Blues — CDs  

A stone classic from Jimmy Reed – and one of the first few albums on the Vee Jay label! The sound is spare, rootsy, and bluesy – the kind of tunes that made Jimmy an instant favorite, and which were a key force in the Chicago blues sound of the 50s. The set features material recorded for Vee Jay in 1958 and 1957, with Jimmy on vocals, acoustic guitar, and harmonica. Titles include "Honest, I Do", "You Got Me Dizzy", "Can't Stand To See You Go", "Boogie In The Dark", "You Got Me Crying", "Little Rain", "Roll & Rhumba", his classic "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" and more. Benchmark late 50s Chicago blues! This great 2CD remastered edition is loaded up – disc two featuring a whopping 22 bonus tracks of rarities – plus great little booklet with session notes, photos and more. Bonus disc tracks include "Jimmy's Boogie", "Rockin' With Reed, "You Upset My Mind", "Shoot My Baby", "State Street Boogie", "Come Love", "Meet Me", "Sugar, Sugar, "Lookin' For You, Baby", "Don't Think I'm Through", "Left Handed Woman" and many more.

Amazing work from Cobra Records – a short-lived label on the Chicago scene of the 50s, but one who managed to cut some music to rival more famous sounds over at Chess Records and Vee Jay! The scope of styles here is wonderful – from gritty blues to early soul to hard-edged doo wop and more – a really wonderful testament to the strength of Cobra at its height, and to the Chicago scene as well! The package features key early work by artists who's break big later on other imprints – and titles include "I Can't Quit You Baby" by Otis Rush, "Rock & Roll Boogie" by The Clouds, "She Knocks Me Out" by Harold Burrage, "Shake It" by Duke Jenkins, "Easy Baby" by Magic Sam, "You Don't Love Me" by Ike Turner, "Tell Me Darling" by Betty Everett, "Little Chickie" by Jimmy Kelly & The Rock A Beats, "Hidden Charms" by Charles Clark, "Sit & Cry" by Buddy Guy, "Lonely Lonely Village" by The Calvaes, and "Fishin In My Pond" by Lee Jackson.

Postwar blues from Chicago – a great double-length collection of rare material from JOB Records – a Windy City imprint that was much smaller than Vee Jay, Chess, and Mercury – and who only ever issued most of this material as 78 rpm singles! The JOB sound is definitely rough and raw – still showing the strong influence of electric guitar's introduction to northern blues, yet putting the music forward with a stripped-down sound that's really timeless – and which often emphasizes piano as much as guitar. No surprise, there's some great keyboardists on the set – working in a really dark-edged style – as you'll hear on the 36 track set of tunes that includes "Evening Sun" by Johnny Shines, "Drinking Woman" by John Brim & His Trio, "My Head Can't Rest Anymore" by Baby Face Leroy Foster, "Down Home Child" by Sunnyland Slim, "Boogy Fool" by Snooky Pryor, "Dark Road" by Floyd Jones, "Five Long Years" by Eddie Boyd, "How Much More" by JB Lenoir, and "Rough Treatment" by Little Hudson & His Red Devil Trio.