Editorial Review

A towering figure in folk and world music, Alan Lomax is best known for collecting the sounds of everyday people singing the songs of their native lands. This volume is a sampler that just scratches the surface of a massive re-issue project that makes all of Lomax's archival material available on compact disc--the broadsides and ballads, work chants, and dances Lomax recorded on journeys through America, Europe, and the West Indies. The selection, of course, is as varied as his library--Irish reels, Delta blues, and Caribbean calypso as well as songs sung, literally, by fisherman, preachers, and chain-gang prisoners. Be warned, this insightful collection may well start you on a long musical journey of your own. Read more

Reviews (4)

Good, for what it is.
If you've never heard of Alan Lomax, this CD is a great place to start, with bits and pieces of several collections of his field recordings. It touches down in Spain, Italy, the British Isles, the Carribbean, the deep South, the Appalachians, and a few other places, too. But keep in mind that it is a *sampler* album. Many of the tracks are faded out well before the end of the song in order to fit so much onto one CD. Think of it as a catalog: if you hear something you like, you figure out which of the other CDs it's from and go buy it so you can hear the rest. It's fun to listen to by itself, too.

I'll use my sound clip option...more often
After ordering General's Daughter (love the CD) this title was listed as one that I my like.I knew that the songs would not have the heavy mix as those in General's Daughter.These songs are "FIELD" recordings. Again I blame myself for not researching a little deeper.

Essential introduction to roots music
If you are trying to get started learning about roots music (also known as "real" music), please buy this CD and support a great record label (Rounder Records).The tracks are all remarkable in their own way. If you have any interest in folk or indigenous music, this recording (andall the rest of Lomax' collections) is essential. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Appalachian Folk    2. Ballads    3. Blues Revival    4. Delta Blues    5. Field Recordings    6. Folk & Traditional    7. Folk Collections    8. Folksongs    9. Italian Folk    10. Old-Timey    11. Pop    12. Prewar Blues    13. Traditional Folk    14. Work Songs   

Editorial Review

Recorded in one afternoon in the Holly Springs, Mississippi, hometown of 69-year-old blues great R.L. Burnside, Read more

Reviews (12)

Raw blues to the extreme
If you're debating between Pocket of Whiskey and Mr. Wizard, I recomend getting Pocket of Whiskey. Although both are good and raw, Pocket of Whiskey definitley has a more groove oriented style to it. More melody too. It's about as raw and pure as you can get.

Love it or leave it...
Another reviewer here claims that RL didn't make any money from this release. Not true. This was his all time best commercial success, and paid him enough to put a new roof on his house, a roof under which lived his wife, 12 children, and several grandchildren, and a roof that had been a long-time-a-leakin.
Hendrix without the guitar
Although I liked the traditional blues rhythm and the singing, with the heavy sound calls for a better lead man.If you can't do better yourself, you have no business critiquing music, but any serious guitarist with a year's experience and a fuzz box could do better.Don't waste your money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Delta Blues    4. Electric Blues    5. Electric Delta Blues    6. Juke Joint Blues    7. Modern Delta Blues    8. Modern Electric Blues    9. Pop   

Editorial Review

The title of this 1966 collection is quite misleading: Shines was actually a first-generation Delta bluesman, having traveled with Robert Johnson in the mid-1930s. Shines is best known as a Johnson disciple, capable of riveting acoustic slide-guitar displays and expressive vocals. This set puts him in the company of noted Chicago electric bluesmen including Big Walter Horton on harmonica and Otis Spann on piano. Shines seems right at home with these modern masters, updating the classic Delta style and seamlessly fusing it with elements of the Chicago school. "Mr. Tom Green's Farm" and "So Cold in Vietnam" offer incredibly sharp and explosive electric-bottleneck work. Shines also tackles Johnson classics including "Walkin' Blues" and "Sweet Home Chicago." This album brilliantly illustrates the direct connection between acoustic Delta blues and modern Chicago blues. Read more

