His Best: 1947 to 1955
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 March, 1997)
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Editorial Review

One of the best recordings in Chess Records' 50th Anniverary series is the first of two bookend Muddy Waters collections, His Best 1947-55. Documenting Waters's most creatively and commercially successful years at Aristocrat/Chess, this CD begins with his formative years and ends with Waters at his peak. So you're in for a lot of terrific bottleneck slide guitar work as well as electric Chicago blues. What's to criticize? Superb remasterings of "I Can't Be Satisfied," "Rollin' and Tumblin'," "I'm Ready," and "Mannish Boy" are simply beyond reproach. With simple bass accompaniment from Ernest "Big" Crawford, Waters's bottleneck tracks are spare, haunting and, quite frankly, perfect country blues. And listening to Waters, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, and Jimmy Rogers piece together (and perfect very quickly) the classic Chicago sound is pure blues epiphany. At the very least, this collection shows you why Waters's rollicking stop-time classics like "Mannish Boy" and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" have sparked endless imitations over the years--and why nobody has played them better since. --Ken Hohman ... Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (18)

Muddy Is The Man!!!
If you are a blues fan you have to have at least one Muddy Waters CD and this would be the one."Mannish Boy" is probably my favorite.This is the first Muddy Waters song I ever heard although I had heard plenty of his songs done by other artists.It was used in a beer commercial (Budweiser I believe)back in the early '90's and I had to find out who it was.His version of the often recored "Baby Please Don't Go" is my favorite version of this song. This is an essential CD if you are just getting into blues.Also see Howling Wolf's "Rocking Chair album" and "Moaning at Midnight."And for Delta Blues, Robert Johnson's complete recordings since it is only two CDs and Son House's "Father of the Delta Blues."

WOW!
Is there any better buy you could make?I mean, the cost of these songs comes out to about 69 cents a song. This was my first Muddy Waters CD as I wanted to get a taste of what he offered, and all I can say is that there is no going back now.

Often imitated but never duplicated, Muddy is the epitome of the blues.From I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man to Mannish boy, these are timeless classics which will never be improved.

This is most definitely a "desert island cd".....add it to your collection.If you don't buy the two "His Best" CD's: 1947-1955 and 1956-1964, I would highly recommend the Chess box set.

Again.....one word: "WOW"

Blues from heaven
This album blew my mind and is essential listening for any lover of blues, rock or any form of music(interested listeners are requested to also check out Howlin' Wolf 'His Best' CDissued simultaneously by Chess Records).

Nearly 50 odd years later the music sounds as fresh as yesterday. If this isn't where all the rock maestros of later years got their sonic ideas, it should have been. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQH
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Revival    3. Chicago Blues    4. Delta Blues    5. Electric Blues    6. Electric Chicago Blues    7. Pop    8. Slide Guitar Blues   

His Best: 1956-1964
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (20 May, 1997)
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Editorial Review

Few blues artists covered as much territory as did Muddy Waters, and it's more than evident if you put this collection and The Complete Plantation Recordings side by side. Even more than the prior His Best collection, these recordings illustrate Waters's talent not only as a composer and performer (as usual, many of the songs were written by Willie Dixon), but also as a bandleader. The backing musicians--including several who were by now name artists in their own right, such as James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Earl Hooker, Little Walter, and A.C. Reed--are tight as a drum and smooth as a greased axle. This essential collection contains several classics, including but not limited to "Got My Mojo Working" (Waters's studio take on what has to be the most-covered blues song in existence), "She's Nineteen Years Old," "Good Morning, Little School Girl," "The Same Thing," "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had," "You Shook Me," and "You Need Love" (which will sound oddly familiar to Led Zeppelin fans). It rocks, it rolls, it shakes, it's quintessential Chicago blues. --Genevieve Williams ... Read more

Reviews (10)

MUDDY Was CLEARLY King!
In moving to Chicago from the Mississippi Delta region in 1943, MUDDY WATERS (McKinley Morganfield) essentially remolded the musical language known as The Blues.Playing now in nightclubs, the acoustic rural sound gave way to a booming urban beat.As a writer once cleverly quipped : by plugging in his guitar, Muddy Waters invented electricity.

'HIS BEST 1956 - 1964' captures the explosive, impassioned sonic Blues that Muddy developed, and which was such an influence on so many bluesmen who emulated him in his wake.Muddy was to Chicago Blues what Elvis was to Rock 'N' Roll - in a word: KING!These tracks feature the Blues King being backed by some of the legendary names of the genre :WILLIE DIXON (bass), JIMMY ROGERS (guitar), BUDDY GUY (guitar), JAMES COTTON (harp), A.C. REED (sax), OTIS SPANN (piano), the underrated S.P. LEARY (drums), and perhaps the most revered Blues instrumentalist of his generation, the harp master, LITTLE WALTER.

These songs cook, rock, menace, sneer (wink and grin).This is raw, foot-stomping stuff, the REAL Blues, the genuine article.Get this, get Howlin' Wolf's Chess sides, and the Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson and you'll discover from where the thieves, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant stole their first two albums!

Blues masterpieces such as most of the tracks presented here (like the rollicking 'ALL ABOARD' to Muddy's signature roof-raising, 'GOT MY MOJO WORKING') are so dynamic, and contain such evocative imagery that one could build a movie around them.And wouldn't you know it?That's just what I did about 15 years ago.The Blues almost became an independent character in an unproduced screenplay I wrote.Flipping through her old vinyl records, the terminally geeky Billy Withers says to the hip, sassy, Jazz & Blues street-singer, Billie Clayton, "Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy Waters?They sound like they're from the World Wrestling Federation."She replies, "They're all great bluesmen."Ah, but ain't it the truth?!And later, Muddy's, 'YOU CAN'T LOSE WHAT YOU AIN'T NEVER HAD' becomes the catalyst for the defining moment in my movie when Clayton refrains from murdering her unborn child.

