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(Rock, Blues) CD

Music from John Lee Hooker, Billy Boy Arnold With Tony McPhee, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Johnson, Memphis Slim, Buster Benton & Carey Bell, Louisiana Red, Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, and more. CD

A nice bit of funky blues, and a very strange record to appear on Motown! The production style and presentation are very rootsy – right down to the photo of Luther on the front cover, who's smoking a cigarette, but trying to pretend it's a joint! The style is electric blues of the Chicago school, but given a bit more of a country funk kind of sound. Titles include "Bad News Is Coming", "Dust My Broom", "Evil Is Going On", "Rock Me Baby", and "Raggedy & Dirty", which actually has some very nice drums! LP, Vinyl record album

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

(Rock, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

Great work from this raw R&B legend – one of the grittiest, nastiest singers of his time! Bill Doggett plays on some of the cuts – and tracks include "Drinkin By Myself", "Sittin On It All The Time", "A Love Untrue", "Wine, Wine, Sweet Wine", "Fishtail Blues", and "Bite Again, Bite Again". (Soul, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

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

The title's an apt one here, as Jimmy Rogers was one of the many bluesmen who started out in the south, but headed to Chicago for greater fame – which was a good thing for Chess Records, who managed to come some of these great sides in the 50s! Rogers both sings and plays guitar – the later of which has a sometimes snakey quality that almost echoes a slight bit of jazz – a mode that recalls some of the inventions T Bone Walker was putting down at the time, but a little bit rootsier overall. Players on these sessions include Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Otis Spann, and Willie Dixon – and tracks include "Money Marbles & Chalk", "Ludella", "You're The One", "Back Door Friend", "I Used To Have A Woman", "Sloppy Drunk", "Blues Leave Me Alone", and "Walking By Myself". 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

Features tracks from Doctor Ross, James Cotton, Willie Nix, Rufus Thomas, Jimmy DeBerry, Sammy Lewis and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A really cool package that's way more than just the blues promised in the title – as the set brings together work from a variety of scenes and styles, all showing the many ways that American blues had such an impact on UK sounds from the mod generation onwards! There's definitely some tracks here that stick to a slavish representation of the original influence – but the set also includes all sorts of great divergences, tracing the path that so many artists would take from learning blues licks to really stepping out with new sounds of their own in psych, prog, hard rock, and other British styles to follow! There's also some surprising folk moments too – and over the course of 73 tracks, the box follows a fantastic journey – also supported with great notes too – through the work of artists who include Siren, Andy Roberts, Medicine Head, John Martyn, The Deviants, Pentangle, Killing Floor, Jo Ann Kelly, Jellybread, Alexis Korner, Rod Stewart, Mike Cooper, Savoy Brown, The Purple Gang, Al Jones, Bronx Cheer, Dave Ellis, Roger Hubbard, Taste, Incredible String Band, Ralph McTell, and many others. (Rock, Blues) CD