Reviews (1)

Another fine "Masters Of Modern Blues" album
Delta slide guitarist Johnny Shines was a pupil and travelling companion of the slightly older Robert Johnson. Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Chicago Blues    4. Electric Chicago Blues    5. Electric Delta Blues    6. Pop    7. Slide Guitar Blues   

Reviews (5)

Pure Delta blues...
The songs on this CD were recorded in Fred McDowell's living room in Como, Mississippi two years prior to his "discovery" at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964. Its surprising that this recording was made by two college kids (and not intended for release by a label) and manages to sound so good. The clarity is that of a studio recording; this doesn't sound like a "field recording" by any means. Apparently Fred performed for hours during this recording for a room full of friends and neighbors, who are occassionally noticeable in the background but overall don't take away from the performance. The songs here are great too: an hour of Mississippi Fred McDowell and his acoustic slide guitar ripping through classics like "Highway 61", "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", and a rousing "Shake 'Em On Down". If you like country blues or enjoy Delta blues players, you can't go wrong with this one.

It just don't get better than this!
Recorded in 1962 in his home in Como, Mississippi, these songs were never meant for public "consumption."Children playing can even be heard in the background.And that is precisely what makes this an absolute must for blues purists.He just turned on an old reel-to-reel and laid down some of the best blues ever recorded.The honesty, rawness and cutting intensity of his acoustic slide work has simply never been surpassed.It is the genuine article: pure, undiluted, painful, longing, blues.As a side note, he learned slide from his uncle who made his slide from grinding and filing a bone from a steak, hence, Fred called his blues, "steak bone blues."If you love, I mean LOVE the blues, you must have this.If not, you'll never know how good blues can get.

This the best Fred Mcdowell CD ever
This cd is is the best sounding,delta blues cd I have ever heard. Fred's playing is in top form & this cd has most of his better known songs; A Must Have!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Blues Revival    4. Delta Blues    5. Pop   

Editorial Review

The long-awaited reissue of Alan Lomax's continental European recordings begins with Read more

Reviews (2)

An amazing representation of historical music
When I first heard this CD as a senior in high school, it gripped me to the point that I actually did a major research paper on ancient Spanish music. Lomax covers the entirety of Spain, including the Basque country, which is what got me to first rent this album from the library and then buy a copy of my own. The songs he put on this recording are haunting and beautiful - - there are songs influenced by everything from Moorish reign, to Jewish infusion, to Communist climb. Every music lover deserves this album.

So much more than 'Toreador'...
A week ago, I checked this CD out at the library.Prior to hearing this CD, I had grown up on Mexican music and that was the extent of my knowledge as far as Hispanic or Spanish music went.I passed off Spanish music as being dull; nothing more than fandangos and castanetas.But after hearing this tiny collection, my taste for Spanish music had developed.In fact, this collection is so good, that I had to ... purchase a copy of it for myself.Read more

Subjects:  1. Field Recordings    2. Int'l & World Music    3. Italian Folk    4. Pop    5. Spain    6. Spain & Portugal    7. Spanish    8. Traditional Folk    9. Work Songs    10. World Music   

Editorial Review

Produced by Hooker's slide guitarist Roy Rogers--who knows what's right for him--this is Hooker's best '90s effort. He guides him through arrangements that recapture his past glories ("Boom Boom," with guest Jimmie Vaughan), sets him up for a giddy jam with the late Telecaster master Albert Collins ("Boogie at Russian Hill"), and teams him with Charlie Musselwhite for the guitar-voice-harmonica duet "Thought I Heard"--a performance as sad and eerie as disembodied moans in a Delta graveyard. There's also Hooker's first recorded performance on National steel guitar, the solo "Hittin' the Bottle Again." This CD gets right to the heart of Hooker's music and stays there. A blues-lover's delight. Read more

Reviews (7)

