An early full length album from the great Arthur Crudup – and one that wasn't cut until after he'd had years on the scene, including some work that was a key inspiration for Elvis Presley and others of his generation! The set's done in a nice raw style – that grittier side of the Fire/Fury label, with a vibe that's much more southern than you'd expect from the legendary New York imprint – really just Crudup on vocals and lean electric guitar, but with a nicely skittish drummer urging things on in a great way too! Titles include "Look On Yonder Wall", "Ethel Mae", "Greyhound Bus", "Coal Black Mare", "Dig Myself A Hole", and a great version of "That's Alright". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Features Charlie McCoy, Big Bill Broonzy, and Big Joe Williams on guitar – and Walter Davis on piano! LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary Sonny Boy Williamson, recorded in Copenhagen in the early 60s – but at a level that's still strongly respectful of all the work he'd done in the US – maybe even more so, given the rootsy feel of the whole record! The group is small, and Sonny's vocals and harmonica are right up front – and you can even hear some foot stomps too, which really emphasizes the presence of performance he brought to the studio! Titles include "Movin Out", "Why Are You Crying", "Girl Friends", "I'm So Glad", "Chicago Bounce", and "On My Way Back Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Sonny Boy Williamson on harmonic and vocals – in a trio with guitar from Matt Murphy and drums from Billie Stepney – plus added piano from Memphis Slim on a few tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

One in a series of double LP compilations Chess put out in the 70s collecting some of the classic blues sides in their catalog. As near as we can tell, these raw folk blues numbers were mostly issued as 45s, featuring Sonny Boy on vocals and harp, with sidemen that include Muddy Waters, Robert Jr Lockwood, Willie Dixon, Otis Spann and others. 28 tracks in all, including "One Way Out", "Don't Lose Your Eye", "Keep It To Yourself", "Sad To Be Alone", "Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide", "I Never Do Wrong", "I Don't Know", "Don't Start Me Talkin'", "Bring It On Home", "Key To Your Door", "All My Love In Vain", "Nine Below Zero", "Got To Move", "She Got Next To Me", "Keep Your Hand Out Of My Pocket", "Too Close Together", "Like Wolf" and "Santa Claus". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet collection of early work by Sonny Boy Williamson – lots of Chess Records classics! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Rare Chicago recordings – all from the 40s, and featuring Big Joe Williams on vocals and guitar, and Sonny Boy Williamson on harmonica! Most tracks feature bass and drums, too. LP, Vinyl record album

Not sure about the giant chicken on the front – but the album features loads of great blues harp work from Billy Boy Arnold – set up in a small combo with Tony McPhee on guitar! Titles include "Riding The El", "Sweet Miss Bera", "Ahw Baby", and "Dirty Mother F*cker". LP, Vinyl record album

The last recording of Juke Boy Bonner – recorded just 10 days before he passed away in Houston! LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy Boy is on all of side one – with titles that include "Snatch It & Grab It", "Raggin The Blues", "How Come Mama Blues", and "Number Three Blues". Side two features work from buddies who include Blind Percy, Will Day, Texas Alexander, and Funny Paper Smith! LP, Vinyl record album

Features tracks from JB Hutto & The Hawks, Sam Lay Blues Band, Floyd Jones-Eddie Taylor Band, and Billy Boy Arnold Band LP, Vinyl record album

A great little collection of work that Sonny Boy Williamson recorded for Chess in the 50s and early 60s – presented here as one of the well-done archival packages that Chess was doing in the early 70s, as interest in their classics was coming back again. Most of the numbers here feature Williamson on vocals and harmonica, working with likely Chess associates who include Otis Spann and Lafayette Leake on piano, Muddy Waters and Robert Lockwood on guitars, and Willie Dixon on bass – and the set features the tracks "Born Blind", "I Wonder Why", "This Is My Apartment", "Cool Disposition", "I Know What Love Is All About", "Too Close Together", "Keep It To Yourself", and "Don't Lose Your Eye". LP, Vinyl record album

Not as folksy as you might think from the title – thanks to a really powerful presentation by Sonny Boy Williamson! The style here has echoes of Bo Diddley or Jimmy Reed's sense of rhythm – a more upbeat and electrified Chicago approach than Chess was serving up a decade before – obviously influenced by the strength of R&B, but also still presented with a sound that's stripped-down and raw enough to be called blues. Players on the sessions include Matt Murphy and Luther Tucker on guitars, Willie Dixon on bass, Otis Spann on piano, and Lafayette Leake on organ – and titles include "One Way Out", "Too Young To Die", "Trust My Baby", "Peach Tree", "Down Child", "Bring It On Home", "Too Old To Think", and "Got To Move". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Going Back To The Country", "Sad Sad Sound", "Hard Luck", "Working With Juke Boy", "My Blues", "Stay Off Lyons Avenue", and "I'm Getting Tired". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the most famous Muddy Waters songs ever recorded – served up here in all its fantastically raw glory! The tune's got Waters playing a famous electric guitar vamp that may well have become the blueprint for countless bar bands to come – but serving up the lyrics with a wit that none of them could ever hope to manage – all urged on by this wild girl chorus that really gives the tune an odd edge! And "Young Fashioned" is great, too – a bit tighter, and with a mean harmonica part in the middle! (Funky 45's, Blues) 7-inch, Vinyl record

