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
Maybe one of the most unique artists to be recorded in George Mitchell's field sessions of southern blues – as Dewey Corley plays a one-string bass, sings, and sometimes throws in a kazoo solo too! Here, he's accompanied by Walter Miller on guitar – whose work helps ground Dewey's ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Includes download!)
Champion Jack Dupree —
Sings The Blues ... LP King, Early 50s. New Copy (reissue)...
$6.999.98
Early King Records material by Champion Jack Dupree – a hell of a pianist, and a heck of a great singer too – working almost as a raconteur on some of the best songs on this collection! The music has deep roots in New Orleans, where Jack must have really honed his piano skills – ... 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!)
A key classic from the Fat Possum label – one of those records in which the imprint really lives up to its southern roots promise, and it's great work of turning up lost heroes from the blues underground! The set features T-Model Ford on raspy vocals and equally raspy guitar – stomping ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Includes download! Limited edition Fat Possum Records 25th Anniversary pressing!)
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
A fantastic pairing of soulful talents – the legendary John Lee Hooker on the mighty Stax Records – in a set that's a real standout in the career of both! The vibe here is different than the usual sound of Stax – not a Memphis-ized John Lee Hooker, but instead the kind of ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
John Lee Hooker/Sticks McGhee —
Highway Of The Blues ... LP Audio Lab, Mid 50s. New Copy (reissue)...
$6.999.98
Rare King Records material from these two postwar blues greats – each of whom get a single side of the record! Sticks McGhee really shines on side one – with that playful, jazzy approach to blues that he used on his late 40s recordings for Atlantic – almost somewhere in the ... 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
A late 60s recording by Lightning Hopkins – but one of his rootsiest of the decade, thanks to the gritty production of the Arhoolie label! There's a really personal, intimate feel to the record – almost as if the label just set up in Hopkins' living room while he was running through a ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A gem of a record from the legendary Lightnin Hopkins – a set that adds in just a bit of extra instrumentation, including drums from Spider Kilpatrick on a few cuts, and additional bass and drums on a few more – all with a vibe that adds a slight extra kick to the Hopkins groove, but ... 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
Folk soul guitar player, singer, songwriter, storyteller and genuine character Abner Jay's brilliant home recordings – the first release of his "terrible comedy blues" in far too long – courtesy of the always deep digging Mississippi label! Abner takes on the topical issues ... (Folk/Country, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Luther Johnson with Muddy Waters Blues Band —
Come On Home ... LP Douglas, Late 60s. New Copy (reissue)...
$11.99
Wild guitar from Luther Johnson – an obscure earlier session recorded with a nicely gritty feel, and a fair bit of funk in the rhythms too! The group's billed as the Muddy Waters Blues Band – and Muddy appears to be on the record, although the notes are a bit lean – and the album ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Raw, intimate Junior Kimbrough recordings, mostly from the early 90s, a number of which were recorded at home – and for the all hiss and murk of the recording quality, the intimacy and realness of the voice, guitar and the man's presence alone make up for it! Spare, lonely blues from Junior ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
( Limited edition Fat Possum Records 25th Anniversary pressing. Includes download)
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 moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of THE electric blues records of the 60s – a seminal set by Albert King that was probably blasted out of more college dorm rooms than southside juke joints, but which still more than deserves its due! The set was recorded by Stax with a nice raw sound – guitar very much upfront, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Albert King —
Lovejoy ... LP Stax, 1971. New Copy (reissue)...
$18.9921.99
A funky classic from Albert King's great years on Stax – a time when he was forging his bluesy roots with all the sharp sounds the Memphis label had to provide! The album's got production and some great songs from Don Nix – who certainly makes his presence known here, by slanting the ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
They got the title right on this one – and the album's a smoking batch of tunes that captures Freddie in all his guitar-driven glory! The set features Freddie working with a tight Atlantic studio group that includes King Curtis, David Newman, James Booker, and Billy Butler – but the ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Freddy King/Lula Reed/Sonny Thompson —
Boy Girl Boy ... LP King, Mid 50s. New Copy (reissue)...