Awesome raw blues
Hooker doesn't play by the rules, and that distinguishes him from most other blues players.His style is raw and gritty, with his right foot stomping.I was only getting to know Hooker when I got this CD, and I was seruiously surprised by the songs where it's just his guitar and his voice: "I'm Bad Like Jesse James", "Sugar Mama", "Hittin' the Bottle Again", and "Thought I Heard".He's clearly not afraid of the imperfections, and that makes these raw guitar-only blues so real.The first time I heard a track like "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" or "Sugar Mama", I was shocked.I listened to it many more times, and the more I listened, the more I loved there blues. Disappointing
John Lee Hooker provided some early memorable historic cuts but this album does not include any. The Healer was a milestone in his revival, Mr Lucky less so and this followup album loses even more of that impact. The album has guests: Robert Cray, Albert Collins,Charlie Musselwhite and John Hammond among others. The only tracks which approach being memorable are 'Same old blues' and 'Boogie at Russian hill'. This album is not often played from my collection.

More than one Boom Boom
There is a Pointblank/Charisma CD titled Boom Boom. Its tracklist differs from the K-Tel CD by the same name. Some of the other reviews refer to it instead of the K-Tel release based on the references to song titles. It includes 1.Boom Boom 2. I'm Bad Like Jesse James 3. Same Old Blues Again 4. Sugar Mama 5. Trick Bag (Shoppin' For My Tombstone) 6. Boogie at Russian Hill 7. Hittin' The Bottle Again 8. Bottle Up and Go 9. Thought I Heard 10. I Ain't Gonna Suffer No More. Don't be misled by those reviews into thinking the K-Tel release is better than it is. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Music    4. Blues Revival    5. Blues Traditional    6. Country Blues    7. Delta Blues    8. Detroit Blues    9. Electric Blues    10. Electric Delta Blues    11. Leader    12. Pop    13. Songwriter   

Reviews (5)

****1/2. A terrific collection for the serious blues fan
Equipped with the unwieldy handle of "Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order volume 1 (1935 - 1941) - Break 'Em On Down", this is the best collection of Big Joe Williams' early recordings.
Shut up suckers
I don't know that reading these other reviews is going to tell you that much. But, if you're a big joe fan, this is a must buy, but you may want to get some of his 60s stuff first. Jumping into this album head first without really knowing who Big Joe is will really confuse the average country blues fan. I'd recommend "Piney Woods Blues" which really is great, or if you're a little braver, the first one I got was "These are my blues" which absolutely blew the back end out of my brain on first play. (Most of the album at least)
Wow!How'd he do that?
From the first notes of "Little Leg Woman" this album had me hooked!I have several other albums by Po' Joe or featuring him -- all wonderful -- but there is something about these early recordings that totally stuns me.Some of the guitar work has me scratching my head wondering how he achieved that -- and I know how he tuned his guitar and can play many of the rhythms he did!Guitarwork isn't the only reason to listen to this; Joe's vocals are wonderful, his lyrics fresh and interesting even now.Then there is the interplay between the other musicians -- Henry Townsend's guitar blends seemlessly with Joe's on one track, and listening to the version of "Baby Please Don't Go" with Sonny Boy Williamson on it has me wondering if Joe and John Lee shared some sort of telepathic bond.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Music    4. Delta Blues    5. Pop    6. Prewar Country Blues   

Reviews (5)

Another Yazoo masterpiece!
This is not your usual blues cd.These aren't the typical blues artists you have heard about in books or television. Some of the guys only did 1 or 2 records, but they are KILLER!If you want a great introduction to the lesser known blues masters this is it!!

Excellent collection of lesser-known Mississippi bluesfolk
If you feel like you've exhausted all the Delta and Mississippi blues from Patton to B.B., listen to this. This disc contains many of the only recordings by obscure, but no less talented, artists of early country acoustic blues. You may have heard Geechie Wiley's "Last Kind Word Blues" on the film *Crumb.* If you saw the film, the song has probably haunted you ever since. Worth buying for that track alone.