Muddy Waters' band meets the vocals and guitar of Luther Snake Johnson – in a sweet little set that's almost a double-header, given the talent on deck! The material's got a gritty feel that's right up there with Muddy's best for Chess – and the group features Mojo Buford on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano, and Waters on guitar (Muddy couldn't sing, due to contractual obligations!) Johnson's got a nice rough approach – almost a touch of soul at times – and the group keeps things nicely in a classic 60s electrified Chicago mode. Titles include "Sad Day Uptown", "I'm So Glad", "Chicken Shack", "Long Distance Call", "Digging My Potatoes", "Coming Home Baby", and "Mud In Your Ear". LP, Vinyl record album

(Rock, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic package of work – material that not only helped kick off the career of the legendary Howlin Wolf, but also the Memphis powerhouse Sun Records too! The material here was all cut in the Sun Studios right at the start of its famous run – material recorded by Sam Phillips long before Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis – at a time when he was deeply interested in the shifts taking place in southern blues at the time, and was willing to take a chance on the mighty talents of Howlin Wolf! Wolf was no newcomer to the scene, but hadn't gotten recorded much before – especially not at this level, which brings out qualities that really ignited a long stretch of important 50s sessions after Sun licensed a few key tracks to other labels before they got their own imprint up and running. This very cool 10" package features titles not issued at the time – ten great tracks that were in the Sun Records vaults for years – presented here in a very cool vintage-styled LP. Titles on this second volume include "Color & Kind", "My Baby Walked Off", "Baby Ride With Me", "Smile At Me", "California Blues", "Well That's All Right", "Mr Highway Man/Cadillac Daddy", "Decoration Day Blues", "Dorothy Mae #2", and "CV Wine Blues/Drinkin CV Wine". LP, Vinyl record album

(Funky 45's, Blues) 7-inch, Vinyl record

... LP, Vinyl record album

Rare work from the legendary Honeyboy Edwards – a blues guitarist who was a key force in helping the music make the transition to an electric mode in the 40s – but an artist whose talents were eclipsed by so many others he worked with at the time! This set's got a real back-to-basics vibe – Edwards captured in a spare setting, in a series of revival recordings done by Adelphi – with a focus on his vocals and guitar that take us right back to his early years working street corners and juke joints. Titles include "Bull Cow Blues 2", "Little Boy Blue", "Love Honeyboy Slow", "Don't Mistreat A Fool", "Howlin Wind", "Meet The Mornin Train", and "Hot Springs Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of very stripped-down albums from John Lee Hooker – issued together in this 70s set! First up is Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker – featuring the legendary John Lee Hooker, heard here in one of his more obscure recordings from the late 50s – at least in contrast to his famous sides for Vee Jay Records! This set's an unusual date – recorded in Detroit, despite the claim of the title – and featuring Hooker on acoustic guitar and vocals, without any other instrumentation at all – pitched much more towards the growing folk blues scene than some of his more familiar Chicago recordings. Tracks are short, but pack plenty of punch – and titles include "Black Snake", "I Rowed A Little Boat", "Bundle Up & Go", "Behind The Plow", "Water Boy", "Tupelo Blues", and "Pea Vine Special". That's My Story is from 1960, and features great rootsy blues from John Lee Hooker – and an unusual session that has him getting backup help from jazz players Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums! Jones and Hayes only play on a handful of tracks, and most of the focus is on Hooker's damn-great vocals, and acoustic guitar – spun out nicely over a set of tracks that includes "I Need Some Money", a controversial clash with early Motown – plus "One Of These Days", "Gonna Use My Rod", "I Want To Talk About You", "Democrat Man", and "I'm Wanderin". LP, Vinyl record album

Probably THE album you truly need to own from Koko Taylor – and a completely great one, recorded way before she'd become a cliched fixture paying the bills on the frat boy tourist blues scene! The tracks here were recorded over a few years in mid-to-late 60s Chicago – mostly with production from Willie Dixon, who also co-wrote most of the tunes on the set! The groove is nice and gritty – electric Chess Chicago blues at it's finest, but also with a good sense of soul in the mix – and tracks include the fiery hit "Wang Dang Doodle", plus "Fire", "29 Ways", "I Don't Care Who Knows", "Nitty Gritty", and "Love You Like A Woman". Amazing stuff! LP, Vinyl record album