And yet my favorite track is 'THE SAME THING.'With its lyrics punctuated by Spann's brief piano bursts, this moody, carnally-charged ballad shows how the Blues, in "proper" circles, came by the disparaging moniker, "the devil's music."

WHAT MAKE MEN GO CRAZY WHEN A WOMAN WEAR HER DRESS SO TIGHT?
MUST BE THE SAME OL' THING THAT MAKES A TOMCAT FIGHT ALL NIGHT.

WHY DO ALL OF THESE MEN TRY TO RUN A BIG-LEG WOMAN DOWN?
MUST BE THE SAME OL' THING THAT MAKES A BULLDOG HUG A HOUND.

OH, THAT SAME THING!
TELL ME WHO'S TO BLAME? THE WHOLE WORLD'S FIGHTIN' ABOUT THAT SAME THING.

WHAT MAKE YOU FEEL SO GOOD WHEN YOUR BABY GET HER EVENING GOWN?
MUST BE THE SAME OL' THING THAT MADE A PREACHER LAY HIS BIBLE DOWN.
OH, THAT SAME THING!

By all means, dive into MUDDY WATERS.Get 'HIS BEST 1956 - 1964' and see what kind of movie it inspires you to write.Or perhaps you'll just want to turn it up loud and let it rock you "all night long"; rock you like your "back ain't got no bone!"

You gotta have it!
If the first part of this series gives you the transition from delta slide acoustic to electric blues versions of the same thing, and some of the most graphic and personal recordings of the blues ever done, besides standards no cultured person can be without, this CD is a record of the birth and perfection of the electric blues band, and a classic version of that band with some of the greatest soloists of the blues working for Muddy.I don't play in blues bands. In fact, the most band music I play is in old timey string bands, but still this record speaks to me about the meaning of a tight band, the way great soloists can work with a great master, and the way a great creator created what we now call the Chicago Blues (which was actually the third or fourth wave of Chicago based blues).
Of course, like the previous CD in this series, the songs are so much fun, speak so much truth, and are such a strong part of the real culture, not just of the blues, but of the entire world, that you should have it. I think this series is all right to have, because with Muddy, you need to have it all, at least up to about 1962 or 1963 when he started making toooooooooooooooo many albums and making rip off albums for the "folk blues audience," although the album with that title is a superb one.
If you don't know, Muddy Waters is still one of the great artists of the 20th Century in any genre. You are loving somet hing precious about the world if you don't have his classic recordings.

Great overview of Muddy's late-50s-mid-60s material
A must-have companion volume to "His Best: 1947-1955", this CD brings together almost all of Muddy Waters' finest songs from 1956-64, including superb electric blues classics like "Forty Days And Forty Nights", "Got My Mojo Working", "The Same Thing", and the swinging, swaggering "I Love The Life I Live, I Live The Life I Love".

This is not a complete career retrospective, obviously, but if you don't want to invest in the elaborate three-disc "Chess Box", the two "His Best" CDs are a very fine alternative. The only "problem" is that the superbly well compiled double-disc "Anthology 1947-72" features 50 songs and costs a dollar or two less than this CD and "His Best: 1947-1955" put together, which makes it a slightly better purchase.
4 1/2 stars. You can't argue with what's here. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQQ
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Revival    3. Chicago Blues    4. Delta Blues    5. Electric Blues    6. Electric Chicago Blues    7. Pop    8. Slide Guitar Blues   

His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (08 April, 1997)
list price: $18.98 -- our price: $14.99
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Editorial Review

Chester Burnett's ferocious growl was a staple of Chicago's electric-blues heyday. This 20-song compilation ranges from his 1951 debut "Moanin' at Midnight" with Willie Johnson on guitar to 1964's "Killing Floor" with Buddy Guy on guitar. His scratchy, sawed-off vocal approach and his energetic harmonica grace original classics such as "How Many More Years" and "Smokestack Lightnin'." By 1960, he became, along with Muddy Waters, the foremost interpreter of Willie Dixon's songs, lending his coarse voice to legendary Dixon cuts such as "Wang Dang Doodle," "Back Door Man," "Spoonful," "The Red Rooster," and "I Ain't Superstitious." Wolf's style was based on primal raw power, and he ranks among the genre's most distinctive performers. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (34)

SOME GREAT CLASSIC BLUES
Howlin' Wolf has the got one of the most incredible voices ever. This is a great single disc comptilation of his work. He was obviously highly inspiring too many of the english guitarists and musicians. He (like muddy waters) has an all star band with some of the greatest bluesman ever. Track Listing-
1. Moanin' At Midnight- 10/10
2. How Many More Years- 10/10
3. Evil- 10/10
4. Forty-Four 10/10
5. Smokestack Lightnin'- 10/10
6. I Asked For Water- 8.5/10
7. Who's Been Talkin'- 10/10
8. Sitting On Top of the World- 10/10
9. Howlin' For My Darling- 9/10
10. Wang Dang Doodle- 10/10
11. Back Door Man- 9.5/10
12. Spoonful- 10/10
13. Shake For Me- 10/10
14. The Red Rooster- 10/10
15. I Ain't Superstitious- 10/10
16. Goin' Down Slow- 10/10
17. Three Hunder Pounds of Joy- 10/10
18. Hidden Charms- 10/10
19. Built for Comfort- 10/10
20. Killing Floor- 10/10

This album is phenomenal. Some of the greatest blues you will ever hear, buy it!