Indispensable
Compared to the giants of delta like Charley Patton and Robert Johnson, the artists on this album are relatively obscure, but it is due more than anything of the random aspect of the destiny. With have Garfield Akers recorded as many sides as Chambre of wire (which did not record many commercial discs of pre-war period, but which appreciated a modicum fame during the rebirth the blue ones of years ' 60), it would have the respect which it deserves (I think it is better a guitarist than the Room). The same ones can be known as of any of the artists on here (not to mention many artists for the past several thousand years, but to think of that inserts too much). The inclusion of 6 ways above here by women cannot seem substantial, but it rather quickly becomes clear that the women were of importance equal for the men in the respect to blue of Mississippi (and, heu, of you know, the life and the basic rights and very which), and they more amply had been recorded, they would be regarded just as powerful of a musical force. Why the hell didn't record the value of hours of the airs of Geechie Wiley when they had the chance? How could they take it for granted? It is tragic, if you find this kind of tragic thing. If Wiley had just recorded a LP' S-value of material, it would be considered more significant than the evil of John, as single as the jump James, perhaps even while significant like Charley Patton. Ouais, I said it. I do not exaggerate. Unfortunately, it left only one handle on sides (the most included here) for the posterity, if the posterity exists in its case. The guitar playing and singing here is brilliant through and through, and the noise of these 78s is excellent (except, unfortunately, blue head of work "without mother of Elvie Thomas of child," which has the heavy external noise). The notes of covering are excellent, certain better notes of covering for an album of Yazoo. If you stumbled in this page for any reason, and clearly you have, you must buy this CD that you will not regret it. But if you regret it, do not carry not felt sorry for to me about it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Collections    3. Blues Music    4. Country Blues    5. Delta Blues    6. Early American    7. Pop    8. Prewar Blues    9. Prewar Country Blues   

Reviews (1)

The gratest blues!I love that blue!
This is a very good cd of blues!The music is very good, and very listening..... I RECOMEND! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Delta Blues    3. Pop   

Features

• Live

Reviews (2)

Listen to the clips once, think twice
I wish anybody had mentioned this about this album before I bought it, so I'm telling you: this edition has been post-processed with a reverb that surely wasn't there when Lomax recorded it. Sometimes it's not especially intrusive, but sometimes it's aggressively metallic and artifical. Serves me right for trying to cheap out, and failing to listen to the clips. If this bugs you as it does me, do yourself what I'm going to do next time, buy the Rounder edition of "Prison Songs (Historical Recordings From Parchman Farm 1947-48)".

Great music, no liner notes
This is an excellent recording with almost no context. The liner notes (all of two paragraphs) don't say anything about when the songs were recorded of how Lomax got access to the prisoners. The sound is excellent. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Collections    3. Country Blues    4. Folksongs    5. Pop    6. Prewar Blues    7. Work Songs   

Editorial Review

This CD has a considerable mix of music on it, which is understandable given that it's a posthumous release of tracks collected over five years of recording. Every track, however, showcases guitarist Kimbrough's distinctive style, which regional isolation made very different from any other; it's not Delta, and it's definitely not Chicago. Kimbrough was primarily a live performer, recording only in the last years of his life, and one gets the impression that this is music that should be heard live. Since Kimbrough has left us, however, his recordings will have to do. --Read more

Reviews (6)

Fine blues
Saw this fella in 'You see me laughin' on IFC.Good straight ahead delta style blues.This is the real deal.

God Bless Ms Vernadean Hamilton and her daughter Kimberly
Thank you for lived insight. Please know it moves all kinds of folks, no matter who they are or what their upbringing may be. A Testament to the Music, I say. Long live the Spirit of the "Blues". Maybe if more folks took the sound, the soul, the joy, and the pain to heart, we'd have a better World.Scorned by many, an American hero once said, "can't we all just get along?" [R.King]. You bet we can! All one has to be is be willin' to feel and live in the stuff that is the Blues when the Blues comes a callin'.

