Blues — In Stock — LPs  

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A great set of 70s indie blues – issued at the end of the decade, but with a sound that's much more old school overall! The album was cut at a time when Buster was a key underground figure on the Chicago scene – and it's got a solid, classic approach that's very much in the 60s... read more

Way more than you might expect from the legendary Big Maybelle – a smoking collection of soulful tunes that goes way beyond her early blues of the 50s, and shows the lady to be one heck of a funky singer – on a par with the best 60s work from Etta James at Chess! The cuts here are... read more

One of the earliest albums on Arhoolie Records – an amazing document of steel guitar bluesman Black Ace! Ace plays just like he sits on the cover – really leaning into the instrument in ways that bring out all these cool, deep inflections – completely hypnotizing on their own,... read more

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Not a retrospective, but an introspective – get it? Anyway, apart from the annoying title, the set's a great collection of Bobby's classic work from the 60s – 24 tracks pulled from his monumental years at Duke, a sublime blend of soul and blues, handled with a skill unmatched by no... read more

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Rough and raw work from Big Bill Broonzy – well-done sides that feature Bill on vocals and acoustic guitar, recorded in Paris in the early 50s, and issued here in a US package on the Scepter label! There's a pretty earthy feel to most of the tracks – a real "crossroads" feel... read more

One of the youngest groups of the zydeco wave of the 70s – and one of the grooviest too! The group's got a solid swing and sense of soul that goes beyond most of their contemporaries – almost a deeper current of blues at most points, especially in the guitar – and even in some of... read more

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Rare Mississippi blues from Ranie Burnette – recorded in the early 80s, but with a timeless style that takes us right back to the delta! The approach here is similar to some of the best Georgia rural blues of the time – very spare and stripped-down, with mostly just guitar and vocals... read more

Gritty revival blues from RL Burnside – and a record that really broke his music into a wider audience! Of course, it helps that the set features guest appearances from Kid Rock and Lyrics Born – the latter we enjoy more than the former – but the overall vibe is still very much... read more

Astoundingly strong early recordings by Mississippi blues hero RL Burnside – with violence-tinged songs performed with a clearer, though no less tough voice than we heard on the songs that made him a bit more famous in 1990s! Includes RL's takes on traditionals played on acoustic guitar and... read more

Titles include "Walkin Blues", "Get Out Of My Life Woman", "Mary Mary", "East West", "Two Trains Running", and "Work Song".... read more

A historic pairing of blues talents – one that only flourished for a few short years, but created some wonderful music together! Leroy Carr brings lots of jazz inflections to his work on piano, but the overall sound is definitely blues – thanks strongly to the guitar lines of Scrapper... read more

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Beautiful guitar work from Elizabeth Cotten – much more sensitive and lyrical than you might expect – with a warmth that really goes beyond the usual Folkways record of this nature! Elizabeth sings on the set at points – in this raspy, time-worn style that's pretty compelling on... read more

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Funky Bo Diddley – one of Bo's key early 70s sessions for Chess Records – all of which have him stepping out in a much harder groove than years past! The sound here is relatively tight – with Diddley guitar and vocals on top of some larger arrangements from Bob Gallo –... read more

Heavy funk from the legendary Bo Diddley – one of his amazing comeback albums from the early 70s for Chess, all of which are plenty darn great! For this set, Bo's traded in the scratchy guitar mode of his classic work for a sweeter, tighter funk-based sound – a groove that's supported... read more

A wicked reinvention of the sound of Bo Diddley – a set that electrifies his groove even more than before – and takes him into the same mix of funk and blues that Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf were exploring at the time! This album's right up there with the two Cadet/Chess classics by... read more

Bo Diddley tearing it up in the mid 80s – with a fairly raucous, hard-charging presentation of his iconic sound, plus more electric bluesy numbers with sax and a more stretched out groove. Titles include "Intro/Bo Diddley", "Doctor Jekyll", "Everleen", "I... read more

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Nasty nasty funk from the great Bo Diddley – one of his rare funky 70s classics for Chess – produced by Johnny Otis with a really tripped-out groove! The album's got an edge that seems to go even farther than some of Bo's other Chess work at the time – and picks up the full-on... read more