20 classics from the Wolf!
Opening with "Moanin' at Midnight", Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett) uses a low hum filled with overtones that distorts the microphone for eight seconds until the guitar and drums enter. The Wolf then does a distorting howl and then goes on the harmonica and the tempo gradually increases to become the instant Delta blues classic that it is. It is one of the strangest yet one of the neatest sounds that was ever part of a song. When you hear it, don't worry because your speakers aren't broken. The song sounds pretty good from something from 1951. That song and its B-side "How Many More Years" were recorded for Sam Phillips in Memphis. The masters were sold to Chess when the Wolf was signed to Chess, too. The 18 other songs are pure, raw blues. The Chess musicians were a fine group of musicians and really knew how to crank out the blues especially with people like Howlin' Wolf. "Smokestack Lightning", "I Asked for Water", "Hidden Charms", and "Killing Floor" have hot guitar licks. Listen for "Spoonful"; yeah! That's another hot one. The entire song is flawless and there's a neat rhythm and a drive to it. My favorite! I've suddenly taken an interest in blues music and this is indeed a sheer example of what the blues was all about. I was more into the rock'n'roll of those days and not necessarily straight and pure blues. Man, they had some real good stuff then. If you're just discovering Howlin' Wolf, this is the one to really lend an ear to. You'll be glad you did. WOO-OO!

epitomized the blues for me
and why not? more than any other blues singer, Howlin Wolf has had a major influence on a lot of very important bands.I recognized songs covered by Cream, The Doors, and the Steve Miller Band, among others on this disc.These are blues standards for one reason; Wolf speaks directly and has few pretensions.The hooks are also really good, just listen to the bone crunching bass line on "backdoor man" to see why it is so much better than the Doors version.Classic song after classic song is included here, for all to enjoy.You need this in your collection to have a complete blues collection.It might even be the best introduction to the blues that there is! ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQM
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Chicago Blues    3. Electric Blues    4. Electric Chicago Blues    5. Pop   

I Am the Blues
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (24 August, 1993)
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Reviews (14)

Rediscovering Willie
I'm in the process of digitizing some of my old vinyl, and in poking through my collection, came across this one.I hadn't listened to it in quite some time, and it didn't even have an inner sleeve!Since there are no musician credits on the cover, I surfed on over here to Amazon hoping to discover same.No luck, but I must say I am so glad I am revisiting this LP.And I heartily agree with the other reviewer that if the CD sound quality suffers, it sure ain't because of the LP (or analog tapes).There is a roomy, spacey sound here that is enticing...........now if I only knew who the fine musicians were on this thing!!

What else can be said
Who knows how different the history of music as we know it would be like without this genius.Every blues musician since and many classic rock bands owe him a huge debt.This is a must for any music collection.

Willie Dixon - I AM the blues
Ignore the "official" review and then find this album on VINYL.

I purchased this LP back in 1974 on vinyl and still listen to it every so often.The sound quality on a good system is just superb.

That the official review complains about the sound quality simply tells me that the CD was poorly mastered which is such a shame because this album is a joy to listen to.

Go hunting online and find the vinyl version - it's well worth the hunt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Asin: B00000293E
Sales Rank: 35064
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop   

His Best : The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (17 June, 1997)
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Editorial Review

Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs is perhaps the most influential harmonica player on contemporary blues, and his collection is a great place to start. He was trained by Muddy Waters, but brought a more swinging feel to blues. Muddy and his band accompany Little Walter on many hits, as do Robert "Jr." Lockwood, the Aces, and other Chicago greats. In the 1950s, Little Walter's popularity eclipsed even Waters', his style a little more relaxed and pop-oriented. Walter's versions of many songs are the standards: "Blues with a Feeling," "You're So Fine," "Juke." Great stuff. --Robert Gordon ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Almost 5 stars!
Great collection, but I am missing Little Walter's cover of Willie Dixon's "Dead Presidents" which is on the Chess Box Willie Dixon Collection - why wouldn't it be here? Chess owns the rights to the song, and it's a magnificent representation of Little Walter's powers as a blues musician. Other than that omission, it's perfect!

****1/2. Almost perfect
This is the best available single-disc overview of Little Walter Jacobs' career.
The highly renowned blues harmonica player was not a singer of the caliber of Muddy Waters, or a songwriter to rival Sonny Boy Williamson (II), but his recording career spanned some 20 years, and there are more than enough gems in his catalogue to fill this disc to the point of overflowing.

"His Best" has the best sound currently available, and excellent liner notes, and while the double-disc "The Essential Little Walter" is more thorough, this is all that most listeners will need. A couple of great songs are missing, most notably Walter's gritty rendition of Willie Dixon's "Dead Presidents", but that's a minor quibble...almost all of Walter's best is here.

1997's "His Best" takes the place of MCA/Chess' original 12-track LP "The Best Of Little Walter", a landmark blues album which had remained in print for over three decades. Here is his first hit single, the instrumental hit "Juke", as well as Walter's versions of Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway", Dixon's "My Babe", and T-Bone Walker's "Mean Old World" (shamelessly credited to Jacobs himself). And virtually all of Walter's best self-penned songs are here..."Blues With A Feeling", "Boom Boom, Out Goes The Light", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright", "Tell Me Mama", and numerous often excellent instrumentals.

This is certainly the place to start, the finest single-disc Little Walter-compilation on the market.