Great collection
Okay, the main reason I got this was Because I had Heard the song "Tramp" before and loved it.So I figured I should just get the real thing.It is wonderfull My favorite song is "Tramp".But close Behind is the "All Night Long" (Instrumental). This track just proves that A song can still be extreamly complex, even if it is only made of one cord.The bass part on "All night Long"(instrumental) is great.Gary Burnside Manages to double Junior's guitar, Walk all over the over the neck of his bass,and still keep a solid groove going. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Electric Country Blues    4. Electric Delta Blues    5. Juke Joint Blues    6. Modern Delta Blues    7. Modern Electric Blues    8. Pop   

Reviews (2)

Lots of hits, lots of misses
This is a so-so collection of blues recordings.A few are great, with artists like Muddy Waters, T-bone Walker, and John Lee Hooker contributing some classics.But there are a few songs that were made famous by the Rolling Stones, and they sound ridiculous played in a blues style.Bottom line: this is worth getting, but only if you can get it cheap, and you're willing to sift through some duds to get to the good ones.

Great mix of new and old blues recordings
The House of Blues label has done it again with another incredible collection of blues essentials. From classics must-haves by Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, and John Lee Hooker to more recent recordings by TajMahal and Luther Allison, this collection is calling to you.Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Music    4. Blues Revival    5. Chicago Blues    6. Country Blues    7. Delta Blues    8. Electric Chicago Blues    9. Electric Country Blues    10. Electric Harmonica Blues    11. Electric Texas Blues    12. Folk-Blues    13. Harmonica Blues    14. Jump Blues    15. Modern Acoustic Blues    16. Modern Delta Blues    17. Modern Electric Blues    18. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    19. Modern Electric Texas Blues    20. New Orleans Blues   

Reviews (7)

"The Roots of a Tree cast no Shadow
The CD insert has a great quote "the roots of a tree cast no shadow". It is attributed to no one, on the sleeve it simply says, "As they say". I don't know who "they" are but after listening to this CD, "they" are right. The roots are presented exquisitely from "Mississippi to Mali". One can hear it in the notes, the rhythms and the sounds of the instruments and it clearly speaks one word, "Blues".
Blues connections
For this celebration of earthy acoustic music, scholar and bluesman extraordinaire Corey Harris trekked to Mississippi and Mali, West Africa, to make a series of modern field recordings. Stateside, Harris cut resonator slide tracks with fife-and-drum musicians; in Mali, his bandmates included the great Ali Farka Toure on guitar. The resulting performances -- a mix of traditional blues and African melodies, songs by Skip James and Blind Willie Johnson, and originals by Harris and Toure -- are as spontaneous and relaxed as a back porch pickin' session. Through his music, Harris reminds us of the rhythmic, melodic, and spiritual connection between traditional African sounds and early American blues. If you're bummed by the slick production values of contemporary blues guitar albums, the dry, present tones and relentless funk of these tracks will set you right.

Excellent music; serious production problems though
I'm a huge music fan and love all kinds of music, especially The Blues, owning around 100 blues CDs, including a few others by Corey Harris; I've even seen him perform live, and would consider myself a fan.Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Music    4. Contemporary Blues    5. Delta Blues    6. Folk-Blues    7. Modern Acoustic Blues    8. Modern Delta Blues    9. Pop   

Reviews (7)