Nasty nasty funk from the great Bo Diddley – one of his rare funky 70s classics for Chess – produced by Johnny Otis with a really tripped-out groove! The album's got an edge that seems to go even farther than some of Bo's other Chess work at the time – and picks up the full-on... read more

A long-overdue recognition of the blues contributions of Willie Dixon – a set that pulls him out of the indie ghetto and pushes him firmly into the mainstream with this key release on Columbia Records! Yet despite that placement, the style is nicely down home – a strong recreation of... read more

A pretty great late live set from Buddy Guy – who's tearing it up at his namesake Legends club in Chicago! Buddy's been throwing it down for years at Legends during annual winter residencies – which can be among the tougher tickets to score in the winter live club scene around here... read more

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The first full length collaboration between blues, soul and rock slide guitar eclecticist Ben Harper and harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite – and it's win for both – with a vibe that's rooted in many traditions, but feels right at home in both Harper's and Musselwhite's wheelhouses. ... read more

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A killer late 60s Chicago blues set from Earl Hooker – one of his best! Earl is one of the great blues slide guitarists, and his tone is captured so incredibly well here – songs recorded at Chicago's Sound Studios with impeccable players. Earl sings on "Anna Lee" and "Yo... read more

Great gritty sides from the mighty John Lee Hooker – material with a slightly obscure origin, but recorded in the late 50s, right in a stretch when he was cutting some of his classics! Hooker's guitar and vocals are center stage – both growling with a hell of a lot of soulful power... read more

Quite an amazing little record – and one that definitely lives up to its title! The set's one of the most intimate ever recorded by Lightning Hopkins – done in a style that's equally folk as it is blues – with Hopkins playing guitar and singing, but in a very relaxed, laidback... read more

A really nice later set from legendary Texas blues titan Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins – done up for the Jewel label with a bit of the spark that was missing from the hit & miss work he did earlier in the decade for Bluesville! Blue Lightnin' also has a down and dirty style in spots,... read more

A killer album of funky blues – recorded by Howlin Wolf during the period when Chess/Cadet was backing its older artists up with some of the newer funk musicians it had working in its studios! The overall sound works quite well – and although purists at the time moaned at the way... read more

Funky blues work from Howlin Wolf – his key entry into the funked-up genre that Chess Records was cutting at the end of the 60s with other blues artists like Etta James, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters! As on records with those artists, Wolf's older modes are updated here for a hipper, younger... read more

Funky blues work from Howlin Wolf – his key entry into the funked-up genre that Chess Records was cutting at the end of the 60s with other blues artists like Etta James, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters! As on records with those artists, Wolf's older modes are updated here for a hipper, younger... read more

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Vintage work from Mississippi John Hurt, but somehow amazingly clear and crisp in this classic LP presentation! The tunes are wonderfully earthy – just vocals and guitar from Hurt, in a style that's definitely blues, but which has some surprisingly jazzy inflections at times – at least... read more

Titles include "Laying Beside You", "Only Women Bleed", "Lovesick Blues", "Piece Of My Heart", "Strange Man", and "Blind Girl".... read more

Exactly the kind of a record to show why Skip James was really a cut above most of his contemporaries – a bluesman who works here with a sense of darkness and foreboding that really sets a chill to most of his tunes! There's less of the usual short-term sadness and smaller complaints of... read more

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A strong collection of (mostly) early-to-mid 90s recordings by Mississippi blues legend Junior Kimbrough – compiling his Fat Possum recordings and as a set that really is essential! It includes recordings captured Junior's Juke Joint in Chulahoma, MS, home recordings and more – raw and... read more

A well-titled record, as Albert King here plays with the large sound and big tone that would make him one of the best up-and-coming bluesmen of the 60s – a key player in the already-electrified generation, and possibly the greatest example of the new confidence that was coming into the genre... read more

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Hardly the surf album you might expect from the title – although the set is a killer batch of guitar instrumentals – with more than enough power to blow any west coast groups right off the beach! At this early point in his career, Freddie King is way more than just a blues guitarist,... read more

