Produced and arranged by Ike Turner! Titles include "Funky Blues", "Cross Cut Saw", "Drivin Wheel", "Shuffle", "Boogie Don't Blot", and "The Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful live work from RL Burnside – done in that instantly-timeless style that he brought to recordings right from the start – maybe even more so here, as the acoustics are fantastic, and really capture the spirit of the man and his guitar! As most folks know, Burnside was a bit late to the rural blues game – but because of that fact, he's also been a key bridge between the past and the present – especially with recordings like this, which bristle with a sort of honest, back to basics vibe. Titles include "Short Haired Woman", "Sweet Black Angel", "If You Don't Want Me Baby", "Long Distance Call", "Walkin Blues", "Death Bells Ringing", and "When My First Wife Left Me". LP, Vinyl record album

They don't call Jimmy Dawkins "fast fingers" for nothing – and the first few minutes of the record are definitely testament to his mighty power on the guitar! The instrument is electric, and recorded with this sense of powerful echo that easily has Dawkins blowing away some of the UK blues rockers who were starting to get into the game at the time – as do his vocals, which we'd put head to head with some of the giants who took this mode and ran with it through the arena rock scene of the 70s! Yet throughout, it's the guitar that's especially amazing – completely confident and masterful, even though this was Jimmy's first album – with nice lean support from Eddie Shaw on tenor, Lafayette Leake on piano and organ, and Mighty Joe Young on second guitar. Titles include "Little Angel Child", "Night Rock", "Triple Trebles", "It Serves Me Right To Suffer", "Breaking Down", "I Don't Know What Love Is", and "I Wonder Why". CD features two bonus tracks – "Sad & Blues" and "Back Home Blues". CD

They don't call Jimmy Dawkins "fast fingers" for nothing – and the first few minutes of the record are definitely testament to his mighty power on the guitar! The instrument is electric, and recorded with this sense of powerful echo that easily has Dawkins blowing away some of the UK blues rockers who were starting to get into the game at the time – as do his vocals, which we'd put head to head with some of the giants who took this mode and ran with it through the arena rock scene of the 70s! Yet throughout, it's the guitar that's especially amazing – completely confident and masterful, even though this was Jimmy's first album – with nice lean support from Eddie Shaw on tenor, Lafayette Leake on piano and organ, and Mighty Joe Young on second guitar. Titles include "Little Angel Child", "Night Rock", "Triple Trebles", "It Serves Me Right To Suffer", "Breaking Down", "I Don't Know What Love Is", and "I Wonder Why". LP, Vinyl record album

They don't call Jimmy Dawkins "fast fingers" for nothing – and the first few minutes of the record are definitely testament to his mighty power on the guitar! The instrument is electric, and recorded with this sense of powerful echo that easily has Dawkins blowing away some of the UK blues rockers who were starting to get into the game at the time – as do his vocals, which we'd put head to head with some of the giants who took this mode and ran with it through the arena rock scene of the 70s! Yet throughout, it's the guitar that's especially amazing – completely confident and masterful, even though this was Jimmy's first album – with nice lean support from Eddie Shaw on tenor, Lafayette Leake on piano and organ, and Mighty Joe Young on second guitar. Titles include "Little Angel Child", "Night Rock", "Triple Trebles", "It Serves Me Right To Suffer", "Breaking Down", "I Don't Know What Love Is", and "I Wonder Why". CD features two bonus tracks – "Sad & Blues" and "Back Home Blues". CD

A blues album, but one with a difference – thanks to some tremendous help from the legendary Johnny Otis and his young son Shuggie! Despite the fact that the leader is billed as Guitar Slim Green, Shuggie actually plays some lead guitar on the record too – adding in some cool, complicated solos that point towards his genius to come as a solo act – and which also get some nicely romping rhythms from Johnny on drums! The Otis family was definitely bringing a lot of funk into their sound at the time, which they share plenty with Slim here – helping to make the record way more than just another late 60s rootsy blues session, and instead a great west coast criss-crossing of modes. Titles include "Shake Em Up", "My Little Angel Child", "5th Street Alley Boogie", "Old Folks Blues", "This War Ain't Right", and "Big Fine Thing". Also features two bonus tracks, both unissued – "My Marie" and "Rock The Nation". CD

A group that definitely lives up to its name – given that the lineup features the Chess Records stalwarts Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, and Muddy Waters! The set's maybe a bit more in the mode of Wolf or Waters than some of Bo's own records – although there's a bit of that riffing spark of his at times – and the tracks are often nice and long, with more than enough room to make you feel like Phil Chess gave these guys plenty of space in the studio to hang out, and find the right way to interact. As much as we love Chess albums with short songs and a soulful punch, we really appreciate it when they can break format and open up on a session like this – which really helps create a unique moment on record! Titles include "Goin Down Slow", "Long Distance Call", "Sweet Little Angel", "Ooh Baby & Wrecking My Love Life", and "Spoonful". LP, Vinyl record album

