Blues — All Formats  

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 pulled from Maybelle's Rojac recordings – rare indie tracks that hardly got much circulation at the time, but which make tremendous use of her powerful voice – re-fitting it for a whole new groove in the 60s – including socking soul numbers with plenty of punch, and a few laidback ballads that are dripping with deep soul! There's a total of 22 tracks in all on the set – not just rare singles and album tracks, but a few others we'd never seen before – a beautiful package that also features very detailed notes as well! Titles include "Careless Love", "Mama", "Love Is A Hurtin Thing", "Big Sweet Daddy", "I Can't Wait Any Longer", "Quittin Time", "Cold Cold Heart", "I Am Lost", "That's Life", "Why Was I Born", "Blame It On Your Love", and "Old Love Never Dies".

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, with almost an unworldly feel at points – and accompanied by vocals on most tracks. Titles include "Drink On Little Girl", "Bad Times Stomp", "Farther Along", "Evil Woman", "Fore Day Creep", "Little Augie", and "Golden Slipper".

Very raw, very rootsy stuff from Big Bill Broonzy, issued by Columbia (strangely enough) as part of their Adventures In Sound series. The packaging and the notes have the usual smug Columbia "serving up the best in roots culture for white liberals" tone – but the set's actually a pretty decent batch of material that includes nice numbers like "Texas Tornado", "Key To The Highway", "When I've Been Drinkin", and "Goobye Baby Blues".

An amazing document from Tomkins Square – and a set that goes even beyond the usual high level of some of the other releases from the label! The set's a beautiful archival project – one that seeks to resurrect the rare music of Arizona Dranes – a gospel pianist and vocalist who recorded briefly in the 20s – on an obscure set of 78rpm releases that were only captured through acoustic technology. Dranes has an incredible approach – both to the piano, which is more bluesy – or almost boogie-woogie at times – and to her vocals, which have an unbridled soul that really comes through, even with the lower level of recording. The set was put together by journalist Michael Corcoran – who spent years looking into Dranes life, and wrote the notes for the 44 pages that come in the book-style package, which also includes some rare photos. 78s were remastered brilliantly – and titles include "He Is My Story", "Just Look", "God's Got A Crown", "My Soul Is A Witness For The Lord", "Don't You Want To Go", and "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go".

Amazing sounds from the delta – but way different than the usual blues you might expect! Sid Hemphill is a really unique talent – a multi-instrumentalist who made most of the records heard on this set – and a strong proponent of the earlier Mississippi use of panpipes! The local variant heard here is referred to as "quills" – and often mixed with a rocking fiddle accompaniment in the background – moving up and down with kind of a devilish quality that really sets an edge underneath the rough-edged vocals, too! Also, the vintage recording feel also gives the music a very offbeat feel – and from the notes inside the package, it sounds like Alan Lomax really worked hard to track down these sounds of Sid's. Titles include "The Devil's Dream", "Leather Britches", "Sidewalks Of New York", "Rye Straw", "Boll Weevil", "Jesse James", and "Come On Boys Let's Go To The Ball".

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 other records of this vintage – and instead, James creates this overwhelming sense of melancholy that comes through not just in the lyrics of the tunes, nor his mournful way of singing – but also in the eerie chords he chooses for his work on guitar. The package features a great number of songs played with cross-note tuning – and titles include "How Long Buck", "Devil Got My Woman", "Hard Luck Child", "Drunken Spree", "Be Ready When He Comes", "Yola My Blues Away", "What Am I To Do Blues", and "Illinois Blues".

Smoking early work from the legendary Freddie King – most of it recorded during years he had a strong connection to the Chicago electric blues scene, where he really honed his craft to perfection! The work here is definitely blues, but King's vocals bring a soulful inflection to the songs that's undeniable – and although his hard-riffing style would later be copped by countless imitators on later cheesy blues albums, the presentation here is still breathtaking – really raw, and recorded by King with this clear, sharp sound on the guitar that seems to knock out all other elements when Freddie takes a solo! The package is one of the first to really dig deep into these crucial years for King – and brings together 54 tracks all recorded as singles for King Records – complete with full notes, and even information on the original releases too. Titles include "In The Open", "Texas Oil", "Come On", "Just Pickin", "I Hear Jingle Bells", "Hideaway", "Look Ma I'm Cryin", "King A Ling", "Driving Sideways", "Meet Me At The Station", "Monkey Donkey", "Surf Monkey", "The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist", and "Manhole".

A well-titled set – as the album features some of the best early sides that Little Walter recorded for Chess – records that went on to set a whole new standard both in blues vocals and harmonica! There's tightness here that's a bit different from some of the other Chess blues at the time – a quality that's almost a be pre-soul at moments, despite the obvious blues bent of the set. The album features some great liner notes from Studs Terkel – really getting at the scene of which Walter was a part – and titles include "My Babe", "Sad Hours", "Can't Hold Out Much Longer", "Blues With A Feeling", "Juke", "Old Mean World", "Blue Light", "You Better Watch Yourself", and "Tell Me Mamma".