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 moreLP, Vinyl record album
An album recorded in the Netherlands, but a set that hits right to the heart of RL Burnside's Mississippi roots – thanks to a beautifully spare, careful presentation of the music! Most numbers feature just Burnside on vocals and guitar – with a vibe that's similar to the field ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(First time on vinyl – includes download! Limited edition Fat Possum Records 25th Anniversary pressing!)
Not the RL Burnside of later revival years – when he was maybe recorded a bit too much – but an album that captures the man right at the start of his career – when he was a young talent, but working in blues modes that were far beyond his age! The set features Memphis and ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A searing live set from Albert Collins – recorded overseas at the start of the 80s, and with an edge that may well beat most of his American records from the time! The well-recorded date captures Collins at his best in all elements – as a guitarist, singer, and even as an entertainer ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Doctor Ross – The Harmonica Boss —
Memphis Breakdown ... LP Sun/ORG, Mid 50s. New Copy ...
$19.9921.98
Doctor Ross is definitely the harmonica boss – one of those key postwar blues musicians who made his instrument as important to the scene as the guitar was back in the 20s and 30s! The music here was all recorded by Sun Records, but is a lot more raw and stripped-down than some of the more ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Fantastic work from Reverend Lonnie Farris – one of the key proponents of "sacred steel" guitar – the use of the mostly-country instrument in the setting of soulful gospel! Farris works the instrument in ways that are sometimes familiar, sometimes almost more like the use of ... (Gospel, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Limited to 550 copies – with bonus insert and a cool photo-pasted cover!)
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 ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Excellent work from Jesse Mae Hemphill – a female blues talent who lay undiscovered for many years in Mississippi, then burst forth late in her life with a fantastic run of sounds like this! Most of the tunes are relatively spare – with Jessie Mae playing electric guitar in these ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
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 moreLP, Vinyl record album
Classic blues from Lightnin Hopkins – a set that's far rootsier than you might expect from the "electric show" in the title! Hopkins plays mostly acoustic guitar here – and sings with very spare backing overall – just a bit of keyboards, bass, and drums, plus some ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
JB Hutto & His Hawks —
Hawk Squat ... LP Delmark, Late 60s. New Copy (reissue)...
$12.9919.99
One of the most dynamic, most on-fire blues albums recorded during the 60s by Delmark Records – a set that bursts right out of the Chicago clubs with the guitar of JB Hutto firmly in the lead! Hutto's a killer right from the start – singing and playing with a ferocity that easily ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
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 moreLP, Vinyl record album
He may be blind, but he's plenty satisfied – and so are we, with this excellent package of rare 78rpm recordings from Willie Johnson! The sound quality is great – which is important, as Willie's got a style of guitar that's almost lighter in tone than some of his contemporaries – ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Killer early material from Freddy King – a blues album, but one that's also got a strong resonance with instrumental soul and early funk! The record is "Strictly Instrumental" – as the cover says – and a nice batch of short bluesy groovers that feature Freddy's great ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Fantastic recordings of the legendary Furry Lewis – a musician who may be pictured in a bathrobe on the front cover, but who comes across with all the sharp edges and bold tones of his classic work! The material is part of that legendary George Mitchell series of blues recordings, and may ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Includes download!)
Magic Sam —
Black Magic ... LP Delmark, Late 60s. New Copy (reissue)...
$12.9915.99
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 moreLP, Vinyl record album
A hell of a great record from Magic Sam – a really well-recorded live set from a small club in Milwaukee, and an album that really gets at all the gritty genius that made Sam so great! The set's almost equal parts blues and soul – definitely the former, but with plenty of funky ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
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 ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Essential New Orleans piano from Professor Longhair – an artist who was neither a professor, nor a man with much hair! The chrome-domed pianist had a huge influence on the sound of New Orleans R&B and soul to come – as he played in a triplet-heavy way that was rooted in blues, but ... (Soul, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Sugaray Rayford looks like a vintage soul singer on the cover, and he sounds like one too – here on an album that may well be the first time he really found his groove! Previous Rayford efforts have been a bit more blues-based, but the approach here goes strongly for a deep funk style – ... (Deep Funk, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
An incredible late 50s set for King by singer Lula Reed – and a pretty unique blend of R&B and bluer and moodier material – but a lot more upbeat than you'd expect from the title! Lula's voice is a genuine vessel for the bluesy material, but it's also light and lovely, and works ... (Soul, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A long-overdue full length set of work from Roy Roberts – a musician who's maybe best known for his more recent blues material on the Virginia scene, but who's presented here in a hip array of early funk and soul singles! The groove is nice and deep – and Roy's definitely coming from a ... (Soul, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Muddy Waters —
Electric Mud ... LP Cadet/Third Man, 1968. New Copy Gatefold (reissue)...
$18.99
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, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Junior Wells with Buddy Guy —
Hoodoo Man Blues ... LP Delmark, 1965. New Copy (reissue)...
$12.9915.99
The incredible mid 60s album from blues singer and harp blower Junior Wells and his Chicago Blues Band with Buddy Guy! This is a most pivotal set in which Junior & his players don't sound as if they're trying to imbue blues tradition with urban grit and electricity – it simply seems to ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A great collection of postwar blues – material that springs forth from a wealth of rare 78rpm recordings – and which includes a number of tracks that you may never hear otherwise! The set looks at the sort of records that were pivotal in pushing blues forward in the years after the war ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
They're not lying with the title of this one – as the set's a killer collection of rural blues, with a legacy that goes way beyond the glory days of the genre in the 20s and 30s! The collection's a great one from Mississippi – exactly the kind of pre-LP material that the label's been ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A killer collection of rare blues from the Mamlish label – an imprint who brings the same sort of historical sensitivity that you might now from collections on Yazoo Records! As with that company, the music here is mostly pulled from vintage 78s, and given fresh presentation for a whole new ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A pretty great little collection – put together by Memphis music expert Robert Gordon in support of his book of the same name! The sounds here aren't overdone Memphis cliches – no Elvis hits or Stax Records standards – and instead, the record showcases those criss-crossing modes ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album