Blues -- Recently Added  

Titles include "Love Is A Gamble", "You Are My Trophy", "That's The Way It Is", "Somebody Messed Up (parts 1 & 2)", and "Drifting Apart". ...

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A rootsy blues 2-fer -- with two rare Prestige Blues sessions on a single CD! First up is Blues & Folk -- a set with a very appropriate title, given the earthy feel of the music -- mostly just guitar from Brownie McGhee and harmonica from Sonny Terry -- plus vocals by both! There's a really ...

A surprisingly nice set of vocals from Diz Watson -- a singer with some great New Orleans roots in his music -- working here with the great Big Jay McNeely on tenor sax! The set was recorded overseas in the mid 90s, but it's got a quality that could easily match some of the best roots-revival ...

A classic packaging of Muddy Waters' famous early work for Chess Records -- brought together with a cover and title that pitch him strongly towards the growing folk movement of the time! And, although most of these tracks were recorded in Chicago, with some electric guitar in the mix, there's a ...

Plenty of blues power here -- a searing live set recorded by Albert King before a very enthusiastic crowd at the Fillmore in the late 60s! The album's filled with lots of King's sharp-edged guitar lines -- searing with a bit more soul than your usual bluesman, possibly in part because the backing ...

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 -- backings that mix ...

A seminal album by Muddy -- recorded in a style that's rootsier, and more down to earth than a lot of his other Chess sides! Muddy's playing acoustic guitar, and the group features Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, and Clifton James. The sound is really spare, evocative, and true -- the album was quite ...

The funk-tinged, pyschedelic soul album from Muddy Waters -- one that irritated many a blues purist in its day -- but it's finally reaching its earned status as a leftfield gem! You know, in the immediate years after this one (and similar funky blues albums on Chess/Cadet) was released, it was ...

Gritty electric work from Little Joe Blue -- a early 70s session for the Jewel label, cut with a really down-home feel! Most numbers here feature Little Joe updating an older mode with an electric twist -- but some other cuts pick up the pace a bit, and almost sound a bit funky -- thanks to some ...

A classic bit of indie blues from the Chicago scene -- featuring some great players from the second generation after Chess Records stopped picking up the younger local talents! Magic Sam leads the group on vocals and guitar, and he's working here with Mighty Joe Young on guitar, Odie Payne on ...

Landmark work by one of the hippest gals on the Chicago scene of the past 50 years -- blues singer Koko Taylor, an artist who also had a heck of a lot of soul as well! The set brings together rare singles and album tracks that Taylor recorded for Chess Records during the early years of her career - ...

Rare material from this legendary label of the 78rpm era -- the Gennett Jazz company from Richmond, Indiana -- home to a hotbed of classic trad recordings! Richmond hardly seems like the place for a label to flourish these days -- but back in the 20s, Gennett was turning out some of the best jazz ...

A double helping of work from the Herald and Ember labels of the 50s -- way more than just the blues and gospel promised in the title! Although some tracks are bluesy, there's also a touch of jazz in the set too -- a bit more R&B than just straight blues, which makes the package a really wide-r ...

Muddy Waters makes a classic appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival -- playing a folksy set of blues in the years before the festival had turned more strongly towards that sort of music! The performance is surprisingly well-recorded -- at a level that's similar to Waters' earlier studio dates for ...

Classic work from Slim Harpo -- an album that kicks off with one of his biggest hits ever, and follows with plenty of great tunes as well! Things here are pretty rootsy and stripped-down -- lots of spare, slowish rhythms (but a few funkier ones too!) -- and instrumentation that's dominated by ...

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 strongly ...

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 that ...

Fantastic later 50s rhythm & blues with a jazzy kick to it from Brother John Sellers -- his 1957 Paris recordings backed by the Guy Lafitte Orchestra! Sellers was an exceptional passionate vocalist, with a versatile style that blends emphatic blues and gospel blues, and a remarkably natural ...

Raw, rollicking, rhythm & blues tunes from the 50s & 60s -- loads of electric tunes that became the basis for rockers to come in both attitude and melodies -- as you'd probably guess from the crazy cover photos for this great early 70s compilation on the UK's Red Lightnin label! When Girls ...

Blues, but with an undercurrent of New Orleans jazz -- no surprise, given the Louisiana roots of Eurreal "Little Brother" Montgomery! The album's a classic set recorded in Chicago in the early 60s -- featuring both Montgomery in a spare solo setting, and with help from a small backup ...

A huge package of work from legendary California record producer Bob Geddins -- a man with a great ear for under-discovered talent, and a great way of recording his music! Most of the work on here is spare, rootsy blues, occasionally with a touch of R&B -- and the set also features a few ...