Little Walter: His Best
Beginning his career performing his masterful harmonica playing in Muddy Waters' band, Little Walter broke out on his own with his 1952 hit "Juke." From there Walter's amplified sound (which he originated) became a common entity of Chicago blues. This best-of collection selects the cream of the crop from mostly Walters 1950's sessions recorded for the Chess label; revealing him not only as a divine harmonica player, but as a skilled songwriter as well.

Included on the album are classic numbers such as the bouncing rhythm of the aforementioned "Juke", the wailing harmonica of "Blues With A Feeling", and the hopping "My Babe", a song penned by the great Willie Dixon, becoming the biggest hit of Walter's career in early 1955.

In addition, three photographs and six pages of insightful,well written notes by Billy Altman are included. Although a few noteworthy numbers are absent, this collection remains a fine testament of one of the founding fathers of Chicago Blues. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQT
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Chicago Blues    3. Electric Blues    4. Electric Chicago Blues    5. Electric Harmonica Blues    6. Harmonica Blues    7. Pop    8. United States of America   

Live in Cook County Jail
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (21 April, 1998)
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Editorial Review

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

Features

• Original recording remastered
• Live

Reviews (29)

A great set played for a captive audience
B.B. King doesn't play a dexterous firestorm of notes as guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix (a B.B. King disciple) would; in fact, he doesn't play that many notes.That doesn't, however, mean he's any less impressive.It's wonderful the way King seems to be able to milk each note he plays of every ounce of emotion.There is nothing particularly flashy about his playing style but you can tell B.B. puts his heart and soul into every performance.This performance is no exception.

King is in smouldering form and this show is a joy to listen to.I think I actually prefer this show to 'Live at the Regal' because B. B. plays some of his more well-known material.

'Every day I have the blues' is somewhat all over the place and the drummer seems to be out of time so I usually skip this track but it doesn't detract from the magic.

B.B. seems to be having a great time playing for this audience and this enjoyment brings his performance to another level.

Eh
I don't get it.
I had high hopes for this CD. Every review I've read, including the editorial review here at Amazon, has been jubilant, and "Live In Cook County Jail" is certainly not a bad record, but it's not great either, and at times it's barely even good.

I have an awful lot of blues albums, and I like to think that I know good blues when I hear it, but I just can't figure out what it is that people find so appealing about this recording.
Sure, King does a very good rendition of his trademark "The Thrill Is Gone" and plays excellent guitar on a great reading of "How Blue Can You Get", but "Every Day I Have The Blues" is marred by bland vocals and horrible drumming (easily the most annoying ever heard on a blues record!).

As for the rest of the seven songs, "Worry, Worry" trails off into long, sometimes tedious improvisations and is badly mixed. The first half of the medley "3 O'Clock Blues / Darlin' You Know I Love You" is pretty good, but "Darlin' You Know I Love You" is more jazz ballad than blues, and while I enjoy a good jazz ballad, I don't expect to find them on blues records. Besides, this one is not really that good either.

King does a good job with "Sweet Sixteen", but the album winds down with a closing number, "Please Accept My Love", which doesn't feel like it belongs on a blues album...there's more pop than blues to it.
All in all, there is some good and some bad on this album, and quite a lot in between. King's playing on "How Blue Can You Get" and "The Thrill Is Gone" rivals anything he's ever done, but those two songs by themselves are not enough to make this a great album.

When BB is on
This is one of those concerts where BB is on fire with a very good crowd that was happy to see him. While BB is usually very good in concert some nights he is just on fire and this is one of them. ... Read more

Asin: B0000062Y5
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop   

Complete Chess Recordings (Chess 50th Anniversary)
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (08 April, 1997)
list price: $31.98
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Reviews (2)

Jimmy Rogers Legacy
This is Jimmy Rogers complete output of work from Chess Records. Muscians take note in the many styles that Jimmy encompasses throughtout his workwhich shows through the sophistication of the songs(learning from the likes of T-bone Walker and Tampa Red).Just a very enjoyable body of work by one of the Blues greats who influenced people like Freddie King and Otis Rush. Excellant singer also!!!!!

Yet another South Side star shines brightly...
Like his Muddy Waters Band contemporary, Little Walter, some of Jimmy Rogers' best work was done before he went solo. After "Luedella" broke in 1956, Rogers had already become yet another star in the galaxythat was launched by Waters' seminal band. Although the two Chess"Muddy Waters: His Best" would serve as the ideal introductionfor both Rogers and Little Walter, I think this disk would be a good buyfor anyone interested in Rogers guitar style or anyone that might beinterested in hearing the Muddy Waters Band without Muddy Waters on leadvocals. Recommended, but not essential though the craftsmaship is, ofcourse, superb and influential throughout. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQJ
Sales Rank: 66288
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Chicago Blues    3. Electric Chicago Blues    4. Pop   

What It Takes: The Chess Years
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (10 September, 1991)
list price: $13.98
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Reviews (5)

Why the...... is this CD out of print?!
More comprehensive than Koko Taylor's eponymous Chess LP (which is essentially a compilation as well, bringing together a dozen already issued singles), "What It Takes" is an almost perfect collection of Taylor's Chess sides.

Almost perfect because "Love You Like A Woman" and "I Love A Lover Like You" are missing, but look at what is here! "Don't Mess With The Messer", "Whatever I Am You Made Me", "Wang Dang Doodle", and four killer tracks from Koko Taylor's hard-to-find second Chess album, 1971's "Basic Soul", including "Bills, Bills & More Bills".
Bassist, composer, arranger and allround blues treasure Willie Dixon is everywhere, and the great Lafayette Leake plays the most irresistable blues-n-boogie piano you'll ever hear on "Um Huh My Baby" and "I Need More And More".