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A comprehensive look at some great recordings from Little Walter – sides recorded for Chess Records from 1953 to 1963 – offering up a decade's worth of evolution in his style! But even at the start, Walter was better than most of his generation – a heck of a great harmonica... read more

Killer 50s work from the great Little Walter – tracks that show that he was of the greatest blues acts working for Chess Records at the time! Many of the numbers here are heavy on Walter's classic harmonica style, but they also feature plenty of rough-edged vocals with a nicely soulful... read more

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Rough-edged blues from the west side of Chicago – a stone classic from the mighty Magic Sam – a player who was taken from us all too soon! On the west side, they mix plenty of soul in with their blues – and you can definitely hear that on this stone smoker – a record that... read more

A definite treasure from Taj Mahal – especially for fans of his excellent early work for Columbia Records! The first CD in the package features unreleased studio tracks recorded during the glory days for Columbia – not rough cuts or demos, but well-finished gems that offer up the same... read more

A bit hipper and less bluesy than some of Taj's other work for Columbia – recorded with his Intergalactic Soul Messengers Band, and a sound that's slyly soulful – and flavored with reggae or otherwise Caribbean influenced rhythms! Music Keeps Me Together has a fairly loose feel, but... read more

The classic second album by Taj Majal! Includes "Good Morning Miss Brown", "Done Changed My Way Of Living", "I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll", "The Cuckoo", "Ain't That A Lot Of Love" and more.... read more

The raw and riveting mid 60s recordings of singer and guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell with blues harpist Johnny Woods! It was recorded by George Mitchell with a relaxed, press record and stay out of their way approach – and man is this some exhilarating stuff! McDowell brings a lot of... read more

Pivotal work from one of the first bluesmen to ever use "blind" in his name – sides recorded by the legendary Willie McTell when he was at the height of his powers! Most tracks here feature well-recorded vocals from Willie – especially for the time – a haunting... read more

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Brilliant early recordings from Blind Willie McTell – easily one of the most distinctive bluesmen of his generation! McTell's guitar is subtle, but effective – often used in these strummed passages that seem to let his vocals do most of the work on the tunes – save for some key... read more

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Not just Jimmy Reed – as the album features work by Phil Upchurch on bass and Al Duncan on drums, plus some great uncredited organ too – but the album's still a great chance to hear the great one at all his stripped-down best! Jimmy really dominates on vocals and guitar, and some... read more

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A key album of 80s southern blues from Bobby – done in the slightly electrified, slightly modern style that was coming out of the Jackson scene at the time – in a way that helped find a home for so many artists after the decline of southern soul in the 70s! Material like this made... read more

A great session that features Jimmy Rushing singing in the rootsy style of his early Kansas City recordings, with backing by a group that includes the legendary Pete Johson on piano, plus Rudy Powell on alto, Emmett Berry on trumpet, Buddy Tate on tenor, and Freddie Greene on guitar. Titles... read more

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One of the late 50s Jazz Archive LPs on Riverside – in which they dig through older sides, and issue the material in LP format with nice notes. Most of the material here is from the pivotal late 20s years, milestones in the formation of the American female blues singer! Also features work... read more

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Late 70s dancefloor soul from Soiree – a rare disco set featuring clubby revisions of huge hits of the day and earlier, with massive talent in the group! The sound is bright and grooving, and heck of a lot more endearing than so many of the disco era remake projects, and most impressively,... read more

Vintage blues from Memphis – a whole host of rare 78s from Frank Stokes, Furry Lewis, Will Weldon, Pearl Dickson, and others – presented here on a great album from Yazoo! The music has a surprisingly clear sound at times – clearly recorded with minimal studio effort, but still... read more

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Rootsy sounds from Henry Thomas – some great vintage recordings from the late 20s, with a feel that's quite different than more conventional blues from the time! Thomas definitely has a bluesy approach, but his use of the guitar is more strummy, almost folksy – as is his occasional... read more

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A great early slice of Eddie Vinson – material that features him playing alto and singing, in a mode that's almost more jump and jive than later R&B!... read more