Bo Diddley we already love you -- but this set gives us another reason why! Although Bo's probably best known for his classic R&B work of the late 50s and early 60s, but during the 70s he also managed to cut some massively funky albums for Chess -- working in the blues revival/funk turnover ...

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 Otis funky mode ...

Forget the silly cowboy costume on the front cover -- because this is a heck of a great album! Bo might have gotten saddled (no pun intended!) with a silly gimmick for the title and image of the set -- but the album's one of his best from the early Chess years, and features a rip-roaring batch of ...

Another stellar collection of Bo Diddley's Chess Masters -- incredible material from the beginning of the 60s -- with Bo's incendiary, influential beat -- but in a bevy of styles! Bo is justifiably most famous for his oft-imitated beat, getting lifted by everyone from Johnny Otis, to Buddy Holly, ...

Not really famous, but gritty & grooving bluesy gospel soul from Famous L Renfroe -- and artist who might even be more mysterious to us after hearing the record! The Flying Sweet Angel Of Joy is kind of a dreamlike mix of impassioned vocals, electric guitar and bass, with some drums. There's ...

Two classic Chess-era Bo Diddley albums on one CD! We never tire of Bo Diddley's incredible guitar work -- and you'll get plenty of it in these early albums he cut for Chess. Hey! Bo Diddley is a tasty, fantastically twangy batch of 12 tracks, all original tunes with a stripped-down gutbuckety ...

Otis Blackwell takes back his songs -- providing his own new versions of tunes that were recorded famously by a host of rock, pop, and R&B artists back in the 50s! The 70s session is definitely done as part of the generation that was "giving back" to the roots of rock and roll -- and ...

Fantastic stuff from John Lee Hooker, and a record that's unlike any other he's ever done! The groove is very hard and funky, with tight drumbreaks and excellent basslines that you'd hardly expect to find on an album by a blues artist -- jamming around with a tight groove that really makes us love ...

Two early 70s burners from BB King -- back to back as a 2CD set! LA Midnight has BB King bringing in a sweet dose of jazz to his work -- just a touch of the funkier backings that some of his electric contemporaries were getting at the time -- maybe not as hard-wailing as some of the Chess funky ...

A great example of why Little Milton was always one of the few Chicago blues artists who could also break strongly in the soul camp at the time -- and a beautifully balanced set that perfectly shows both sides of the Chicago scene of the time! Production is by old Vee Jay maestro Calvin Carter, ...

The most beautiful and complete package of recordings by blues & soul harp deity Little Walter you could ever hope for -- the Complete Chess Masters 1950-1967 -- as gorgeously assembled a single artist set as any other we can think of in Hip-O Select's Chess Records series! The set opens up ...

Two Taj Mahal classics -- back to back on a single CD! Oooh So Good has a very rootsy feel overall -- much more delta blues styled than some of Taj's other albums of the time -- mostly with acoustic guitar behind his vocals, plus some occasional backup support from The Pointer Sisters -- although ...

Tight and soulful blues from Little Milton -- just the sort of record that helped him cross over to bigger audiences back in the day, and a set that still sounds plenty great all these many years later! The set was done in Chicago -- arranged by James Mack, with backing vocals from Kitty & The ...

Late Muddy Waters for Chess -- produced in conjunction with Ralph Bass, Muddy's longtime associate in the studio, and done with a style that's a lot more rootsy than the title might imply! Instead of the electrified funky style that other Chess bluesmen were going for in the early 70s, or which ...

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Classic early work from Junior Parker -- recorded way back when he was "Little Junior Parker", but done with a full-grown sound that's totally great! The set was done for Duke Records at the same time Bobby Blue Bland was working for the label -- and the feel here is a very similar style ...

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Funky blues from Little Sonny -- very much in the spirit of his Black & Blue album for Stax, in that the album's a mix of Memphis soul and bluesy licks -- making for a full-on style that really cooks things up! Sonny sings and plays harmonica, but the best side of the album is the backings -- ...

Very nice stuff by Junior Parker -- recorded by Bobby Robinson, and produced with a style that's a lot smoother than you'd expect. The record meshes blues and soul, in a manner that gives Junior some of the best settings we've ever heard on record. Titles include "Come Back Baby", " ...

BB King brings in a sweet dose of jazz to his work -- just a touch of the funkier backings that some of his electric contemporaries were getting at the time -- maybe not as hard-wailing as some of the Chess funky blues records, but definitely somewhere in that direction! Players on the date ...

Less a "best of" than an early full album that brings together some of Muddy Waters' earliest recordings for Chess -- a great collection of early singles recorded in Chicago between 1950 and 1954! The work's relatively spare and rootsy overall -- a great example of Chicago blues in its ...

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