This is Chicago blues at its very, very best, right up there with Muddy Waters, Elmore James and the Wolf. Tough and gritty, but accessible and supremely melodic.
Koko Taylor displays the versatility of her amazing voice, and Willie Dixon supplies a slew of songs of incomparable quality. And just check out the personnel on this ultimate 1969 recording of "Twenty-Nine Ways To My Baby's Door": Fred Below keps the beat going behind guitarists Buddy Guy and Matt 'Guitar' Murphy, bassist Jack Meyers, pianist extraordinaire Sunnyland Slim, and harpist Big Walter Horton.
Eh?
There is barely a single weak track here, and the arrangements are flawless (with the exception of the hideous choir on "Love Me"). "What It Takes - The Chess Years" is the ultimate collection of Koko Taylor's earliest recordings, and any semi-serious blues fan needs to find themselves a copy of this CD. Diehards will need this one and the "Koko Taylor" album too, 'cause some of these recordings differ from the ones on "Koko Taylor", which also includes three or four songs not found on "What It Takes". Yeah, it's tough ;o)

What comes first the egg or the hen
Oh my goodness. I am only 12 years old and when i heard this album I got up and starting singing which come first the egg or the hen. Koko and Willie Dixon together makes a great duet. The song Love me and uh huh my baby are classics as well as wand dang doodle. I reccomend to buy this album.

On the Edge
If you like Etta James, you should love Koko Taylor.Taylor's fierce growl and profound feel for the blues make even Etta look timid.This is a fabulous record, and one that consistently provides the "Fire" that track 10 promises.As with the blues in general, these songs are about love and loss--people who done other people wrong.But between Koko Taylor's not-so-subtly threatening delivery and the dramatic lyrics to many of the songs, the album gives a coherent impression of a woman on the edge.When Koko points out that she's "A Little Mixed Up," when she tells a lover that "Whatever I Am, You Made Me," and when she warns him not to "Mess With the Messer," we believe her.She sounds serious.At the same time, the songs have plenty of humor, mixed with a good dose of the blues' frank sexuality, in songs like "[I Got] All You Need" and "Twenty Nine Ways [To My Baby's Door]"That last song always makes me laugh--the number's so much more precise than Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover," and as Koko points out, even though, "I got twenty nine ways to get to my baby's door . . . if he needs me bad I can find 'bout two or three more."

As if this weren't good enough, I should add that the music is the kind that makes you want to get up and move.While it probably does great music like this a disservice to advertise it as a fitness product, the truth is I used to listen to this album on long walks and it really got me going.I gave it to my mother one Christmas and with it in her CD player (and with the help of a rowing machine) she transformed her physique from that of a 50-year-old to that of a 15-year-old.Terrific stuff. ... Read more

Asin: B000002OBG
Sales Rank: 63006
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Chicago Blues    3. Electric Chicago Blues    4. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    5. Pop   

His Best Chess Sides (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (17 June, 1997)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $11.98
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Editorial Review

Hooker was already making hits (for Modern) when he started to record for Chicago's legendary Chess Records in 1952. So he's at the peak of his powers on these solo sides from 1952 to '54, and with Eddie "Guitar" Burns, pianist Lafayette Leak, and drummer Fred Below in 1966. The '50s numbers stomp and grind through Hooker's typically down-'n'-dirty songwriting. "Ground Hog Blues" is especially gritty, as he describes how he'll poison his woman's lover. Those cuts also show the influence of prewar blues personalities Sleepy John Estes (on "Worried Life Blues"), Tampa Red ("Sugar Mama"), Sonny Boy Williamson ("Louise"), Johnny Temple ("Please Don't Go"), and Big Joe Williams ("Bluebird"). The '66 band recordings include his classics "The Waterfront" and "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer." --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Hooker at his Best
This is it! If you don't have any John Lee Hooker in the House , this is the place to start. This isn't a water down compilation like several CDs out there. This is John Lee at his best and working with some of the bestsidemen that Chess records had to offer. Do yourself a favor and Hook upwith John Lee Hooker ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQS
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Country Blues    3. Delta Blues    4. Detroit Blues    5. Electric Blues    6. Electric Delta Blues    7. Juke Joint Blues    8. Pop   

His Best
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (20 May, 1997)
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Editorial Review

This is Sonny Boy Williamson II, whose 1940s Mississippi Delta radio broadcasts for King Biscuit Time made him one of the most influential of all blues musicians. A master harmonica player, he created relaxed songs, often humorous, that reminded urban listeners of their country roots. These tracks are from his years at Chess, beginning in the mid-1950s until his death in 1965. His recording bands feature Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, and Robert Lockwood Jr., among others. Perhaps his best-known track here is "Don't Start Me to Talkin' (I'll Tell You Everything I Know)," but his signature sound is evident on every high trill he played. --Robert Gordon ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Must've sold his soul to the devil
All other great blues harp players have been imitated with some success.Nobody has been able to copy SBW2; nobody can get his tone or his timing.Even if he didn't play harp, he was one of the most evocative, intense singers in blues.To top it off, he wrote great songs.For me, that makes him one of the greatest musicians ever.I first had most of this collection as the vinyl "This Is My Story."I've had this CD collection for several years now and it still amazes me when I play it.This may seem a strange comparison, but the closest musician I can compare him to is Sidney Bechet.Nobody else played soprano sax with his timing - you could copy him note for note, but you could never solo with that timing - he was the only one.Same goes for SBW2.

