A great return to recording for Son House – a musician who'd stopped playing the guitar in the postwar years, but rose again to fame during the great folk blues revival of the 60s! The style here is every bit as classic as some of Son's earliest music – just recorded a lot better, too – with beautiful focus on the subtle inflections he brings to the strings of his acoustic guitar, and vocals that ring out a lot stronger than they might have on a 78. Titles include "John The Revelator", "Empire State Express", "Preachin Blues", "Sundown", and "Grinnin In Your Face". CD

A great return to recording for Son House – a musician who'd stopped playing the guitar in the postwar years, but rose again to fame during the great folk blues revival of the 60s! The style here is every bit as classic as some of Son's earliest music – just recorded a lot better, too – with beautiful focus on the subtle inflections he brings to the strings of his acoustic guitar, and vocals that ring out a lot stronger than they might have on a 78. Titles include "John The Revelator", "Empire State Express", "Preachin Blues", "Sundown", and "Grinnin In Your Face". LP, Vinyl record album

A great return to recording for Son House – a musician who'd stopped playing the guitar in the postwar years, but rose again to fame during the great folk blues revival of the 60s! The style here is every bit as classic as some of Son's earliest music – just recorded a lot better, too – with beautiful focus on the subtle inflections he brings to the strings of his acoustic guitar, and vocals that ring out a lot stronger than they might have on a 78. Titles include "John The Revelator", "Empire State Express", "Preachin Blues", "Sundown", and "Grinnin In Your Face". LP, Vinyl record album

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A great return to recording for Son House – a musician who'd stopped playing the guitar in the postwar years, but rose again to fame during the great folk blues revival of the 60s! The style here is every bit as classic as some of Son's earliest music – just recorded a lot better, too – with beautiful focus on the subtle inflections he brings to the strings of his acoustic guitar, and vocals that ring out a lot stronger than they might have on a 78. Titles include "John The Revelator", "Empire State Express", "Preachin Blues", "Sundown", and "Grinnin In Your Face". CD

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Beautiful images from the legendary Ann Arbor Blues Festival – a long-running even that's pulled together an amazing range of talent over the years – a good number of whom are featured here! The festival probably hit its biggest fame in the early 70s – when recordings documented work by Sun Ra, Art Ensemble, and many blues musicians – and most of the images here even predate those years, as almost all the photographs appear to be from 1969 and 1970 – huge appearances for still-living blues legends! The quality of the images is great – and the book features images of John Lee Hooker, Son House, Sippie Wallace, Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Fred McDowell, Little Brother Montgomery, Willie Dixon, Robert Lockwood, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, and many others – all in crisp, vintage black and white. 128 pages, softcover, with images throughout. (Books, Blues) Book

A fantastic document of the first-ever Ann Arbor Blues Festival – the start of a great event that would blossom into other styles of music in the 70s, but which stood as a strong blues-based event in its initial year of 1969! In some ways, the three day series of concerts is a roots answer to Woodstock – which took place just a few weeks before – as the festival featured a great scope of blues talents, from the rootsier sort of artists who were recording for labels like Folkways or Arhoolie, to some of the sharper modern talents rising to the top on Chess or Delmark! The package alone is almost worth the price of admission – beautiful photographs of the event, detailed notes, and the first-ever release of this music – which has sat in the vaults for decades, finally to see the light of day. Titles include "Dirty Mother For You" by Roosevelt Sykes, "So Glad You're Mine" by Arthur Big Boy Crudup, "Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy" by Luther Allison & The Blue Nebulae, "Help Me" by Junior Wells, "I Wonder Why" by Jimmy Dawkins, "Too Much Alcohol" by JB Hutto & His Hawks, "So Many Roads So Many Trains" by Otis Rush, "Long Distance Call" by Muddy Waters, "Off The Wall" by James Cotton Band, "Juanita" by Big Joe Williams, "Jelly Jelly Blues" by Shirley Griffin, "I Feel So Good" by Magic Sam, "Call It Stormy Monday" by T-Bone Walker, "Death Letter Blues" by Son House, "Key To The Highway" by Sam Lay, and "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin Hopkins. CD

