it is a good cd. my fav tune is the first one "born with a broken heart" in all of the songs you can hear srv's influence which isnt a bad bluesman to emulate. kws is a talented bluesman himself which is why i own all of his cd's. ledbetter heights is decent im not sorry i bought it ... Read more

Amazon.com

Originally released on Impulse in 1966, It Serves You Right to Suffer may not contain John Lee Hooker's better-known material, but it does serve up eight tracks of topnotch blues, complete with the boogie groove that Hooker does so well. The digital remastering for this CD is a blessing; the recording sounds almost as clean as one made today. That prevents the listener from being distracted from this album's many delights: the uptempo, low-key "Shake It Baby"; the relaxed but rhythmically tight "Country Boy"; the danceable "Bottle Up & Go"; and the slow, sexy shuffle of "Sugar Mama." Especially worth hearing, however, is the title track, which strikes a perfect tension between musicality and mood. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Best studio Hooker album
This cd is usually found in the cut out bins where it does not belong, this cd smokes anything he has done in the last ten years with all of the multi contributing artist to his 90's work. This cd recorded in 1965 is better than anything Clapton,Page or Stevie Ray ever dreamed of. If you want to find any blues close to this caliber, you are going to have go and buy T Bone Walker's Stormy Monday (live) from 1971 with Paul Pena on guitar or som John Hammond. The only other artist that is alive and writes such brooding blues inflected tunes is Tom Waits.

One of the best blues records you will ever hear- I think
John is great by himself or with a band. This is the perfect example of him with a band. Some of the greatest backing musicians who in no way intrude but only compliment Hooker's style of either driving rythms or slow dinning hypnotizing slow blues. Hooker does only 8 songs at about 32 minutes but all classics. This isn't like when hooker teams up with rockers who maybe were great at what they did but didn't do what Hooker himself did. This is a few musicians who understand Hooker's work and play off him and with him, rather than over him. Shake it baby is Rockin' Blues like Hooker could always do without losing the straight blues soul. Country boy is long story tellin' blues and Bottle up and go is as said in the liner notes- Delta Dance music. You're wrong is pure Hooker style- Rythmic Blues, not Rythm and Blues- Blues with lots of solid rythm. THere is a difference. Sugar Mama, A classic because it takes the old theme that hooker arranged new so long before that and changed it around. Instead of praising the sugar sweet woman- He tells her the praise has gone to her head and he's got a new sugar mama, that's John Lee. Decoration day is one of those blues that rolls around slow on the same chord until it almost drives you crazy. It is an old blues song that is one of the most dark and sad traditional songs. About a woman who tells her man before she dies, to decorate her grave on every Memorial or Decoration day. I think that is basically it anyway. Then a solid Take on Berry Gordy's Money which several bluesmen seem to like and perform. Hooker does it with the same group plus old friend and trombone player for the Basie Band -Dicky Wells doing a just right accompaniment. Then it serves you right to suffer in the same way as Decoration day, is some advice to forget about the past. All in all it is the best example of John with a band backing him. Perfect record I think. In everything he does I think he is one of the most believable bluesmen. He means it when he says it and he's there when he sings it and plays it. I have played this record straight through more than most any other blues record I have.

"and one more, and one more, and one more"
For any Blues fan John Lee Hooker is an all too familiar name and this reissue disc shows any who would question his Legend status why he holds the title. Every song is superb, classic Hooker. You'll find yourself playing the album straight through again and again. The best songs here are "Shake It Baby", "Country Boy", "You're Wrong" and the title track "It Serves You Right To Suffer".

A must have album for Blues fans new or old.

LESSER KNOWN HOOKER
THIS CD IS A REISSUE OF MATERIAL FIRST RECORDED BY JOHN LEE HOOKER IN NOVEMBER OF 1965 AND SUBSEQUENTLY RELEASED IN 1966. WHILE THE SONGS ON THIS DISC ARE NOT AS WELL KNOWN AS HOOKER'S "BOOGIE CHILLEN", THEY ARE EVERY BIT AS GOOD. IF YOU ARE A FAN OF JOHN LEE HOOKER THEN THIS CD BELONGS IN YOUR COLLECTION. WHILE YOU ARE AT IT, CHECK OUT THE COLLABORATION OF JOHN LEE HOOKER AND JAZZ MASTER MILES DAVIS ON THE SOUNDTRACK CD "THE HOT SPOT". IT IS ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL AND A MUST HEAR FOR ANY FAN OF THE BLUES AND LATE NIGHT SENSUOUS JAZZ.

Mr. Hooker is a force to be reckoned with.
If you don't already have this album, then you've got all the sense of a salted tree sloth. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Released after Vaughan's death in a 1990 helicopter accident, The Sky Is Crying collects unreleased studio tracks from throughout the guitarist's recorded career. In Vaughan's early years, he was a stylist who thought nothing of using ten notes when three would have worked. Rock stardom, cocaine, and alcohol did little to temper his tendency towards overstatement, but by In Step, his last studio album (and first clean-and-sober effort), he'd begun to transcend his many influences to forge a hard-boiled style of his own. The collection documents this passage, starting with unreleased covers of Lonnie Mack's "Wham" and Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" from the time of his debut album. "The Sky Is Crying" was originally cut by Elmore James, but Vaughan's lead guitar owes its stylistic debt to the bluesman who had a most profound influence on his playing, Albert King. The highlights are two tracks cut at the time of In Step--the hard-edged "Boot Hill," with Vaughan on slide guitar, and "Life by the Drop," in which Vaughan accompanies himself on acoustic guitar and toasts a life that would end far too soon. --John Milward ... Read more

Reviews (37)

A Life-Changing Event...
That's not hyperbole. Man, I still remember it. It was 1995. I was browsing in a record store and came upon this album. I didn't know who the hell it was-- it wasn't like anything I would usually buy-- but I decided to try sometehing different. I was blown right out of my pants. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I played the tape so many times in 6 months that it started to wear out. It made me want to learn to play, even though I never thought about playing the guitar before-- it was that good, that moving.

Every song on this CD is amazing. How can you talk about good and better when you've reached this level of mastery? You can't. It's like asking which van Gogh painting is your favorite. Still, could you ever buy a van Gogh for under $20?

That being said, there is one song on this CD that is maybe the best pure electric guitar ever recorded: "Little Wing" is a masterpiece among masterpieces. It has it all: such feeling in the slow sections that you cry, such blistering guitar in the power sections that you are stunned, and such subtle mastery throughout that you can hear different nuances each time you listen to the song. Just check out when and how he uses the natural harmonics-- and how he even throws in the Wes Montgomery Jazz/octave work-- each in exactly the right place. This guy wasn't just a guitar maniac-- he was a Master, with a capital "M"-- and on top of it all, he was a wonderful, caring man.

Putting "Life by the Drop" as the last song on the compilation is almost too much for me to handle-- knowing that, when that last note finishes resonating, there will NEVER be any more...

I cry every time I see his bio on MTV-- when I think about that helicopter crash.

There is something wrong with a world in which a man like this gets only 35 years.

I cry.

