Amazing music from the depths of the Great Depression, but it's hardly a downer – this is a deeply felt collection of tunes by black & white singers and combos of the 20s & 30s that's cathartic, emotional, and a complete treasure trove! The songs are full of brutal beauty, tragedy, and some dark humor, especially when it gets to the murder ballads – and more than 30 of the 70 songs haven't been reissued before now! This is simply one of the very best sets of archival Americana since the epic CD releases of the Anthology Of American Folk Music. It's really that good! The discs are separated thematically – Man V Machine, Man V Nature, and Man V Man (And Woman, Too) – and titles include "Titanic Blues" by Hi Henry Brown & Charlie Jordan, "The Crash Of The Akron" by Bob Miller, "Wreck Of Old 97" by Skillet Lickers, "The Fatal Wreck Of The Blus" bu Mainer's Mountaineers, "The Story Of The Mighty Mississippi" by Ernest Stoneman, "When The Levee Breaks" by Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie, "The Death Of Floyd Collins" by Vernon Dalhart, "Peddler And His Wife" by Hayes Shepherd, "Frankie" by Dykes Magic City Trio, "Dupree Blues" by Willie Walker. 70 tracks on 3CDs! (Folk/Country, Blues) CD

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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 degree on the cover – which has a front image of a young Asian boy eating a big watermelon, Sambo-style – and the back cover features notes that say things like "Chinese kids like watermelon, Irish like bagels, black people like Jewish rye, and today everybody loves the Blues." Fortunately, this comic packaging doesn't affect the album too much – as Junior's still in the fine form he was at the end of the 60s, cruising between blues and soul, with a slight touch of jazz, in a unique way that sounds better to our ears than the work of most of his contemporaries. Titles include "Five Long Years", "That's Alright", "Way Back Home", "Man Or Mouse", and "I Like Your Style". CD

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 of the days with a skewed sensibility that's brilliant, and his singing, the performances and the recording quality aren't really as rough and raw as you might expect, though nowhere even close to manicured and clean sound – it's just right really for the material. Great stuff! Titles include "I'm So Depressed", "Cocaine", "Vietnam", "St James Infirmary Blues", "Cleo", "Woke Up This Morning", "Don't Mess With My Baby", "I'm Georgia Bound" and "The Reason Young People Use Drugs". LP, Vinyl record album