Twenty Essential Chess Recordings
While there is an unresolved debate as to Sonny Boy Williamson's real name or birth date (or year for that matter!), there is no question that he was one of the great blues harpists of the post-World War II era. With 1993's two-disc ESSENTIAL out of print, this single-disc collection of some of his best work at Chess is an amazing introduction to one of the genre's most imposing artists.

Beginning with his first sides for Chess in 1955, "Good Evening Everybody" and "Don't Start Me Takin'," through the end of his career in the mid-sixties, Williamson worked with some of the best studio musicians Chess had.Willie Dixon plays bass on most tracks (and wrote the one song--"Bring It on Home"-- not written or co-written by Williamson himself), Fred Below is the drummer on most tracks, Lafayette Leake and Otis Spann share piano duties, and guitarists are primarily Robert Lockwood and Luther Tucker.

Like many blues artists, Williamson was more appreciated in England than in his home country. Between 1963 and 1965 he toured extensively in Europe and recorded with such blues-based artists as the Animals and the Yardbirds.His most obvious influence would be on the Allman Brothers who covered his "One Way Out," but you'll hear it in any artist who has a deep passion and conviction in his music. Any complete blues library will have at least one Sonny Boy Williamson album, and this one will make a nice addition.VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

A great place to start
I have no idea why I've only given this compilation four stars, but with this new system that Amazon has introduced, you can't change it without having to delete the entire review and write a new one. But I meant five. Five stars. Five!

This magnificent collection brings most of Aleck "Rice" Miller's best songs together on a single disc, and it is highly recommended if you're relatively new to Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II).
Every one of these songs are top-notch. Raw, gritty electric blues played by some of the tightest bands in the business, the cleverest lyrics this side of Willie Dixon, and musicians which include Muddy Waters, Robert "Jr." Lockwood and Buddy Guy. And of course Miller's braying harmonica and instantly recognizable rasp of a voice.

Rice Miller's amplified harmonica playing is easily the grittiest and most immediately recognizable ever on record (Big Walter Horton is the only one who gets close), and the way he moves between singing in his expressive old man's voice and blowing the harp is amazing.
"This man moves from vocal to harp with an ease only possible of one who long ago sold his soul to the devil in exchange for not having to breathe while performing", the liner notes to one of his LPs once stated (in a disturbingly serious way!).

This is one of the finest items in the entire MCA/Chess catalogue, featuring all-time Chicago blues highlights like "All My Love In Vain", "Nine Below Zero", "Don't Start Me To Talkin'", "Help Me", the supremely tough "One Way Out", and the irresistable "Fattening Frogs For Snakes" which combines one of the most irresistable blues tunes you'll ever hear with one of Miller's best lyrics.
Because his output for the label was of such a uniformly high quality, virtually everything Williamson put down on tape at the Chess studios could make a final cut on any best of package you'd want to put together on the man, so a lot of wonderful music is obviously missing from this collection, including three of Sonny Boy's best songs ("Santa Claus", "Too Young To Die" and "Peach Tree"). But you gotta start somewhere, right? And this is a genuine A+ compilation, well annotated, and utilizing the finest digital transfers ever heard.

I just have to add one word of advice:
If you already have his debut LP, "Down And Out Blues", or know enough about Sonny Boy to want a lot of the really good stuff in one place, may I suggest the 45-track "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson", also from MCA/Chess, instead.
It has more than twice as many songs, yet at no point does it resort to "filler", and that one is the definitive Rice Miller-collection. Oh, and you'll need his Trumpet sides as well! ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQN
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Chicago Blues    3. Electric Chicago Blues    4. Electric Harmonica Blues    5. Harmonica Blues    6. Pop   

Live at the Regal
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (29 July, 1997)
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Editorial Review

Heralded as one of the greatest live blues albums ever recorded, this set catches the singer-guitarist as his star was in ascent: in 1964 playing Chicago's answer to Harlem's Apollo Theater--the Regal. King's performance is visceral. He sings so hard that gravel flies even in his clearest high notes. And his trademark single-note guitar lines are sharp and steely, matching his voice with trembling vigor. He offers early hits like "How Blue Can You Get," "Worry, Worry," and "You Upset Me Baby" to what's essentially his adopted hometown crowd (by his own account, King had already played the theater hundreds of times). They give him a hero's welcome. In fact, the audience's screaming enthusiasm is distracting. But rarely has a love-fest of this magnitude between a performer and fans been documented. --Ted Drozdowski ... Read more

Features

• Live

Reviews (35)

A classic, blues or otherwise
Anyone who dismisses blues music as being sad and depressing and whiny should listen to this album. Sure, B.B. King sings about heartbreak and lost love in many of the songs, but he does so in such a way that it is uplifting, maybe just because you can relate to it and say "oh, that cat knows what I'm feeling". That, right there, is why this record is timeless. All of the songs, with the possible exception of "Help the Poor", are knockouts. This being a live album of course, the audience is absolutely IN LOVE with B.B. and the band, and people often shout out things like "Play it all night!" and "Tell it, B.B.!" If this were a studio album, it would not be nearly as good. The advantage of hearing blues live is that you get to hear a whole different atmosphere- people screaming, clapping, going wild for the sweet sound of Lucille. Which reminds me, not only is the guitar on this album fantastic, but also B.B.'s vocals are downright amazing! They range from a deep gravely tone to a sweet falsetto, and are some of the best blues vocals ever put to tape. If you do not own this, get it, just to hear classics like "Sweet Little Angel", "Worry Worry", "How Blue Can You Get", and "You Upset Me Baby". An absolute must-have.