Can you see the tears roll down the street...
On August 27, 1990 the sky was crying and then over a year later Jimmy Vaughan released a compilation of studio outtakes of his brother Stevie and it started all over again. The Sky Is Crying by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble displays the consummate skill and depth of feeling that Stevie was capable of expressing.
When I first listened to it after its release I remember the strong sense of loss revisited.

The Sky Is Crying has a choice of songs which represent the various emotional faces which Stevie could present through his awesome guitar playing. It starts with the morbid and bitter blues standard Boothill and closes with the hopeful acoustic version of the Doyle Bramhall song Life by the Drop. Stevie Ray Vaughan was well grounded in the blues both by tradition and lifestyle. With The Sky Is Crying Jimmy Vaughan chose songs in which Stevie tipped his hat to various influences in the development his music voice. From the tender guitar playing of Hendrix's Little Wing to the buoyant version of Lonnie Mack's Wham we can hear the influences on Stevie. Also among the songs covered are the Elmore James song The Sky Is Crying, Howling Wolf's May I Have a Little Talk with You and Willie Dixon's Close to You.

To me all the songs are brilliant and I can't imagine my blues library without this cd, but I would purchase it for Life By the Drop, a song I dearly love. It represents so clearly the renewal which Stevie Ray Vaughan had started on and which was tragically left unfulfilled.

You're livin' our dream, wo you on top
My mind is achin', Lord it won't stop
That's how it happens livin' life by th' drop

For those interested in getting a taste of Stevie Ray Vaughan's music throughout the years this is a cd provides an excellent sampling of music. For the Stevie Ray Vaughan fan this cd is a must.

Guitar heaven
As Eric Clapton has said, Stevie had a direct line running from his heart to the guitar neck, bypassing his brain altogether. It means he didn't have to think ahead about what he was going to play, it just flowed straight through. This album is a great example of that statement. He OWNS the guitar and utilizes every avenue of his technique and mastery to produce sounds that no other guitarist will ever produce. That sound comes from his daily practicing, his strength and his dedication to his influences. While these are definitely outtakes, I believe they more clearly represent SRV's Texas R&B roots than any other cd. And, while risking redundancy from other previous reviews, "Little Wing" is pure guitar heaven. Those of us who knew him and loved him and his artistry know without a doubt that that's where he's playing now.

Blues At Its Very Best!!!
I believe Jimmie Vaughan was truly inspired when he chose this collection of songs for his brother's posthumous CD. It is absolutely flooring. All the other reviews for this CD shed plenty of light on the most outstanding tracks (Little Wing, Boot Hill, etc.), except I didn't see too much mention on the title track, which I want to focus on. IT IS THE BEST SLOW BLUES SOLO EVER RECORDED! I'm not kidding--I've heard a lot of blues guitar and I play myself, but on that track he hits nuances and phrasing and TONE that just makes me explode, no matter how many times I've heard it (and I've heard it lots)! He takes the five-note pentatonic blues scale and does everything possible with it! One review complained that the song sounds too much like "May I Have A Little Talk With You"--well, geez, how many slow blues songs have been recorded over the past 100 years that sound basically the same? Thousands! Each recording has its own "stamp", and that's what you've got to hone in on in order to appreciate these on-the-surface "similiar" recordings, including the two on this CD. If you think they're too similar, then you're not listening close enough!!!

As good as a "real" album
This collection of outtakes from Stevie Ray Vaughan's previous album sessions, released the year after his tragic death, is actually as solid and enjoyable as most of his "real" albums.

It is bluesier than "In Step", recalling his first album, "Texas Flood", and it features an alternative take on the delightful, swinging "Empty Arms" (from "Soul To Soul") and nine previously unreleased songs, including fine renditions of Howlin' Wolf's menacing "May I Have A Talk With You" and Elmore James' immortal "The Sky Is Crying".

Stevie Ray Vaughan's too rarely heard slide playing smoulders on the morbid "Boot Hill" (an alternative version of Elmore James' "Look On Yonder Wall"), which is also highlighted by Reese Wynans' wonderful piano playing.
And Vaughan's guitar playing on this album includes some of the best performances of his career - just listen to that purely instrumental version of "Little Wing", and Lonnie Mack's "Wham" as well.

"The Sky Is Crying" also features Willie Dixon's "Close To You", a supremely jazzy "Chitlins Con Carne", the SRV orginal "So Excited" (also an instrumental), and finally one of Vaughan's best-ever performances, an acoustic solo rendition of Doyle Bramhall's wonderful survivor story "Life By The Drop". Sublime "live" vocal on that one, one of the best things Stevie Ray Vaughan ever committed to tape. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The most startling revelation contained on this two-CD compilation is how rich, varied, and deep Nashville's R&B scene was during a 25-year period in which the city solidified its reputation as the undisputed capital of country music. Arranged chronologically, Night Train to Nashville also traces the steady progression of African-American music beginning with the end of WWII--from jump blues, lusty R&B, and smooth-groove vocal groups to proto rock & roll, Southern soul, and Top 40 pop that drew blacks and whites together even as the Vietnam War nearly ripped the country apart. Although this collection contains well-known hits (Bobby Hebb's "Sunny", Robert Knight's "Everlasting Love") and widely acknowledged stars (Etta James and Ruth Brown, both of whom recorded some of their best work in Nashville), many of its most satisfying pleasures come courtesy of lesser-known artists, such as R&B belter Christine Kittrell, swamp bluesman Shy Guy Douglas, and balladeer Sam Baker. In the midst of many ear-opening discoveries, add one more: When listening to the countrified soul of Arthur Alexander, Joe Simon, and Johnny Adams, it's apparent that Nashville in its '60s heyday wasn't two separate but equal towns but one glorious Southern-music Mecca. --Keith Moerer ... Read more

Reviews (7)

This CD is SWEET!
This music just makes you feel good. The artists can really sing and play. There is no one that I play this for who doesn't think it is great even if this is not their kind of music.
Other great CDS I've Tried:
Count Basie and his orchestra
James Brown- anything
Miles Davis- kinda Blue
John COltrane- A love Supreme
Ray Charles- his older stuff
Also for fun,
"Voice Lessons To Go" by Vaccarino so I can get my voice strong enough to sing along!

This CD JAmms!

A musical treasure!
I love old time blumes and early rock and roll, so when I read about this CD I had to have it. Simply put, this is a treasure! What I enjoyed about this the most is that it features lesser known artists and songs that are just killer. A superb collection for any fan of the roots of rock and roll who is looking for something new, out of something old.

I also want to recommend a killer instrumental CD by Mr.Deviant called "Techno Obsession", it's a mix of power rock and hard dance music.

Amazonic Regression . . .
I read all the other reviews and realized that this album is many things to many people. I was impressed by how many people took the effort to review this great collector's item. For myself, it was a bolt out of the blue thanks to being featured on the SUNDAY MORNING TV show. When I was 14 years old (1954) I built a HEATHKIT short-wave radio. I strung 100' of copper wire from our TV antenna tower to the top of the basketball pole. All I had hoped for was to get the BBC or Radio Free Europe. What I got [instead] was Radio Free Nashville ! WLAC, Bill Allen and music I had only heard rumors of. "That kind of music" was not played on mainstream radio in those days. Word got around school that I was listening to Little Richard, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, and Jimmy Reed. I didn't get any more chicks because of it, but it put me in a very elite group of R&B listeners. Once again, AMAZON DOT COM makes regression to our childhoods possible! Thanks, you guys . . . Harrison T.