Seminal!
Aleck "Rice" Miller, Sonny Boy Williamson II, was around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at one end of his career, and with Eric Clapton at the other. He was born at the tail end of the 19th century in Glendora, Mississippi, he taught the basics of blues harmonica to a young Howlin' Wolf, and he was present the night Robert Johnson was poisoned.
The REAL King of Rock 'n' Roll?
Sonny Boy somehow gets swept into a corner because he only had a few records that were "hits" in the 1950s, "Don't Start Me To Talkin'" and "Mighty Long Time," his masterpiece on this CD. However, when he died, artists including The Moody Blues, Jack Bruce, Jimmy Reed, Paul Jones of Manfred Mann, John Maysll, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and others recorded tributes to him. He recorded with the Animals and Yardbirds, Jimmy Page, jazzmen Chris Barber and Roland Kirk and others. The real story is that Sonny Boy II (not the same Sonny Boy Williamson who recorded "Good Morning Little School Girl"} was Alex Miller, a blues harp player, songwriter and singer who had been playing in the Mississippi delta since the late 1920s with people like Robert Johnson and Robert Lockwood Jr., Joe Willie Wilkins, Pinetop Perkins, Ike Turner and others. He was THE star of the Delta, so popular he didn't need to record until 1950 when he started to record these sides with Jackosn Mississippi's Trumpet Records. He was an escaped convict who became an international blues star using another man's name (John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson among others) and another's as his alias (his brother Willie Miller). He was truly hiding in the spotlight.

His Finishing School, Before He Made His Chess Legend
For hearing the man born as Alec (Rice) Miller as he had rounded into near-complete game shape, in the years immediately preceding the seminal sides he would cut for Chess beginning in the mid-to-late 1950s, there is no better package than this of Sonny Boy Williamson's incandescent, embryonic recordings for the ancient Trumpet label. Many of these songs would get the Sonny Boy makeover when he re-cut them during his Chess years, and it's intriguing to compare between the Trumpet originals and the Chess refineries of such signature songs as "Eyesight To The Blind," "Cross My Heart," "Nine Below Zero," "Mr. Down Child," and "Mighty Long Time." Then again, the tandem treat is to hear a good enough dollop of some of Sonny Boy's more personal material, particularly the slightly haunting "West Memphis Blues," which he wrote about the fire that actually burned down the house he had bought with his wife. Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Blues Traditional    4. Chicago Blues    5. Electric Chicago Blues    6. Electric Delta Blues    7. Electric Harmonica Blues    8. Harmonica Blues    9. Pop   

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Country Blues    4. Delta Blues    5. Pop    6. Prewar Country Blues    7. Prewar Gospel Blues    8. Slide Guitar Blues   

Reviews (4)

DON'T BE A DUMMY!!!!!!
Don't be a dummy. Any fool knows the brothers Chess, Leonard and what's his name virtually wrote the book when it comes to Chicago Blues. It's a no brainer. Now I ask you, where else do you find a more classic lineup of stars? From Muddy to Wolf, from Little Milton to Buddy Guy, John Lee to JB, (Lenoir that is) And let's not forget Willie Dixon and Bo Diddley and so many more. The best compilation of its kind
This is no mere publishing sampler. "The Classic Originals" gathers 36 of the very best blues and early rock n' roll singles cut at the legendary Chess studios in Chicago, and it provides the perfect introduction to men like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and numerous other recording artists from the 50s and 60s.
Absolutely essential for any CD collection
Anyone who knows the blues, knows rock, and knows R&B, needs this album! The liner notes say these two CDs could easily have been four, and I wholeheartedly agree! The tunes drift, casually, from blues, to rock, to R&B, and somewhere in the middle of all his music the listener finally "gets" how rock 'n' roll came to be. The sound quality is great. (Except for my track 4 on CD 1 of Sugar Mama, by John Lee Hooker, which was scratched, sadly.) Still, the music flows, deep, dark, and you can see the allure this music held for Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Savoy Brown and the many others who used this music as a jumping off spot for what emerged as middle-class rock in the '70s. Especially noteworthy on these two CDs are the phenomenal contributions made by Willie Dixon (the great bass-playing songwriter!), Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. That's not to negate the other contributions, by any means. Not a weak track is among the 36 on this 2-CD collection! But listening to Muddy, John Lee, Chuck Berry and others, I am just blown away how MUCH of the music of the '60s and '70s is indebted to these musical giants, many of whom are sadly forgotten. There are a lot of blues-rock compilations out there, but this one stands far and above the others in terms of overall sonic quality, and in the selection of absolutely essential tunes. One of the sadly overlooked GREAT CDs of the '90s! Worth more than five stars... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acoustic Blues    2. Blues    3. Blues Collections    4. Blues Music    5. Blues Revival    6. Blues-Rock    7. Chicago Blues    8. Delta Blues    9. Electric Blues    10. Electric Chicago Blues    11. Electric Harmonica Blues    12. Electric Memphis Blues    13. Electric Texas Blues    14. Harmonica Blues    15. Jive    16. Jump Blues    17. Modern Electric Blues    18. New Orleans Blues    19. Piano Blues    20. Pop   