Great performance - the one live B. B. to get
The sound of Lucile on this record is stunning and B. B.'s vocals are great too (especially on the slower numbers like Sweet little angel, It's my own fault or how blue can you get. I'm not a big fan of all the tracks, but still just the once I mentioned together with Worry worry and Baby you done lost your good thing now are worth five stars - each of them.
If you don't want to buy all of his numerous live albums (he cut 5 just in the sixties) -this is the one to get.

Some Great Live Blues from B.B. King,4 and 1/4 stars.
I've read some incredible reviews for this album and don't get me wrong this album is fantastic. But there's a little to much singing and not enough classic b.b. guitar work, espically on the second half of the album. The first half of the album cranks out some great classics and the second half has some moments but the first five songs are the best. If you love more jazzy blues (like some of b.b.'s stuff) this album is your nirvana. Although I do like b.b.'s style like that, with a little touch of jazz, I expected some more incredible blues pouring from lucille. This album still remains fantastic and has some incredible music. Best songs: "Everyday I Have the Blues", "Sweet Little Angel", "It's My Own Fault" and "How Blue Can You Get?" ... Read more

Asin: B000002P72
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop   

Her Best : The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 March, 1997)
list price: $13.98 -- our price: $9.99
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Editorial Review

Whether she sings string-laden pop ballads, lively soul, or gritty electric blues, James's high-powered, enormously expressive voice displays a knack for passionate blues inflections. Emotionally charged ballads including "At Last" and "All I Could Do is Cry" find James blasting through the orchestra with unearthly wails and moans. "If I Can't Have You," a duet with Harvey Fuqua, drops the orchestra in favor of horn-driven R&B and "Something's Got a Hold On Me" is a gospel-flavored romp reminiscent of Ray Charles. A live version of Jimmy Reed's "Baby, What You Want Me to Do" shows her raunchiest Chicago-blues style, and "In the Basement," with Sugar Pie DeSanto, is a funky workout. Also here are three classics from her soul-drenched 1967 Muscle Shoals sessions.--Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (37)

It will leave U wanting more...
This is a shrunk-down version of "The Chess Box" collection.All the songs are great, but having the 3-disc set is better.These are her Chess records recordings.

Great for listening and dancing
I love to listen and dance to this one.It's great for any kind of dancing.I have used it for erotic dancing and several songs are suitable for this type of dancing.My favorite song is "Baby, what you want me to do!"This one song will make any erotic dancer look good!

Best Single Disc Compilation Of Etta's Music
For someone on a budget who is interested in the music of this legendary artist, look no further than this single disc album. The sound and track selection here are excellent. Anyone interested in the blues needs to have at least one Etta James album in their collection and you can't go wrong here. For those of you have a few extra dollars around, I strongly suggest 2 disc set "The Essential Etta James" on the MCA/Chess label."The Essential" boasts 44 tracks an is more comprehensive than this release, but also twice the price. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQE
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop    3. R&B    4. Soul-Blues    5. United States of America   

Hard Again
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 October, 1990)
list price: $9.98
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Editorial Review

It's seems strange now to think of Muddy Waters's having to make a "comeback," but that's what the 1977 Hard Again came down to. The great bluesman's first post-Chess recording after 30 years with that company, it marked Waters's major-label debut and eventually went gold. The over-60 Waters lived up to all the attention with one of his most energetic, sustained performances, bettering his original version of "Mannish Boy," pushing "Bus Driver" to a raging peak, and generally sounding like the wisest man on record. Harp player James Cotton and producer-guitarist Johnny Winter are among the support; they both stay out of Waters's way and give as good as they get. --Rickey Wright ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Fantastic!Fantastic!Fantastic!
The title says it all.If you love electric blues, BUY IT.If you are into Muddy Waters BUY IT.What a shame he is no longer with us...

One of Muddy's Best
"Hard Again" is one of Muddy's greatest works. This album is one of several that is produced by Johnny Winter and features Johnny on the guitar and James Cotton on the harp. The opening song "Mannish Boy" is packed with that great swagger that i always loved about him and Johnny howls in the backround. The best tracks are "Mannish Boy", "Bus Driver" and "I Can't Be Satisfied". "I can't be satisfied" has Winter doing some impressive guitar solos on his steel-bodied National guitar. "The Blues Had A Baby...." is also another impressive song with Muddy telling is version of the story of Rock and Roll.
This is a must have in your blues collection.

Bus driver...
Muddy Waters sounds looser here than I've ever heard him. This sounds like some friends getting together for a jam session at someone's home, with dialogue around some of the tracks, spontaneous-sounding vocal contributions from some of the musicians, and just a general laid-back feel. It's loud and raw, great jamming all around, and shows us that not only the young make great music. Waters IS the blues, and this is THE blues record. See if you can find it on vinyl if you're of that persuasion (I liek some thinsg better that way), otherwise it's damn cheap on CD. My local indie record shop was selling it for $8, and amazon's price is great too. Any price would be good for this one. Roll on, Muddy, wherever you are. ... Read more

Asin: B00000258J
Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Pop   

Chess Blues Classics: 1947 to 1956
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 March, 1997)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $11.98
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Reviews (3)

I'm Hooked on Chicago Blues
This disc and its companion (1957 to 1967) introduced me to some great music. I already owned cd's by a few of the Chess artists, but these discs opened my eyes to others. Etta James knocked me out on 1957 to 1967; How could I have overlooked her for all these years? I put her box set on my wish list! All of the Chess 50th Anniversary discs enjoy excellent sound quality, especially considering the age of the tapes used. I was especially impressed by the sound of the lates 40's and early 50's material. I have never heard anything from the 40's that equals the sonics of the 40's songs on this disc, and I have many old jazz discs from that era.