Mixed bag, but overall pretty good
As to be expected, there is some really good stuff on these discs. Unfortunately, some mediocre tunes that are not that impressive crop up here and there.

While I love sixties soul on a personal note, disc one is overall the better side. The early barrellhouse boogie-woogie tunes are quite appealing and hard to sit still to. (The Louis Jordanesqe "Buzzard Pie," obviously inspired by the King Cole Trio's "Straighten Up and Fly Right" is lots of fun). The Prisonaires track is quite beautiful and Little Richard's mentor Esquirita really rocks the house, as well as the tunes by Larry Birdsong and Jimmy Peck's Orchestra.

On disc 2, Etta James rocks out with her version of "What I Say" and "Shy Guy" Douglas does some fine harmonica work. The Vocal Groups like the Avons, Valentines, Hytones, and Frank Howard are okay (as well as Arthur Alexander's original "Anna Go To Him" remembered well by Beatles fans and the lovely original version of "Everlasting Love"). But the rest of this stuff is nothing special.

What Nashville Was...and Could Be.
I'm in Nashville and work in the music industry. This CD is a great example of the talent Nashville has and what we could be doing with all of that talent. Glad to see Lost HIghway released all this great stuff and hope they'll release more.

How did Nashville get so white bread? Hate it that more people don't know about this disc and are favoring the computer corrected music of Toby Keith and Shania.

If you like Stax and Motown, you'll love this. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Great mix of stars and studio musicians
This is a wonderful live album featuring Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, along with Eric Clapton and Dave Mason. In addition to the stars this is the first time I heard this particular grouping of backup musicians, let by Jim Gordon (drums), Carl Radle (bass) and others. These musicians went on to backup Steve Winwood in Traffic, George Harrison in the Concert for Bangladesh, Joe Cocker on the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour (with Leon Russel) and Eric Clapton (Derek and the Dominoes, and his hit single Layla). A truly talented gathering, and this CD features hard-driving rock and soulful ballads by Bonnie. Enjoy!!

An all-time great album
If you like Eric Clapton, if you like Dave Mason (also playing), Delaney & Bonnie, or just energetic southern rock, you will love this album. It is one that you can listen to over and over and still love years and years later.

BEST Driving R&R of ALL times!
I bought this album while I was in Japan in 1970. The ONLY reason I bought it was because I wanted to get something and it said "With Eric Clapton". Never heard of D&B before. When I got it back home I read the back of the album, to see who was on it and I was floored! I put it on the turntable (You remember them?) the first time that night when a bunch of friends came over. It was the ONLY album we played that night! And from then on it got played at least once a night when ever anyone came over. 5 years ago I told a friend about it and the rave started all over. If you get this album be prepared to put all your others away for a while.

Awesome live album
The energy of this recording is amazing. Clapton is on fire and the whole band kicks out a strong set of gospel influenced rock and roll. Great stuff. If you like Clapton at his peak (first solo album, Derek and the Dominos) you'll want this. Other sets that this is related too include Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour (many of the same people on both) and early 70's Leon Russell.

Great Memories
I would have to agree the CD falls short of the LP, which I had stolen in '89.

Can either compare to the concert? Do they do it justice?

Between 1969 and the closing of the Fillmore West I think I saw so many great bands that many I've forgotten. Tower of Power, It's A Beautiful Day, Joy of Cooking, Hot Tuna, were all local bands that could really boogie. Incoming was Fleetwood Mac while Pete Greenwood was still playing, the Allman Bros, (all of them) Doc Watson over at the Buddhi in Berkely, but the concert I remember most was Delaney & Bonnie going until the early morning hours, loving what they were doing and seemingly willing to play until we all got old and gray. "I Don't Want to Discuss It," and "Come Out In My Kitchen" blew me away that night. The only comparable performance I've seen in my life was a very old Texas farmer named Mance Lipscomb (Gotta be the inspiration for John Hammond)at the first Woodie Guthrie Folk Festival at Lincoln Park in Oklahoma City.

If you like Delta Blues, (and I surely do) and your collection includes people like Mississippi John Hurt, and Robert Johnson, you are going to love what Delaney & Bonnie do with it, but then if you own a Robert Johnson you already know that :) ... Read more

Album Description

Full title - Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - A Musical Journey. Five-CD deluxe boxed set includes a comprehensivecollection of the music from the seven films airing on PBS. A definitive overview of blues, from its earliestrecordings over 80 years ago, to contemporary artists andnew recordings made specifically for The Blues. Music fromthe PBS Series The Blues, executive produced by acclaimedfilmmaker Martin Scorsese. 116 tracks on 5 CDs, plus60-page collector's booklet with stunning photos andilluminating essays. Features introductory essay by MartinScorsese. Gatefold digibox. Hip-O Records. 2003. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Excellent blues primer
This is the "Year of the Blues," and "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" is as important a contribution as anything I've seen so far in the effort to increase awareness of and appreciation for blues music.

This CD box set is not the soundtrack to the video documentary series. Rather, it is a collection of songs representing the blues through the roughly 80-year history of recorded blues music. While there are some artists who should have been included and weren't, and there are a few selections that are really not appropriate to this collection, overall this is an excellent primer for anyone looking to understand blues music and its evolution.

It would be impossible for any collection to include every artist that is loved by every blues fan. However, most of the truly great and important blues artists are here, including Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Virtually every style of blues is also represented here, from the Mississippi Delta to New Orleans to Texas to Memphis to Chicago and even to Africa. And contrary to the assertions of some previously-posted critiques, the Piedmont style IS represented with Mississippi John Hurt's "Frankie." (While Hurt did not live in the Piedmont Valley area, he was nevertheless one of the most important Piedmont stylists in blues guitar history.)

I do disagree with the inclusion of a few artists whom I do not consider to be blues musicians, such as Jeff Beck and Los Lobos. (Jeff Beck is undeniably a brilliant guitarist, but he is not a blues guitarist.) The absolute worst song in the set is Peggy Scott-Adams' "Bill," a terrible song about a woman who discovers her husband in bed with his gay lover. Aside from the fact that the song is just plain awful, it is also not a blues song. I wonder who was paid off to have it included.

There are also a few omissions of important blues artists. Lightnin' Hopkins was one of the most important blues musicians of the 1950s and '60s but was not included. Little Richard was every bit as important to the creation of rock & roll as Fats Domino and Chuck Berry but is not represented. The omission of Dr. John, perhaps the most important blues pianist of the modern era, is inexplicable. More modern accoustic guitarists like John Hammond, Jr. and the incredible Rory Block should have been included (although the newly-recorded Keb' Mo'/Corey Harris cover of Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago" was almost worth the cost of the box set alone). And if Scorsese wanted a representation of blues-influenced Latino music, Carlos Santana would have been more appropriate than Los Lobos.