$6.999.98
Two guys, one gal, and a heck of a lot of great R&B material from the King Records catalog! The set features Lula Reed on vocals on all tracks – belting things out in that massively soulful style that makes her own work so wonderful – accompanied by mighty guitar from Freddy King, ... 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
An incredible record from Mississippi Fred McDowell – a set that was issued on a big label, but which has a wonderfully rootsy feel throughout – in a way that almost out-does any work from the indie blues labels of the time! The package was put together by Tommy Couch as an early ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A fitting title to this one – as it virtually describes the standard that the blues business was operating on during the early 70s – as artists came out of the shadows and found big audiences on college campuses, rock clubs, and other crossover scenes! The concept is carried to the Nth ... 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
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
Timeless blues work from Boyd Rivers – played on both acoustic and electric guitar, but with a classic spirit that stretches back to the days of the delta! The recordings are from the early 90s, but done in a way that feels like they're from decades before – clear enough to bring out ... 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
A really great moment in the spotlight for the legendary Chicago bluesman Otis Spann – an artist who often appeared on records by bigger talents of his generation, but didn't always get to shine this brightly on his own! The album's a very reverent session that has Spann's piano and vocals ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Houston Stackhouse has some great "friends" here – drummer James Peck Curtis and guitarist Robert Nighthawk – who step into these classic sessions from George Mitchell, and give them a bit more punch than the rest! The tracks were recorded in Mississippi, as part of Mitchell's ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Wonderful early work from Eddie Cleanhead Vinson and Jimmy Witherspoon – both singers who had a strong connection to jazz over the years, but who work here in a nicely raw mode that befits the album's King Records placement! Vinson's a genius – a really overlooked singer who can ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
It's a battle of the blues, and everyone's winning – as the set's overflowing with killer cuts from the legendary R&B years of King Records! The tracks are from a time when the label did it better than just about anyone else – melding blues, jazz, and all the raw new styles of the ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Junior Wells —
Blues Hit Big Town ... LP States/Delmark, Early 50s. New Copy (reissue)...
$13.9919.99
Some of the first recordings ever from Chicago legend Junior Wells – made for the small States label in the Windy City, many years before Wells exploded out with much greater national fame! The music here has Junior stepping into the same early electric space that Chess Records was cutting ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
An incredible slice of Chicago blues – and maybe one of the most important contributions Delmark ever made to the Windy City scene! The album captures Junior Wells in all his rough and raw brilliance – working in territory that's quite similar to the Chess Records vibe of the early 60s ... 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
Various —
After Hours ... LP King, Late 50s. New Copy (reissue)...
$6.999.98
A classic 50s compilation from the legendary King Records – one that really shows off the grittier, bluesier side of their catalog – and features some key crossover cuts from the postwar years too! The music here is a wonderful mix of modes – instrumental R&B, jukebox jazz, ... 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
A stunning tribute to the great Alan Lomax – the legendary musicologist, historian, and recording engineer who captured so many wonderful American sounds in the 20th Century! Lomax's work has been crucial to both the Library Of Congress and Smithsonian/Folkways Records – yet there's ... (Folk/Country, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A stunning tribute to the great Alan Lomax – the legendary musicologist, historian, and recording engineer who captured so many wonderful American sounds in the 20th Century! Lomax's work has been crucial to both the Library Of Congress and Smithsonian/Folkways Records – yet there's ... (Folk/Country, Blues)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Amazing blues from the Georgia scene of the 70s – music that hardly feels like other versions of the genre coming out at the time – partly thanks to the raw recording quality of these tracks! Most of the music features just a singer and guitar – sometimes just one or the other ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Our Chicago roots run deep here, with plenty of postwar Chicago blues -- plus delta blues, folk blues, electric blues, pre-war blues, and more!
John Lee Hooker/