A group that definitely lives up to its name – given that the lineup features the Chess Records stalwarts Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, and Muddy Waters! The set's maybe a bit more in the mode of Wolf or Waters than some of Bo's own records – although there's a bit of that riffing spark of his at times – and the tracks are often nice and long, with more than enough room to make you feel like Phil Chess gave these guys plenty of space in the studio to hang out, and find the right way to interact. As much as we love Chess albums with short songs and a soulful punch, we really appreciate it when they can break format and open up on a session like this – which really helps create a unique moment on record! Titles include "Goin Down Slow", "Long Distance Call", "Sweet Little Angel", "Ooh Baby & Wrecking My Love Life", and "Spoonful". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet electric blues from Albert King – recorded with some great full production, in a burning Memphis style that's got plenty of soul in the mix as well! The set's got a quality level that takes it past some of the cliche-ridden blues of the time – really soulful overall, with a sound that comes straight from the heart, and avoids any of the easy tricks that could mar such a session – proof that music like this could really sparkle in the hands of Stax Records – especially when the backing instrumentation features The Bar-Kays and Memphis Horns! Titles include "High Cost Of Loving", "Little Brother", "I'll Play The Blues For You (parts 1 & 2)", "Breaking Up Somebody's Home", "Angel Of Mercy", and "I'll Be Doggone". CD

An album named after a genre, but one that offers up the very special focus that BB King brought to blues music – especially in these early years of his career! King's a giant at this point – a hell of a singer, with a sound that's a key bridge between gospel and soul – and a equally solid guitarist, able to grace his tunes with searing solos, but in a way that's never as showy or overcrowded as all the later bluesmen who tried to copy his act! Instead, King's balance here is perfect – and often set to romping backings that link his approach not only to a postwar R&B tradition, but maybe even to the jazz world as well – with a vibe that's a lot less downtrodden than you might expect from a record called "the blues". If you've never dug BB at this early point in his career, you'll find plenty here to love – and titles include "When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer", "What Can I Do", "Troubles Troubles Troubles", "Early In The Morning", "You Don't' Have To Cry", and "Why Do Everything Happen To Me". CD features bonus tracks – "Sweet Little Angel", "Tickle Britches", "I'm In Love", "Bye Bye Baby", "Don't Keep Me Waiting", and "Don't Break Your Promise". CD

A great document of the early genius of BB King – a set that brings together material recorded just over the space of a decade for the RPM/Kent label in LA – the company who gave BB a wonderful showcase in the years before he hopped over to a larger label and bigger fame! The material here is fantastic – and often has that light touch of jazz that would come when BB was working with like-minded players – mixing his own raw touches on guitar with sweet piano and tenor lines, the topping the whole thing with that vocal approach that really helped blues evolve more than a few notches, thanks to material like this! The set features 16 tracks in all – and titles include "Woke Up This Morning", "My Own Fault", "Whole Lotta Love", "You Upset Me Baby", "The Jungle", "Your Fool", "You're Breaking My Heart", "3 O'Clock Blues", "My Sometime Baby", and "Sweet Little Angel". CD

An excellent collection of rare work from the legendary BB King – a selection of 25 tracks from the vaults of RPM and Kent Records, 23 of which appear here for the first time ever! Some cuts are alternates, some are different versions of other recordings – and all are pretty darn wonderful – that sharp-edged BB King sound right at the start, before the famous Memphis powerhouse was recording for bigger labels in a more commercial setting! Lots of these cuts have a jazzy backing alongside BB's sweet guitar and raspy vocals – a mode that's similar to the mix of bigger band and bluesy elements you'd get on early work from Bobby Blue Bland – that great Memphis mix of modes that always makes us love this stretch in King's career so much. Titles include unusual versions of "Sweet Little Angel", "Catfish Blues", "Early In The Morning", "I Wonder Why", "Goin Down Slow", "Whole Lotta Meat", "Loving You In Vain", "Long Nights", "The Woman I Love", "Soul Beat", "Don't You Want A Man Like Me", "Be Careful With A Fool", and "Whole Lot Of Lovin". CD

A nice little live set from BB – rawer than some of his studio work at the time, and with a bit freer playing. Titles include "Please Love Me", "Sweet Little Angel", "Let Me Love You", "Rock Me Baby", "3 O'Clock Blues", and "Woke Up This Morning". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Sweet Sixteen", "Rock Me Baby", "Woke Up This Morning", "You Upset Me Baby", "Sneakin Around", "Sweet Little Angel", "Bad Case Of Love", and "Ten Long Years". LP, Vinyl record album