Notwithstanding a few flaws, however, this CD box set is an excellent representation of recorded blues history, covering the entire history of the blues and including most of the important artists and styles of this wonderful musical genre. I highly recommend it to anyone who is either desiring to learn about the blues or who is already a blues fan and is simply looking for a good thorough collection of great blues music.

Excellent material representing the entire blues genre!
This is the "comeback year" for the blues and "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" as good as good if not better than all blues cds so far. This is really a contribution as anything we've seen so far in the effort to increase awareness of and appreciation for blues music.

The best part is that it's personalized from Scorsese's own liking. People might agree the Rolling Stones should have been included, for instance, but this 116 song piece is not a "best-of the blues". It's more of Martin Scorsese's perspective of what the blues has achieved for America and beyond.

This CD box set is not the soundtrack to the video documentary series. Rather, it is a collection of songs representing the blues through the roughly 80-year history of recorded blues music. This is an excellent primer for anyone looking to understand blues music and its evolution.

It would be impossible for any collection to include every artist that is loved by every blues fan. However, most of the truly great and important blues artists are here, including Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Virtually every style of blues is also represented here, from the Mississippi Delta to New Orleans to Texas to Memphis to Chicago and even to Africa. And contrary to the assertions of some previously-posted critiques, the Piedmont style IS represented with Mississippi John Hurt's "Frankie." Also, Luther Allison and Johnny Winter ARE included also.

There are also a few omissions of important blues artists. Lightnin' Hopkins was one of the most important blues musicians of the 1950s and '60s but was not included. Little Richard was every bit as important to the creation of rock & roll as Fats Domino and Chuck Berry but is not represented. The omission of Dr. John, perhaps the most important blues pianist of the modern era, is near as bad as leaving out the Rolling Stones and their massive love for the blues. More modern accoustic guitarists like John Hammond, Jr. and the incredible Rory Block should have been included (although the newly-recorded Keb' Mo'/Corey Harris cover of Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago" was almost worth the cost of the box set alone). And if Scorsese wanted a representation of blues-influenced Latino music, Carlos Santana would have been more appropriate than Los Lobos.

Notwithstanding a few flaws, however, this CD box set is an excellent representation of recorded blues history, covering the entire history of the blues and including most of the important artists and styles of this wonderful musical genre.

Scorsese does a great job with the layout of the entire 5 disc set. Included is a color print book with song by song explanations co-written by a Grammy Award winning music writer, and many pages portraying blues from the very beginning(1830's) to today. I highly recommend it to anyone who desires learning about the blues, or a fan simply looking for a good thorough collection of great blues music.

Not just for the newcomer
This is a box set of 20th Century American music, not the Old Testament! Let the ethnomusicologist completist academic blathering heads debate the merits of inclusion and exclusion - just enjoy the tunes. This is worth it just to have discs for your New Year's Party. Sure Janis was an execrable no-talent and Disc 5 should've been made up entirely of Robert Pete Williams. That guy is so deep blues that I sleep with a kinfe when I listen to him at night! But what is a fellow to do?

The Blues
Martin Scosese Presents
The Blues
A Musical Journey

Have you ever known someone that was interested in exploring blues music and came to you asking you for advice on which artists and recordings to start with? If this is a familiar scenario to you and you have made lists as long as your arm of artists and recordings that you hope will steer them on the right path of bluesdom, next time just recommend (or better still hand them) Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues, A Musical Journey (Hip-O Records), the five disc soundtrack to the documentary series that recently aired on PBS. This boxed set is handsomely packaged with a highly informative sixty page booklet that gives you a brief insight into every artist on the discs, along with a break down of every musician playing on each track and a great essay by noted writer Tom Piazza. This truly is a musical journey through the blues, containing over 117 tunes by almost as many artists, beautifully remastered to perfection so that even the oldest of recordings sound like they were cut yesterday. The names and tunes are way too long to list in their entirety but I'll try my best to give an overall and hopefully brief (this I gotta see) overview of each disc's highlights, otherwise this review will run longer than the last Presidential address. Disc One focuses primarily on the blues' entry and acceptance into the musical mainstream of the roaring 20's up to 1930. Oddly enough the disc's opening number "Shortnin" by Othar Turner and The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band is the only one not recorded during that period but serves as a portrait into the roots of the genre and is followed up by a field recording from the Alan Lomax Collection entitled "Long John," which is performed by a group of convicts on a state prison farm in Texas. The first real stars of the blues were women and they are represented by both Smiths, Mamie and Bessie, performing the classics "Crazy Blues," & "Muddy Water," respectively along with Ma Rainey's "Ma' Rainey's Black Bottom," which is probably musical history's first suggestive title. The rest of Disc One reads like a virtual who's who of legends and classic numbers such as:Frank Stokes' "Downtown Blues," Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Match Box Blues", Blind Willie McTells' "Statesboro Blues", Lonnie Johnson's "Guitar Blues" and Son House's "Preachin The Blues." One of the blues' greatest folk tales in the form of Mr. Skip James, who took thirty years off and persued a career in the ministry after his records did not sell well during the early days of the depression opens Disc Two. Considered by many to be a genuis of the early blues, his "Devil Got My Woman," represents that to the fullest extent and is followed by a pair of ultra classics, Leadbelly's "C.C. Rider," & Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go." Disc Two continues its journey through the 1930's with The Lady Day crooning "Billie's Blues," Robert Johnson picking out "Cross Road Blues," and the original Sonny Boy Williamson blasting his way through through his immortal "Good Morning Little School Girl." Halfway through Disc Two we switch decades and are treated to such gems of the 1940's like, Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway," Tommy McClennon's "Cross Cut Saw," Wynnonie Harris' "Good Rockin Tonight," Louis Jordan's "Let The Good Times Roll," and T-Bone Walker's timeless "Call It Stormy Monday." The 1950's saw the blues enjoy its biggest boom in commercial acceptance and Disc Three is filled to the brim with some of the most memorable and influential tunes that the blues and its artists ever produced. Memphis Slims "Mother Earth,"Percy Mayfield's "Send Me Somone To Love," Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88," and Elmore James' "Dust My Broom," start off Disc Three with a four punch combination that will rock you back on your heels before sending you to the canvas with Little Walter's,"Juke,". This particular disc illustrates the blues giving birth to its baby that they called rock & roll, with Big Mama Thornton's original version of "Hound Dog," (Big Mama made all of about five hundred dollars off this recording and died pretty much broke while some truck driver from Memphis made millions with the same tune, go figure!) Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin," Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love," Fats Dominoe's "Blue Monday," and the timeless rock & roll anthem, Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Also included on Disc Three are classics like The Wolf's "Smokestack Lightnin," Muddy's "Hoochie Coochie Man," Bobby Bland's "Further On Up The Road," and Sonny Boy Wialliamson's (Rice Miller) Don't Start Me To Talkin." Disc Four gives us an intricate look at the state of the blues in the 1960's and the influence that it had on both American and British rock artists who were weaned on the tunes of the masters. The Jeff Beck Group's cover of Willie Dixon's "Ain't Superstitious," features a very young Rod Stewart on lead vocals while John Mayall's Bluesbreakers cover of "All Your Love," has a young Eric Clapton playing lead. Fleetwood Mac (gee did they once play the blues?) turns in a crushing version of "Black Magic Woman," with the twin guitars of Jeremy Spencer & Peter Green. Meanwhile back on home soil Bob Dylan tears through "Highway 61 Revisted," while Hendrix converts legions of rock & rollers with "Red House," and Janis Joplin and The Butterfield Blues Band do the same with "One Good Man," and "I've Got A Mind To Give Up Livin," respectively. While the rock genre was enlightening a new generation, John Lee Hooker recorded "Boom Boom," Albert Collins cut "Frosty," and Junior Wells released his signature "Hoodoo Man Blues." Etta James' "Tell Mama," turned a few heads and a new female singer by the name of Koko Taylor who was discovered by Willie Dixon raised a few million eyebrows with "Wang Dang Doodle." The 60's were a turbulent time for America and the impact that the blues made during that period is still being felt today throughout rock & roll. Disc Five begins in 1969 with B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone," and closes with the recently recorded acoustic duet of Corey Harris & Keb Mo doing the prettiest cover of "Sweet Home Chicago," that it's been my pleasure to hear in quite some time. In between these two classic numbers, the 70's,80's 90's right up to present day is represented by a wide spectrum of artists and styles whose music has forever effected the blues' direction. Johnny Winter's "Dallas," Derek and The Dominoes' "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," The Alman Bothers "One Way Out," and Hound Dog Taylors' "Give me Back My Wig," represent the 70's which pretty much was dominated by hard rock and is considered one of the toughest decades for post WWII blues. But, being as hard times is what the genre founded its roots in, the blues treaded water in a swirling sea of hard rock and disco. The 80's are represented by a young man who is credited with kicking the music industry in its ass and making them take the blues seriously again, Mr. Stevie Ray Vaughn. One of his best tunes "Pride and Joy,"is included here along with big brother Jimmie Vaughn's band,The Fabulous Thunderbirds' "Tuff Enough." Also from the 80's is Robert Cray's "Smoking Gun," and a duet of "I'm In the Mood," between John Lee Hooker & Bonnie Raitt from his monumentous The Healer album. The 90's get a well rounded look with Luther Allison's "Cherry Red Wine," Peggy Scott Adam's "Bill," (which is a totally new spin on the old cheating lover scenario) Keb Mo's "Am I Wrong," and Susan Tedeschi's "Just Won't Burn." Three other recent recordings in addition to "Sweet Home Chicago," are included with the best being the live duet between Robert Cray and Shemeika Copeland exploding on "I Pity The Fool." Cassandra Wilson's gorgeous voice gives new meaning to J.B. Lenoir's "Vietnam Blues," while Bonnie Raitt does ample justice to his "Round & Round," and Los Lobos does the same to his "Voodoo Music." This is the end of the journey blues fans. Well for now anyway. You can sort of look at this set as one hell of a roadmap to one of the best musical journeys you can possibly make with the rest of the journey being all around you as you read this. This is probably the best chronological record ever assembled of the music that changed the face of American music forever as the selections both mentioned and not mentioned in this review are the best of the best. Alot of you may already have a great deal of these recordings that are included here in some form or another, but it's the combination of the choice of selections and the remastering that make this package a must for every blues fan whether they are just learning about the blues or are already lifelong fans. Being a five disc set can mean it can be a bit on the pricey side, but I found it for around forty eight dollars at a couple of membership warehouse stores and it was worth every cent. With the holidays approaching it would make a completely awesome gift for the blueslover in your life or perhaps even yourself. This is one journey you will want to take several times.