Rare work from Muddy Waters – a set of tracks all recorded overseas, at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival – but during that strong 70s moment when Muddy had really focused his sound, and was reaching out to cross global boundaries and touch a whole new generation with his sound! The Montreux vibe is always one that's very faithful to the artist – audiences at that festival aren't the sort to be given watered-down, commercial pap – and that's definitely the vibe here, as the material resonates with any of Waters' best 70s live material for other labels, with a really great sound, even from the stage. The set features performances from Muddy Waters appearances in 1972, 1974, and 1977 – and titles include "Same Thing", "Howlin Wolf", "Still A Fool", "Trouble No More", "Rock Me Baby", "Long Distance Call", "Mannish Boy", "Nobody Knows Chicago Like I Do", "County Jail", "I'm Ready", "Electric Man", and "Can't Get No Grindin". LP, Vinyl record album

Gruff and deep down beautiful Mississippi Blues from Bukka White – released on John Fahey's Takoma label at the end of the 60s and featuring rawly rollicking, shaky voice intensity and that heat producing bottleneck guitar! It's wonderful stuff, certainly a high water mark for the late 60s records to appear after the folk revival. Includes "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues", "Baby Please Don't Go", "Parchment Farm Blues", "Poor Boy Long Ways From Home", "Drunk Man Blues" (on piano), "Army Blues" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Texas Alexander, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Cannon's Jug Stompers, Robert Johnson, Speckled Red, Victoria Spivey, Leadbelly, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson, Brownie McGhee, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Elmore James. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes selections by Otis Spann, Speckled Red, Sunnyland Slim, Champion Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim, and Sonny Boy Williamson. LP, Vinyl record album

Produced by Johnny Winter – with cuts that include "The Blues Had A Baby & They Named It Rock & Roll", "Little Girl", "Deep Down In Florida", "Jealous Hearted Man", and "Mannish Boy". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary night at Chicago's Checkerboard Lounge – a set recorded at a time when the Rolling Stones were in town, and decided to pop down to the south side, and visit the home turf of their blues hero, Muddy Waters! You'll notice that the record bills the performance as Muddy Waters & The Rolling stones – and that's definitely the case here, as the Stones step in almost as Muddy's backing band – allowing Waters to really step out in the lead, while the group remind us that way back in the day, they got their start as a blues-based group first, before finding a style of their own! The set's also filled with guest appearances – including work from Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and Lefty Dizz – and titles include "Mannish Boy", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Long Distance Call", "Next Time You See Me", "Champagne & Reefer", "Clouds In My Heart", "One Eyed Woman", and "You Don't Have To Go". LP, 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 also a fair bit that has never seen the light of day before – amazing recordings that make up a surprisingly large part of this box set – which compiles work in many different styles recorded by Alan in the field – blues, folk, gospel, and global modes, plus compelling regional genres – all presented here in a special 6LP set. The box features 55 never-issued tracks, and lots more great ones too – with music by Shirley Collins, Fiddlin Joe Martin, Compagna Sacco, Calvin Frazier, Sonny Boy Williamson, Jelly Roll Morton, Ernest Williams, Neal Morris, Skip James, Son House, Elmer Barton, Brendan Behan, George Sea Island Singers, Big Bill Broonzy, Elizabeth Austin, Jean Ritchie, Bascomb Lamar Lunsford, Bessie Jones, Duke Of Iron, Charles Barnett, and many others. The box features a nice booklet of notes, too – and some rare photos from the archive! (Folk/Country, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool album from the great Earl Hooker – playing guitar and singing here – in a cool combo with Blues Boy Odom on guest vocals, Johnny Big Moose Walker on piano and organ, and Jeffrey M Carp on harmonica! LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary John Lee Hooker, heard here in one of his more obscure recordings from the late 50s – at least in contrast to his famous sides for Vee Jay Records! This set's an unusual date – recorded in Detroit, despite the claim of the title – and featuring Hooker on acoustic guitar and vocals, without any other instrumentation at all – pitched much more towards the growing folk blues scene than some of his more familiar Chicago recordings. Tracks are short, but pack plenty of punch – and titles include "Black Snake", "I Rowed A Little Boat", "Bundle Up & Go", "Behind The Plow", "Water Boy", "Tupelo Blues", and "Pea Vine Special". LP, Vinyl record album

A famous date that showcases the Chess Records influence on the sound of the Brit rock scene – one that has a number of key players "giving back" to the label, and working on a special date with Howlin Wolf! Wolf's rough vocals are in the lead on all tracks, and he also plays a bit of harmonica and guitar as well – and other artists include Steve Winwood on piano and organ, Eric Clapton on guitar, Bill Wyman on bass, and Charlie Watts on drums – all players who are respectful of the original bluesy sound of Chess, and who clearly dig the opportunity to show off their chops in the setting. Titles include "I Ain't Superstitious", "Poor Boy", "Do The Do", "Red Rooster", "Built For Comfort", "What A Woman", "Highway 49", "Who's Been Talking", and "Rocking Daddy". LP, Vinyl record album