A fantastic document of the first-ever Ann Arbor Blues Festival – the start of a great event that would blossom into other styles of music in the 70s, but which stood as a strong blues-based event in its initial year of 1969! In some ways, the three day series of concerts is a roots answer to Woodstock – which took place just a few weeks before – as the festival featured a great scope of blues talents, from the rootsier sort of artists who were recording for labels like Folkways or Arhoolie, to some of the sharper modern talents rising to the top on Chess or Delmark! The package alone is almost worth the price of admission – beautiful photographs of the event, detailed notes, and the first-ever release of this music – which has sat in the vaults for decades, finally to see the light of day. Titles on this second volume include "Long Distance Call" by Muddy Waters, "Off The Wall" by James Cotton Band, "Juanita" by Big Joe Williams, "Jelly Jelly Blues" by Shirley Griffin, "I Feel So Good" by Magic Sam, "Call It Stormy Monday" by T-Bone Walker, "Death Letter Blues" by Son House, "Key To The Highway" by Sam Lay, and "Mojo Hand" by Lightnin Hopkins. LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Sam Collins, Gus Cannon, Papa Harvey, Rube Lacy, Bo Carter, Furry Lewis Son House, Geeshie Wiley, Jim Thompkins, Skip James, King Solomon, Otto Virgial, Roberet Johnson, Muddy Waters, and more – 40 tracks in all! CD

Includes music by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Kokomo Arnold, Mamie Smith, Jimmie Rodgers, Chet Atkins, Carson Robison, Ernest Tubb, Blind Willie Johnson, Leadbelly, Sons Of The Pioneers, Uncle Dave Macon, and more CD

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

Music from Jimmy Reed, Mississippi John Hurt, Dave 'Snaker' Ray, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Son House, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Otis Spann, Slim Harpo, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Mayall's Blues Beakers, Albert King, Canned Heat and BB King. CD

Includes tracks by Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Junior Lockwood, Black Ace, Tampa Red, Son House, Earl Hooker, Johnny Winter, and Boyd Gilmore. CD

Features Lightnin' Hopkins, Roosevelt Skyes, Son House, Brownie McGhee, Big Joe Williams, Grayson and Whitter, Sam McGhee, Teddy Bunn, Ralph Willis, Memphis Jug Band, and more. CD

A very cool oversized package of rare 78rpm material – with an excellent Robert Crumb cover! Music from Freeny's Barn Dance Band, Son House, Ernest Phipps, Memphis Minnie, Tommy Johnson, Three Stripped Gears, the Kentucky Ramblers, Amedie Ardoin, Yank Rachelm, Asa Martin, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Ken Maynard & more. CD

Music from Little Brother Montgomery John Lee Granderson, Dr Isaiah Ross, Big Joe Williams, James Cotton, Maxwell Street Jimmy, James Cotton, Eddie Boyd, Son House, Rev Robert Wilkins, and more. CD

With tracks by Blind Lemon Jefferson, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Big Boy Crudup, Bukka White, and many more more! 73 tracks totals including interview footage! CD

Music from BB King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Leadbelly, Amos Milburn, Memphis Slim, Brownie McGhee, Barbecue Bob, Big Bill Broonzy, Son House, and more. CD

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Rootsy blues from the brief stretch when Prestige Records was experimenting with non-jazz material – a back-to-basics session that features Johnson on electric guitar and vocals, Snowden on acoustic guitar, and only Wendell Marshall's jazz-trained bass to back the pair up. The work's in a style that's rootsier than the mainstream – almost an imagined past for this sort of blues, and one that was more aimed at the college and folksy crowd of the time than anyone else. Titles include "Savoy Blues", "I'll Get Along Somehow", "Haunted House", "Memories Of You", "I Found A Dream", and "Blues For Chris". CD

A bit blues, a bit jazz – and a singer with a style unto her own – the amazing Big Maybelle, one of the greatest artists to record for Okeh Records in the 50s! This well-done collection pulls together every single Maybelle recorded for the R&B powerhouse back in the day – a motherlode of great work that easily puts her right up there with Lavern Baker or Ruth Brown as one of the great female singers of the 50s. The package features a whopping 26 tracks in all – including many bits that get lost between the tracks in some of the too-sifted collections of her work from the time. Titles include "Maybelle's Blues", "New Kind Of Mambo", "Hair Dressin Women", "My Big Mistake", "Ain't No Use", "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show", "So Good To My Baby", "Gabbin Blues", "You'll Never Know", "The Other Night", and "Such A Cutie". (Soul, Blues) CD