The Best Blues Collection?... Hardly....
I don't claim to be a Blues expert by any means, who is? ...but this collection could have been something really special if more of the unknown artists from the past and present were included here. Yeah, we all know about Jimi, Stevie Ray, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, etc. Why do we need to have them represented here again? Some of the newer artists included here hardly earned their dues and a few others shouldn't even be on this recording at all. Oh well..., what can you say except that life isn't fair which is what the blues is all about anyway. That doesn't mean you need to accept this collection as the blues gospel by any means! Where's the Junior Kimbrough and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown? Where's the Luther Allison and James Solberg? I can go on and ask why but what sense would that make? Anyone who wants to own one of the best unknown ripping guitar, whiskey soaked vocals, ultra cool organ & rhythm tight CD's ever, buy James Solbergs "See that my grave is kept clean". If you want something really special, buy anything by Junior Kimbrough. If you want something that we've all heard before with a lot of it being mediocre then buy Mr. Scorsese Presents the Blues. Otherwise, check out the web sites for Shanachie Entertainment, Alligator Records, Blind Pig, Rounder/Bulls Eye Blues, Blues Bureau International/Shrapnel for links into the real blues crossroads where past and future meet head on! Oh yeah, let's not forget about Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher either!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Eric Clapton's first live album since 1992's zeitgeist-capturing Unplugged, is, as one would expect, full of well-tailored highlights from his back-catalog of bristly, well-kept blues. Recorded in Los Angeles and Tokyo during his 2001 world tour, and featuring the accompaniment from the likes of Andy Fairweather-Low and Billy Preston, it's an album that serves to satisfy both Clapton purists (there's a four-song sequence of tracks from Pilgrim, shorn of their original anodyne synthesizer embellishments) and adult pop fans who prefer their blues from the decanter rather than the bottle ("Tears in Heaven," a sublime "Bell Bottom Blues," a rather poised, applause-riddled "Layla"). One More Car is an engaging live document that finds EC far from asleep at the wheel. --Kevin Maidment ... Read more

Reviews (41)

Clapton's Long Awaited "Live" Cd Is Well Worth The Wait!
This latest release from rock legend Eric Clapton is a long overdo 2-cd "live" recording. Actually his last live recording was his "Unplugged" cd released in 1992. This 2-cd set was recorded during his 2001 tour and Clapton is in fine form here. Disc One starts with Clapton playing acoustic guitar on the first six songs. His acoustic guitar playing on songs such as "Key To The Highway" (a Derek & The Dominos song) , "Tears In Heaven", "Bell Bottom Blues" (another Derek & The Dominos song) ,"Change The World", etc. shows the diversity this talented guitarist has. He's as good on acoustic as he is playing electric guitar. It's not until "My Father's Eyes" that he switches to electric guitar. Every song sounds polished and Clapton's band is excellent with veteran keyboardist Billy Preston playing better than ever. Disc Two starts out with the bluesy "I Want A Little Girl". And very few guitarists can play the blues like Clapton. The following song "Badge" (from his late 60's days with the rock supergroup Cream) sounds terrific with the addition of keyboards. And Clapton's voice sounds better than ever. Clapton's 70's hit "Cocaine" is full of energy and the backup singers also add a special touch to this version. My favorite Clapton song (from his Derek & The Dominos days) "Layla" is outstanding with Clapton doing a nice guitar solo before the song kicks in. This version also includes the 4 min. extended piano ending which is played perfectly by Billy Preston. Another favorite (from his Cream days) "Sunshine Of Your Love" also starts with a nice guitar solo before going into the song. This is a nice updated version of the song again with the use of keyboards. Clapton's rendition of "Over The Rainbow" is a nice version which only he could pull off and make it sound good. This is an excellent "live" double cd that no Clapton fan should be without. Highly recommended!