4½ stars - a great starting point for the curious
Opening with blues legend Muddy Waters' first hit, "I Can't Be Satisfied", "Chess Blues Classics: 1947 To 1956" collects 16 blues numbers from the late forties and early-to-mid fifties.

It doesn't offer anything of interest to the seasoned blues fan (who probably has all of this material already), but if you're a newcomer and would like to explore the world of classic Chicago blues, this CD is a really good place to do it.

The compilers have picked some great songs, particularly Sonny Boy Williamson II's superbly swaggering "Don't Start Me To Talkin'", Little Walter Jacobs version of "Blues With A Feeling", Muddy Waters' "I Just Want To Make Love To You", pianist Eddie Boyd's classic slow blues "Twenty-Four Hours", the thumping proto-rock of Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man", and the awesome Howlin' Wolf's eerie 1956 single "Smokestack Lightnin'".

This is prime rib; it's only a little slice of what Chess Records have to offer, but it gives you a very good idea of what you're in for if you decide to go down the blues road. In time you will probably want to go looking for albums by the individual artists, but until you do, "Chess Blues Classics" and its companion volume "Chess Blues Classics 1957-67" is as good a starting place as any, and better than most.
(If you're looking for your first blues purchase, you may also want to check out the excellent double-disc "Chess Blues Guitar".)

Essential recording for both Blues purists and casual fans
OK, how can a true blues fan not purchase this album?If you're clinging to the Delta sounds of Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson, this compilation is worth hearing.When Muddy Waters moved to Chicago in 1943, he single-handedly gave birth to electric blues.This is the blues here that has directly or indirectly influenced ALL blues music today, as well as helping create the birth of Rock N' Roll.There is no shortage of great talent on this album.Sure, all the usual suspects are present on this album; Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon, but the album also gives wonderful introductions to Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, and Sonny Boy Williamson, among others.Here is the first hand experience of the earliest of electric blues - Chicago Blues.

Sadly, the stellar efforts of these bluesmen would come to prominence by way of versions performed by The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Clapton and Hendrix.Now, true Chicago Blues can be heard in all its aching glory.And lastly, would it really seem like old school blues if it wasn't in mono?I think not. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQG
Sales Rank: 123600
Subjects:  1. 40's    2. 50's    3. Acoustic Blues    4. Blues    5. Blues Revival    6. Chicago Blues    7. Delta Blues    8. Electric Blues    9. Electric Chicago Blues    10. Electric Delta Blues    11. Electric Harmonica Blues    12. Harmonica Blues    13. Piano Blues    14. Pop    15. R&B   

Chess Blues Classics: 1957-1967
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 March, 1997)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $11.98
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Reviews (3)

Teasin' Pleaser....
The Chess Blues Classics. Bellisimo, Baby. Great for an intro to the Chicago style post-Delta electric blues music--heck, this is great even if you're a longtime fan. This chronicles Chess Records move to their Michigan Ave. digs and the consolidating of some of their satellite small record companies into one big happy homestead. Bass man extraordinaire Willie Dixon becomes the Chess A & R man, and these Blues? They wail, Man, they wail!Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy, Howlin', Etta, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy!!!! When the Buddy Guy track comes on, you notice how much smoother the recording technology, hence, the Blues itself, becomes. A Little Milton cut has sessionmen Charles Stepney on piano and Maurice White on drums. Etta James house rocks a live audience in Nashville. Willie gives a tune to KoKo Taylor. And Hooker does the Last Call...will you love this? Do you have to ask?

Great music
Like its companion volume, "Chess Blues Classics 1947-1956", this CD offers some of the best tracks by some of the best blues musicians of Chicago's famed Chess label.
One or two selections are debatable, and "Chess Blues Classics" is of no interest to the more experienced blues fan in that it doesn't include any rarities. But if you're a newcomer and would like to explore classic electric blues, this is a very fine place to start doing so.

"Chess Blues Classics 1957-1967" includes two excellent cuts by harp legend Aleck 'Rice' Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II), namely "Help Me" and the magnificent "Fattening Frogs For Snakes", as well as fine selections by John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, and legendary bluesmen Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and slide guitarist Elmore James. And Otis Rush's too rarely heard "So Many Roads, So Many Trains", with its smouldering slow guitar solo, is here as well.

Several of these tracks count among the greatest electric blues performances ever issued, including Howlin' Wolf's "Little Red Rooster" and John Lee Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer".
4 1/2 stars. A great place to start.

Excellent doorway into the blues
I bought this CD 4 years ago, not knowing a whole lot about the blues, and it is now one of my favorite albums.An excellent anthology of the classic blues.Anyone who considers themselves a music fan should listen to this CD. ... Read more

Asin: B000005KQF
Sales Rank: 123886
Subjects:  1. 50's    2. 60's    3. Acoustic Blues    4. Blues    5. Blues Revival    6. Chicago Blues    7. Delta Blues    8. Detroit Blues    9. Electric Blues    10. Electric Chicago Blues    11. Electric Delta Blues    12. Electric Harmonica Blues    13. Electric Memphis Blues    14. Harmonica Blues    15. Modern Electric Blues    16. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    17. Pop    18. R&B    19. Retro-Soul    20. Slide Guitar Blues    21. Soul    22. Soul-Blues