Howlin Wolf sings the blues, and comes across in a way that influences an entire generation too – with that raw, raspy sound that made the singer a perfect blend of delta roots and contemporary sounds that were bubbling up in the postwar years! These tracks have a spare, simple, stark style that's still a lot more powerful than most of the records that tried to copy Wolf's modes in later years – mindblowing guitar work from Willie Johnson, harmonica lines that weave the whole thing together, and tremendous vocals that would shake the paint off your walls, even without any other instrumentation! Titles include "Crying At Daybreak", "Twisting & Turning", "Brown Skin Woman", "Morning At Midnight", "Backslide Boogie", "House Rockin Boogie", "Keep What You Got", and "Worried About My Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer R&B from one of the hippest singers on postwar Aladdin Records! Titles include "Chicken Shack Boogie", in two versions – plus "Amos Boogie", "Johnson Rag", "Sax Shack Boogie", "House Party", "Roll Mr Jelly", "Jitterbug Fashion Parade", and his classic "Bad Bad Whiskey". (Soul, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Muddy Waters, Magic Sam, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Eddie Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells, Otis Spann, J.B. Lenoir, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Earl Hooker, Sunnyland Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Lockwood Jr, Billy Boy Arnold, Luther Allison, and Hound Dog Taylor & The House Rockers. CD

A stunning document of culture in and around the Texas scene of the postwar years – never-heard recordings done by blues enthusiast Robert Mack McCormick, who also photographed most of his subjects as well – a lost legacy that finally gets exposure to the world at large here in a big box set that includes both music and a big book that includes 128 pages of rare photos and other blues artifacts! The whole thing is like discovering a lost side room in the world of postwar field recordings of blues – material from the generation of similar projects by Alan Lomax, Chris Strachwitz, and George Mitchell, but which has never been tapped until now – brought out with a great level of care by the Smithsonian, who currently house McCormick's life's work. The package is almost worth it alone for the book – but you also get 3CDs with 68 tracks in all – music by Bongo Joe Coleman, Lightnin Hopkins, Hop Wilson, Jimmy Womack, Walter Britten, Buster Pickens, Andrew Everett, James Tisdom, Doc Webster, Mance Lipscomb, Leroy Country Johnson, RC Forest, Billy Bizor, and many others CD

A stunning document of culture in and around the Texas scene of the postwar years – never-heard recordings done by blues enthusiast Robert Mack McCormick, who also photographed most of his subjects as well – a lost legacy that finally gets exposure to the world at large here in a big box set that includes both music and a big book that includes 128 pages of rare photos and other blues artifacts! The whole thing is like discovering a lost side room in the world of postwar field recordings of blues – material from the generation of similar projects by Alan Lomax, Chris Strachwitz, and George Mitchell, but which has never been tapped until now – brought out with a great level of care by the Smithsonian, who currently house McCormick's life's work. The package is almost worth it alone for the book – but you also get 6LPs with 68 tracks in all – music by Bongo Joe Coleman, Lightnin Hopkins, Hop Wilson, Jimmy Womack, Walter Britten, Buster Pickens, Andrew Everett, James Tisdom, Doc Webster, Mance Lipscomb, Leroy Country Johnson, RC Forest, Billy Bizor, and many others. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the songs "First Time I Met The Blues", "The Way You Been Treating Me", "Sit And Cry (The Blues)", "This Is The End", "Stone Crazy", "When My Left Eye Jumps", "My Time After While", "Hold That Plane", "Hello San Francisco", "Five Long Years", "First Time I Met The Blues", "A Man Of Many Words", "T-Bone Shuffle", "When You See The Tears From My Eyes", "Ten Years Ago", "Blues At My Baby's House", "She Suits Me To A T", and "Just Teasin'". CD

Great vintage recordings from Lightning Hopkins – initially recorded by producer Bob Shad on his trips to the south in the early 50s, then later issued on Shad's label Mainstream in the 60s! The style here captures Hopkins at his best – very spare and lowdown, with gritty guitar alongside Lightning's wonderful vocals – both intertwined in a snakey mode that's extremely compelling. There's no other instrumentation on the tracks at all, but there's a presence and personality that's extremely full – maybe more so than most other Hopkins material of this vintage. Titles include "Coffee Blues", "Hello Central", "Long Way From Texas", "Gotta Move", "Dirty House Blues", "Freight Train", and "Everybody's Down On Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Howlin Wolf sings the blues, and comes across in a way that influences an entire generation too – with that raw, raspy sound that made the singer a perfect blend of delta roots and contemporary sounds that were bubbling up in the postwar years! These tracks have a spare, simple, stark style that's still a lot more powerful than most of the records that tried to copy Wolf's modes in later years – mindblowing guitar work from Willie Johnson, harmonica lines that weave the whole thing together, and tremendous vocals that would shake the paint off your walls, even without any other instrumentation! Titles include "Crying At Daybreak", "Twisting & Turning", "Brown Skin Woman", "Morning At Midnight", "Backslide Boogie", "House Rockin Boogie", "Keep What You Got", and "Worried About My Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