Great CD, Great Sound
The sound quality of this cd will really allow you to hear Clapton at his finest. On just about any sound system that i've played this cd, it sounds amazing. Better than any other cd I own. I found that the versions of River of tears, Reptile, and My Father's eyes are excellent. In fact just about every song on this cd is excellent! Even if you're not the bigget Clapton fan you should still buy it just for the sound quality. Plus, I find that this CD is one of Clapton's best CD's. I would rate it at the top along with his unplugged CD. Buy this CD, I know you'll enjoy it!

How Bodge
A lot of people dont know how Bodge got his nickname here it is:

Eric Clapton was writting a song with John Lennon of the Beetles and John asked him what it was called and He thought Clapton said "Bodge" but he said something else (i forget). Anyway this kind of stuck as his nickname and he was Bodge forever since.

so, now you know...

One More Car, One More Rider = One More GREAT Performance!
Clapton has certainly gotten older, as seen on the video, and I give him tremendous credit for continuing to release new material and go on tour.

Both discs are great, but I highly enjoy Bell Bottom Blues, Change The World, My Father's Eyes and She's Gone. Cocaine is a great track as well.

I would have enjoyed Badge more had it been played like the version on 24 Nights, and Layla had it been played like the version on Eric Clapton & Friends Live. I wish they had played White Room, which is absolutely awesome in concert.

Despite the disappointments above, I give the album five stars given the outstanding performance of My Father's Eyes and She's Gone and a clever version of Over The Rainbow.

If you are into live music get it.
This double cd is very nice. It opens up with an accoustic set which includes a very nice bell bottom blues and a beautiful tears in heaven and change the world. Then the electric stuff starts out with a great fathers eyes. Disc 2 goes into a nice old one w/ badge and a medocure cocaine and a nice wonderful tonight. Lalya is a standout on this double disc with a terrific piano outro. and it stays good with the last 2 tracks espcially sunshine of your love.
All and all this is a good double live album worth buying the only reason why i gave it a 4 was because i know there is better stuff out there from clapton. ... Read more

Album Description

Inspiration Information, the brainchild of guitar prodigy Shuggie Otis, more than justifies the cult following garnered in the years since its (largely ignored) 1974 release. Son of R&B legend Johnny Otis, Shuggie was a late-'60s celebrity due to his Super Session duets with Al Kooper. Opting out of arena rock -- he reputedly refused an offer to join the Rolling Stones -- the 19-year-old Otis spent three years in the studio generating this one-man opus. His multitracked rhythms recall the laid-back funk of the Meters embroidered with psychedelic filigree, and his voice resembles Allan Toussaint's. But in every other regard, this is singular, sexy music, dislocated in time. Drum machines propel "Island Letter" and the beat-box-plus-organ stabs of "XL-30" predate England's Young Marble Giants by several years. Also featured are four bonus cuts from the artist's 1971 set Freedom Flight, including "Strawberry Letter 23," which was later a hit for the Brothers Johnson. Heard here in its original form (with a surprise prog-guitar coda), the song conveys the impression of "Good Vibrations" being played by a lone musician. Unbelievably wonderful. - Billboard ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A lost gem
Strawberry Letter 23 by the Brothers Johnson has always been one of my favorites. I considered it the perfect song. For years it never occurred to me that there was another earlier version of the song out there. So when someone told me that the original was composed and sung by some guy named Shuggie Otis, I shrugged it off. No way it could be as good as the Brothers Johnson, I thought. My mistake.

I happened to hear Shuggie's version and was intrigued. But fearing there would be just one good song among clunkers, I was reluctant to buy the whole CD. Others persuaded me to buy it and I'm glad I did.

With his futuristic, laid back bluesy yet funky vibe, Shuggie proves to be the missing link between Sly Stone and Prince. Although drum machines are way overdone today, in 1971 it was still relatively rare and Otis puts them to good use. Songs like Strawberry 23, Aht Uh Mi Hed and Sweet Thang could still be considered visionary today.

This CD is a gem. It's too bad the record didn't see fit to keep Shuggie after less than sterling sales. He should have received more recognition and appreciation.

if you don't get it, well, try--this is quality
A sure sign of a good album: it grows on you. A sign of a possibly even great album: you sort of don't even get it the first time, beacause it is in its own category, but for some reason you play it again, and you like it better . . . and it grows on you. Shuggie Otis is just musical. The guy has music in his bones. I'm not going to try to compare him to anyone . . . . He wrote "Strawberry Letter 23" if you know that. I don't know if it's true, but I do believe that the Stones offered him a job and I do believe that he turned them down; this album is better than Stones of the middle 70's, with the soul the Stones always revered and aspired toward. His music is laid back and pretty and funky, not mellow though; you want to ride along with the songs. It's like being stoned in a garden. I used to put on this music Sunday mornings when I was cooking a nice breakfast and in the mood for a good day. Now I just put it on when I'm in the mood for good music and a good mood. This is quality, but if you have to read the reviews, it's probably quality that'll take you in a slightly new direction. If you like good music no matter what the style, this is a strong pick. One thing's for sure, the music is not crap. Consider it a test of your eclecticism (an easy test for me in this particular case).

a lost classic...
WOW!!! l grew up listening to the Motown greats and somehow l missed this artist. A friend turned me on to it and it is one of my all time favorites. The music is bright and jazzy but soulful and rock too. This guy is a freakin' genius. Thanks to David Byrne for rediscovering and rereleasing this gem. Seriously don't miss it. His version of his song strawberry letter 23 is solid.

Great music!!!
A friend of mine gave this to me and I was totally blown away. I was just as impressed to learn about his history. I am just glad that Luaka Bop was able to release this amazing album. After hearing samples of his songs on Digable Planet's "For Corners"(Island Letter) and Dana Bryant's "Cat Daddy at the Shugah Shack"(Sweet Thang), it was nice to hear the original compositions and how time has not really affected them. The string and drum machine propelled "Aught ah mi hed" is amazing as is the original "Strawberry Letter 23". His tinkering with keyboards, drum machines, combined with his playing of traditional instruments is sublime and heartfelt. Beautifully made music!

You will love this!
It's worth every star and then some. I don't write many reviews, save for Cds I love- this is easily in the top 10! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

Stinging urban blues by way of Texas and Memphis distinguish Robert Cray's major-label debut, which followed three strong independent releases. Here he fleshes out his sound with bursts of brassy Southern soul courtesy of the Memphis Horns, but keeps his pungent, steely guitar solos out front in an engaging dialogue with his plaintive vocals. Released in 1986, Strong Persuader signaled that Cray, as a writer--like his contemporary Stevie Ray Vaughan--had something to say about his interior life beyond the usual bluesman's laments, an approach that pays homage to the music's rich traditions while suggesting new areas of inquiry. --David McGee ... Read more

Reviews (22)

A great collection of music
I first heard "Smoking Gun" when I was 16 and was blown away. In the era of hair bands and glam metal, Robert Cray quietly hit the scene and showed how he was alot better than what was big at that time. Funny how he is still making music and most if not all of the hair bands are gone. This disc is from top to finish a great collection of music. We have some serious slow blues like "Right Next Door" and Smoking Gun, and some faster tunes like Nothin' But A Women and I Guess I Showed Her. Not only are we able to see how much knowledge of the blues Robert Cray has, But we also get an insight to his knowledge of classic soul and R&B. This CD is still strong after 14 years and I still am totally into it.