The very first full length album from BB King – a killer collection of previous singles for the RPM Records label, served up as a bold statement of King's early genius! The record announces its presence right from the very first note – that brilliant blend of effortless electric guitar solo work and completely charismatic vocals that made BB such a star, right from the get-go – and which maybe comes through even more clearly here than in some of his overproduced material from later decades! Many tracks have nicely jumping backings by the great Maxwell Davis – and titles include "Please Love Me", "Bad Luck", "3 O'Clock Blues", "Ten Long Years", "Sweet Little Angel", "You Upset Me Baby", and a classic early take on "Every Day I Have The Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little 70s album of electric blues – a set that begins with a song about Watergate – then moves off into a whole other great range of themes too! Bob Kirkpatrick's got a vibe here that's in the better style of the small club scene of Detroit or Chicago at the time – lean, gritty, and with vocals wrapped around his guitar in a really wonderful way – getting support from a slightly unusual trio that features Jothan Callins on bass, Ron Burton on piano, and Harold White on drums – two of whom you'll know from work in spiritual jazz! Titles include "Watergate Blues", "Sweet Little Angel", "I Don't Know Why", "When The Sun Rose This Morning", "I Been Down So Long", and "I Got Love". CD

Big Mama Thornton delivers the goods on this collection of raw, rootsy blues. Nothin' but the real deal on this firey live set that captures Big Mama in 1969 at a small club in LA alongside Jay Hodges, George Smith, Bee Houston and JD Nicholson, shouting out "Little Red Rooster", "One Black Rat", "Rock Me Baby", "Wade In The Water", "Sweet Little Angel", "Baby Please/Mojo Workin'", "Watermelon Man" and "Don't Need No Doctor". LP, Vinyl record album

A unique mid 60s Chess session from Muddy Waters – one with a very different feel than usual, and a good dose of soul too! As you might guess from the title, Muddy gets some full backings on this set – not exactly a large brass section, but a set of Chicago soul-styled backings handled by Gene Barge and Charles Stepney – grooves which, when mixed with his own bluesy guitar and vocals, creates a feel that's a bit like some of the Little Milton Chess work from the same time – blues, but with a current of some of the deeper, headier soul styles that were coming out of the Chicago scene as it was hitting that new level of sophistication in the 60s. Titles include "Hard Loser", "Going Back To Memphis", "Trouble In Mind", "Sweet Little Angel", and "Take My Advice". CD

A unique mid 60s Chess session from Muddy Waters – one with a very different feel than usual, and a good dose of soul too! As you might guess from the title, Muddy gets some full backings on this set – not exactly a large brass section, but a set of Chicago soul-styled backings handled by Gene Barge and Charles Stepney – grooves which, when mixed with his own bluesy guitar and vocals, creates a feel that's a bit like some of the Little Milton Chess work from the same time – blues, but with a current of some of the deeper, headier soul styles that were coming out of the Chicago scene as it was hitting that new level of sophistication in the 60s. Titles include "Hard Loser", "Going Back To Memphis", "Trouble In Mind", "Sweet Little Angel", and "Take My Advice". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most important indie labels of the postwar years – heard here in a flurry of great tracks that really show them at their finest! This excellent double-length set brings together magical moments from a time when the Flair imprint was really hitting on all burners – recording key vocal, instrumental, blues, and doo wop tracks that would go onto have a huge impact on generations to come – mixed here with a host of titles that haven't been on CD before! The package digs deeper than any look at Flair we've ever seen – and that's saying a lot, given that Ace Records was already giving the label their due a few decades before – and all the new material sits strongly next to classics that make the 50 track collection one of the best R&B collections from the 78rpm era that we've heard in a long long time. Titles include "She Wants To Rock" and "Getting High" by The Flairs, "Loosely" and "Cuban Get Away" by Ike Turner, "Chop House" by Blinky Allen, "Quit Hangin Around Me" by Saunders King, "Early In The Morning" and "Can't Stop Lovin" by Elmore James, "Hello Baby" and "Baby Beat It" by Big Duke, "Midnight Hours Journey" by Johnny Ace, "Night Howler" by Billy Gale, "You Better Hold Me" by James Reed, "I've Got The Feeling" by Baby Parham, "This Time It's Real" by Ricky & Jennell, "Send Him Back" by Shirley Gunter, "An Angel Cried" by Anna Marie, "Blue Mambo" by Bobby Rey, and "Love Me Love Me Love Me" by The Chimes. (Soul, Blues) CD