Music by Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Jimmy Anderson, Classie Ballou, Lightnin' Slim, Leroy Washington, the Fat Man, Silas Hogan, and more – 20 tracks total. CD

Fantastic west coast blues from the 60s, none of issued at the time – collected together here in a set that really shows the continuing evolution of the sound of LA! During the 60s, the city's blues took on some of the transformations that were happing in Chicago – with similar roots in a southern scene that moved into a hipper, more urban environment – where blues phrasing was more electrified, and mixed with influences from soul and jazz – often with some funky hybrids along the way! All the cuts here were recorded by Kent Records – the clear black music powerhouse of the west coast at the time – and half were issued on rare Japanese CDs in the 90s, the other 12 appear here for the first time ever – and as usual with Ace, the presentation, notes, and sound quality are wonderful. Titles include "Mama Said" and "Hey Baby" by Willie Headen, "Address In My Hand" and "Soul Blues" by Willie Garland, "Christine" and "Baby Don't Tear My Clothes" by Model T Slim, "Blues Pain" by Lowell Fulson, "You Told Me A Lie" by Smokey Wilson, "Before Day" by Big Mama Thornton, and "Rocks In My Pillow" and "Let Me Play With Your Poodle" by Long Gone Miles. CD

With vintage selections by Bert Mays, Barrel House Welch, Rudy Foster, Jack O'Diamonds, James "Bat" Robinson, Louise Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery, Jabo Williams, and Turner Parrish. LP, Vinyl record album

A key record in the establishment of Delmark Records as a powerhouse in blues – a session that began as something of an expedition to find the near-lost Sleepy John Estes – who was brought to the studio to record this really well-done comeback set in 1962! Although Delmark's best known with the electric sound of Chicago blues, their early work did plenty in the same rural blues modes of a label like Arhoolie – and there's a lean, stripped-down quality to the record – a very strong focus on Estes' acoustic guitar and vocals – with support from Knocky Parker on piano, Hammie Nixon on harmonica, and Ed Wilkinson on bass. Titles include "Married Woman Blues", "Rats In My Kitchen", "Drop Down Mama", "Milk Cow Blues", "Stop That Thing", and "Who's Been Telling You Buddy Brown". CD

A key record in the establishment of Delmark Records as a powerhouse in blues – a session that began as something of an expedition to find the near-lost Sleepy John Estes – who was brought to the studio to record this really well-done comeback set in 1962! Although Delmark's best known with the electric sound of Chicago blues, their early work did plenty in the same rural blues modes of a label like Arhoolie – and there's a lean, stripped-down quality to the record – a very strong focus on Estes' acoustic guitar and vocals – with support from Knocky Parker on piano, Hammie Nixon on harmonica, and Ed Wilkinson on bass. Titles include "Married Woman Blues", "Rats In My Kitchen", "Drop Down Mama", "Milk Cow Blues", "Stop That Thing", and "Who's Been Telling You Buddy Brown". LP, Vinyl record album

Not the folk festival you might expect – especially given that the blues here are electric – and a set that was recorded at a small Chicago club, not some stuffy outdoor concert on the east coast! The album's an early powerhouse meeting of the best Chess blues talents at the time – a date that features Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Willie Dixon in varying settings – mostly getting center spotlight as a solo act with the same backing combo, but also coming together as well at one point too. The whole thing's great – a gritty live record of electric Chicago blues in the 60s – with a strong sense of liveness that really recreates the small club feel! Titles include "Wee Wee Baby", "Sitting & Thinking", "Worried Blues", "Sugar Mama", "Bring It On Home", "Got My Mojo Working", "May I Have A Talk With You", and "19 Years Old". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes music by Amos Milburn, Lafayette Leake, Dr. John, Eddie Boyd, Johnnie Johnson, Omar Shariff, Memphis Slim, Detroit Junior, Katie Webster, Blind John Davis, and more – 31 tracks in all! CD

A key record in the establishment of Delmark Records as a powerhouse in blues – a session that began as something of an expedition to find the near-lost Sleepy John Estes – who was brought to the studio to record this really well-done comeback set in 1962! Although Delmark's best known with the electric sound of Chicago blues, their early work did plenty in the same rural blues modes of a label like Arhoolie – and there's a lean, stripped-down quality to the record – a very strong focus on Estes' acoustic guitar and vocals – with support from Knocky Parker on piano, Hammie Nixon on harmonica, and Ed Wilkinson on bass. Titles include "Married Woman Blues", "Rats In My Kitchen", "Drop Down Mama", "Milk Cow Blues", "Stop That Thing", and "Who's Been Telling You Buddy Brown". CD