News from the front
If there is a war between men and women, Robert Cray's songs are like casualty reports straight from the front. The music shows a serious knowledge not merely of blues (although that would be quite enough), but of deeply-rooted gospel and R&B (who cannot love the Wilson Pickett-style horns on "I Guess I Showed Her?"). This is matched well with the personal details Cray adds to his lyrics. In "Foul Play," we can almost hear the protagonist's paranoia and fear. In "I Guess I Showed Her," he glowers triumphantly at dumping an unfaithful spouse, only to reveal his hurt pride at the very end of the song, in the fadeout. In "Right Next Door (Because of Me)," he is a womanizer feeling--one thinks for the first time--pangs of guilt over the seduction of yet another wife. While not a replacement for recordings by the blues greats of old, this is an incredible CD.

A classic!
Robert Cray took the music scene by grit force with this sexy original album. His voice croons like maple syrup and his guitar player is edgy and raw. This is a classic album at the beginning of a stella career as Mr Robert Cray has gone on to receive 11grammy nominations and won 5 ." The album has a flow and I never get bored of listening to it. An album not to be missed and one that belongs in any serious music collection.

Leave this in your cd changer
It's like butta- it just melts around you and you sort of forget it's there though it becomes your personal soundtrack. Yo Cray man, you gotta throw in some lousy tunes now and then! When you have an album of all 10's it's almost too perfect. But hell, I can't argue. Put this on when you got that special lady over- it'll turn her loose quickstyle.
I'm glad you were doin your own thing in Hail Hail Rock and Roll by the way...keep it real.

Paint-by-the-numbers so-called blues...
I knew Robert Cray's music before I bought this CD, having seen him appear as a guest artist in video of a Tina Turner concert. However, after thoroughly investigating Chicago and Delta musicians of the Blues' Golden Age (1930s to mid 1960s), I thought I should give him a fair hearing to see what all the fuss was about. Sure, I expected the music to be in the broad-appeal, slick vein and that it would not be something that I would put on as often as, say, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Hooker, Guitar Slim et al, but I did not expect it to be some of the most vapid music that I have ever heard, regardless of genre. Cray's lyrics are strictly paint-by-the-numbers on a the Love-Gone-Wrong theme. At times, they are so corny and banal that I wince. The music is souless and totally unoriginal. At best, Cray has the technique to be a good session guitarist but there are plenty of session guitarists out there that play as well as he does. If someone tells you that if you are going to have only one blues CD, this is the one, you will know that person knows nothing about the blues. Try this quick (but time-wasting) test: listen to Strong Persuader(at least give poor Bob a break by listening to him first) and then listen to Muddy Waters: His Best 1947-1955 (MCA/Chess) and ask yourself if the two CDs are even from the same genre. The music on Strong Persuader is: totally banal, irrelevant, and an insult to the intelligence....TO AVOID ... Read more

Amazon.com essential recording

One of the greatest concert recordings of all time. How could it be less, with B.B. King performing some of his best material before a literally captive audience in an Illinois prison? "Worry, Worry" and "How Blue Can You Get" take on deeper meanings here, although King works the latter's camp lyrics as if he were in a juke joint. His mix of down-home humility and commanding stagecraft is instantly appealing. And his guitar barks, sings, and squeals with such authority that this is a bravura performance from the first bent, soul-searing note. A true desert-island disc. --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (27)

The King at his best!
When people talk about B.B. King's greatest albums they normally narrow the fight down to two albums: Live at the Regal and Live in Cook County Jail. For years blues fans have fought about who is the better of these two blues heavyweights. However any way you slice out Cook County Jail is the clear favorite.

The main reason that I think this is the superior recording is that it captures the King at his peak as a guitar player. This album is the reason he is one of the greatest guitar players ever. In the Regal he depended too much on his horns group, so we didn't hear enough of Lucille.

Then there's B.B. the performer. Something about these 2000 some odd prison inmates gave the King a buzz that night, because he was very loose that day, having fun with the crowd and going through fantastic versions of How Blue Can You Get, Worry Worry, Three 'o' Clock Blues, and (most notably) the always essential The Thrill is Gone. All coming with a flair that only he could have produced.

There are some albums that a blues fan should simply own so that he can declare himself a blues fan. Cook County Jail makes one. Live at the Regal makes two. Both are all time classics, and represent B.B. King at his all time greatest. So if you love great blues, jazz, and soul meshed together, which normally means you love great music, then you must own these two CDs. You ain't a blues fan if you don't.

B.B. and Lucille, live and great as ever
Live in Cook County Jail is a wonderful live B.B. King record. I have only two complaints: The songs are soooooo short! Everyday I Have The Blues is like one minute long! The CD ends way too quickly. Also, B.B.'s live records tend to feature the same songs over and over. Several of the songs on Live In Cook County Jail can be found on Live At The Regal, and they're performed in very much the same way. Having said that, though, any live B.B. is great. His voice and guitar are amazing as always, and he has a great rapport with his audience (even when it consists of prison inmates).

quite remarkable indeed
i was 12 years old when i first heard b.b. king and it was this exact album.it is still relevalt to me today as it was 15 years ago.this album was recorded live and as such it captures the very essence of a live act,touching and delivering a great emotinal impact followed by a great deal of exitment of the crowd.
it is a rare moment and you can take part in it.

Blues you have GOT to have
I had this record in the '70's. I bought the CD in the '80's and I have never gotten tired of listening to it. This is one of the best all time CDs, blues of otherwise. My favorite BB King CD, and that is saying a great deal. Thank you BB!

King Knew He Was Having A Good Day !
This is one of the very first BB records I ever purchased. It stands the test of time as a very great live blues record. What stands out the most is BB's playing on it. Lucille had an amazing tone too. This is a blues record through and through, don't let other less knowledgable reviewers throw you. It's pretty cool he knew at the time too that is was a magical day as he announced "Me and Lucille feel very very good today...". His band is outstanding too. The only down thing I can say about it is that after repetitive listens, Worry, worry, worry seems to drag on. That's no big deal.... ... Read more

Amazon.com

Sonny Landreth's 10-year career as a leader has always seemed tenuous, because he's a one-dimensional singer and only an adequate songwriter. But these 12 numbers run deeper than his previous recordings. Like much of his catalog, they straddle the worlds of blues, Cajun and zydeco, and New Orleans party music, but the blues dominates. And that gives the conflagrant Mississippi-born and Louisiana-raised slide guitarist plenty of fuel. So he burns liberally at every turn, from the acoustic resonator guitar that opens and closes the disc to the percolating funk of "Hell at Home" and the Allmans-like, riff-driven intensity of "Fallin' for You." "A World Away" is this album's tour de force, with Landreth summoning soul from the seldom-used soft side of his voice and slow, moaning guitar lines, whose steel-on-steel cries echo the resigned heartbreak of the lyrics. The CD's sterling production puts Landreth's guitar front and center, which reaffirms the former John Hiatt and Clifton Chenier sideman's instrumental mastery. --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (17)