Reviews (4)

For Chicago Blues fans ONLY
A short and sweet review:
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.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 50's    2. 60's    3. Acoustic Blues    4. Blues    5. Blues Collections    6. Blues Music    7. Blues Revival    8. Chicago Blues    9. Delta Blues    10. Detroit Blues    11. Electric Blues    12. Electric Chicago Blues    13. Electric Delta Blues    14. Electric Harmonica Blues    15. Electric Memphis Blues    16. Harmonica Blues    17. Modern Electric Blues    18. Modern Electric Chicago Blues    19. Pop    20. R&B   

Reviews (1)

One of the originators of delta blues harmonica...
One of the early hamonica blues legends and heroes.Thier are harp solos, as well as spots where Jaybird plays in the legendary Birmingham Jug Band, fun music!!!Jaybird is alos one of my favorite old time blues singers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Blues Music    3. Delta Blues    4. Jug Band    5. Piedmont Blues    6. Pop    7. Prewar Country Blues   

Editorial Review

Through his portrayal of Tommy Johnson (the real-life composer of "Canned Heat Blues"), Chris Thomas King brought some Delta blues to the bluegrass-driven Read more

Features

• Soundtrack

Reviews (7)

Excellent
O'Brother was the summer movie for me. After I saw the movie I then got the soundtrack and upon hearing the whole album, I immediately liked the track by Mr. King and I read that he was a muscian first so I decided to see what else he had done. Due to the obvious set up of this album it was an easy buy. I wasn't dissapppointed by a single track. They are all well performed and the instruments and choosen perfectly. The right types of guitar and the right use of Piano, to the perfect use of back-up vocals this man does it all. Good Show and more power to him.

Great and refreshing bluegrass
Chris Thomas King is one of the most talented musicians since Stevie Ray Vaughn. Multi talented, great range to his voice as well as being able to play all nine instruments, used on this CD. The movie "O'Brother Where Art Thou?" doesn't begin to show off his talents. Doesn't even come close. I loved it, especially the song "Spread the Glory." Also a great song and fun to listen to is "John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto'"; but all of them are supurb.

Twentieth Century Blues
When organic American music was given a shot in the arm by the Coen Brother's movie O Brother, Where Art Thou, Chris Thomas King was among the artists who benefited with King's role as blues musician Tommy Johnson and his song O Brother Where Art Thou.King took full advantage of this opportunity and produced an ambitious concept albumThe Legend of Tommy Johnson.Imagine an obscure blues artist who sold is soul to the devil down on some Delta crossroads for the ability to play music.He wanders around the delta singing on the corners of "Magnolia and Main" as the cover says. Maybe he serves a stint in prison and becomes part of a chain gang and then upon release wanders to Chicago to try his hand with electric guitar. This is the story of a composite of blues artists throughout the twentieth century and Chris Thomas King has penned, sang, played and produced all the songs on this CD.It is a skillful and artistic cd which demonstrates King's love and appreciation for the music.