A heavy little set that looks at the big rise of blues modes on the UK scene in the late 60s – but one that should be thought of more as the sound of rock in transition, rather than a lavish adherence to American blues modes! In fact, half of these groups are ones that you might not think of as blues-based at all – but who, like the
Rolling Stones a few years before, drew heavy inspiration from the guitar giants in the US blues scene – yet quickly took their own music in very different directions, and even different than the
Stones. There's a quality here that's almost more like a pre-progressive sound at times, but also an evolution from some of the R&B and soul that the mod scene were into too – and the whole thing captures a really exciting, really revolutionary time in British music – along with a big booklet of notes on all the many groups included. The set list is great – not big hits, but lots of overlooked gems – big groups mixed with smaller, forgotten acts – with 56 tracks by artists who include Icarus, Bloodwyn Pig, Killing Floor, Free, Zany Woodruff Operation, Ten Years After, Duster Bennett, The Deviants, Alexis Korner, Dr K's Blues Band, Mike Cooper, Sam Apple Pie, Black Cat Bones, Siren, Steamhammer, Liverpool Scene, Skid Row, Stack Waddy, Heavy Jelly, Jasper, Christine Perfect, Shakey Vick, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Love Sculpture, and many others.