What a surprise!
I have always recognised that Sonny Landreth is one of the best slide guitarists around. However I have never been a "great" fan of him because I am not too much in "tune" with zydeco or cajun kind of music. I like it but it is not my passion, I prefer to listening to other genders, and the one that I like the best is the "blues". I bought his new CD because I read the above editorial review and apparently it would have been more focused on the "blues" rather than on other stiles. In his previous album "Levee Town" I found a song that from my point of view, or for my taste if you prefer, by it self worth the price of the entire CD: "Broken Hearted Road" a very solid traditional blues played with intensity and passion. As soon as I received the delivery from Amazon I put this record in my CD player with a lot of hope but also with a touch of scepticism. What a surprise! From start to finish this is a great blues collection! Other influences are still present of course, however blues rules this time. The opening track "True Blue" is a masterpiece and it gives you an immediate flavour of what is about to follow. Not bad songs on this CD, no a single one. Sonny shows his ability in playing slide but also "traditional" stile guitar as in the blues-rock oriented title track. Excellent guitar work throughout the entire album, excellent singing, excellent band, excellent mix and production. I can't possibly find a weakness on this CD. I just love it from start to finish. As far as I am aware this is one of the best blues release of at least the last 12 months (and maybe more). I think that we already have, so early in the year, a very serious contender for the "best traditional blues album" award when time will come. I hope that Sonny Landreth will continue following the "road he's on" and that with his next one he will be digging even deeper into the "Blues". I can't rate this CD less than five stars!

SONNY IS AWESOME!
We just returned from the Fort Smith Blues Festival after witnessing Sonny Landreth perform. We purchased the Road We're On directly from him. Buy it, buy the others too! If you are a guitar fan, you'll no doubt admire the incredible, magical talent of Sonny Landreth.

He combines blues, cajun zydeco and rock and roll to his OWN unique style.

I've seen many slide guitar players in my life, but Sonny IS the MASTER!

Heaven To My Ears
From the first notes of "True Blue" to the last chords of "Juke Box Mama," this release is heaven to my ears. Landreth has always been applauded for his musicianship, but often knocked for his lyrics. He gets them both right this time around.

From up-tempo rockers to slow burning blues, a lot of territory gets covered expertly on these tracks. As always, Landreth displays his chops as one of the best slide guitar players in the business. These tunes are more than guitar theatrics, though. There is more of an emphasis on the big picture. This music is a result of the fine art of song craft.

Lyrically, the mood of each song is enhanced with great metaphors and story telling. On "True Blue" you feel the pain as Landreth sings, "The hurt is pourin' down on you / You got to dig down deep to find / Strength to shelter you through." It is a tale about suffering and finding the strength to move on. "Hell at Home" conveys a little ditty about a domestic disturbance and global warming seems to be the topic of "The Natural World." Of course, there are a few tracks that you just want to crank up and who cares what he is saying! A well-rounded release from this incredible fret burner.

Astonishing!
It gets better and better.

Astonishing!
Sonny has kicked into high gear with his new release. Remarkable in every way musically. Recording is a little weak...too much overhead mic on the drums and then turned to mush in mastering by listening on a small Genelec monitoring system...Goddess forgive them for they know not what they do. None the less, get this CD and go to Guitar Player Heaven. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

My Favorite So Far
I'm just now delving more in to the blues and this is an excellent cd. Great guitar, bass, throaty singing, blues personified. Excellent remastered sound as well. Get it.

Big Sound!
This is really great. I have the original vinyl and subsequent release on CD. I put both CDs in my player and without altering the amp settings toggled between two discs; the new "remastered" cd is much fuller in sound and volume. Anyone who enjoys Johnny Winter should purchase this amazing album.

The Texas Bluesman's First Release Remastered!
Released in 1969 on Liberty Records, "Progressive Blues Experiment" was Johnny Winter's first album. This was, in my opinion, one of Johnny's best albums featuring straight ahead blues with fast guitar licks and amazing slide work. The ferocious "Rollin' And Tumblin'" a Winter classic showcases the bluesman's guitar style and his gritty vocals. "Tribute To Muddy" is Winter's tribute to the great blues player Muddy Waters, this is pure blues at it's best.But, the best blues track on this disc is "It's My Own Fault" full of red hot blues licks that are equal to or better than anything Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton ever recorded. Another great song "Black Cat Bone" highlight's Johnny's slide guitar playing and is another standout track. Both "Broke Down Engine" and "Bad Luck And Trouble" are pure Delta blues, again featuring slide guitar. More excellent songs are "Help Me", and "Mean Town Blues". The 24 bit remastering is excellent with crisp highs, increased midrange and bass. There are no bonus tracks (as there were in Winter's self titled "Johnny Winter" cd and "Second Winter" Deluxe Edition, both on Columbia/Legacy). Also, there are no liner notes to speak of and the enclosed booklet could have included some pictures of Johnny (there's just one) and information about him. But apparently Capitol Records felt there was no need to put out a quality booklet. If you enjoy the blues (and rock) than you owe it to yourself to have this superb album in your collection. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

I'd give it five if...
...there were more tracks like the first one: Buddy's 'Man of Many Words'. Sure, it's a re-write of Otis Redding's 'Hard to Handle', but it's a good re-write, and it has most of Derek and the Dominos,(Doctor John filling in on keyboards),-smoking- in support. Why not more Dominos?: Supposely there were many problems on these sessions, (mentioned, but not really explained in the notes), and they didn't even have enough material to release as an LP, until the two 'J. Geils Band' tracks were done quite a bit later.

Excellent
"Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play The Blues" is one of the duo's very best albums. Two tracks are Junior Wells-less, recorded by Buddy Guy with the J. Geils Band; the remaining eight songs feature a star-studded backing band which includes pianist Dr. John on several tracks, and some guy named Eric someting. Capton, something like that.

The song list is excellent, and so is the band, which sounds tight and supple, never threatening to overwhelm the two stars.
There are none of the erratic vocal performances or rambling solos that sometimes plagued the duo's live shows (this album is a studio recording). Junior Wells sizzles, laying down some great vocal performances. Buddy Guy's solos are controlled and disciplined, yet strikingly effective in up-tempo and ballad situations, and saxist A.C. Reed provides some soulful fills and gritty solos.

Among the highlights are a sizzling remake of T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle", and a swinging "My Baby She Left Me".
Guy does a fine "Bad Bad Whiskey" with an otherwise very discreet Eric Clapton playing slide guitar, and he is entirely credible in a grinding Otis Redding mode on the southern soul stomper "A Man Of Many Words", and the up-tempo "This Old Fool". Junior Wells does a great rendition of "Come On In This House" and his Vanguard classic "Messin' With The Kid"

This CD certainly deserves its place among the other tremendous items in the Rhino/Atlantic R&B Masters series. Definitely recommended.

leave out two tracks
Five stars for sure if not for tracks 7&10. So it gets four stars instead. ... Read more