A bit of blues, and a bit of jazz – in that sweet style that Jimmy was handling so well on his 60s recordings for Prestige. Backing is by a small combo that includes Gildo Mahones on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Roy Haynes on drums – and titles include "The Time Has Come", "I'll Never Be Free", "I Wonder", "It's All In The Game", and "Blues In The Morning". CD

Genius work from Jimmy Witherspoon – exactly the kind of record that showcases his unique mix of jazz and blues, set to superb arrangements by Benny Golson, with excellent groovy production by Lew Futterman! (Vocalists, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

(Vocalists, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

One of the funkiest records ever recorded for Impulse – and the debut set by guitarist Mel Brown! Mel has a really down-and-dirty style that's quite unusual for the label at the time – a rootsy approach to guitar that's steeped in equal parts jazz, soul, and R&B – and which comes across with a raw power and tasty feel that's perfectly summed up by titles like "Chicken Fat", "Greasy Spoon", "Home James", "Slalom", and "Shanty"! The album features some rare organ work by Gerald Wiggins, drums by Paul Humphrey, and outta-site soul arrangements by Oliver Nelson on a few tracks – but through the whole thing, Brown's the main focus – laying down some deeply funky work on guitar! (Jazz, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the funkiest records ever recorded for Impulse – and the debut set by guitarist Mel Brown! Mel has a really down-and-dirty style that's quite unusual for the label at the time – a rootsy approach to guitar that's steeped in equal parts jazz, soul, and R&B – and which comes across with a raw power and tasty feel that's perfectly summed up by titles like "Chicken Fat", "Greasy Spoon", "Home James", "Slalom", and "Shanty"! The album features some rare organ work by Gerald Wiggins, drums by Paul Humphrey, and outta-site soul arrangements by Oliver Nelson on a few tracks – but through the whole thing, Brown's the main focus – laying down some deeply funky work on guitar! (Jazz, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

With McKinley Mitchell on "That Last Home Run". (Funky 45's, Blues) 7-inch, Vinyl record

Titles include "Patcha Patcha", "Blues Lament", "JT's Blues", and "You Got Me Runnin". CD

Backings feature Kenny Burrell on guitar, Leo Wright on alto, and Gildo Mahones on piano! Titles include "Mean Old Frisco", "Rocks In My Bed", "Lonely Boy Blues", and "One Scotch One Bourbon One Beer". (Vocalists, Blues) CD

Very cool work from Jimmy Witherspoon – a set that's different than some of his looser, bluesier work of the postwar years – as he works here with some tight, soulful arrangements from the great HB Barnum! Barnum brings a very different vibe to the set – almost currents of LA soul, although Jimmy's still working with a group filled with jazz players – on titles that include "Tanya", "I Ain't Mad At You", "Have Faith", "Pink Champagne", "I Don't Know", "In The Dark", and "Hey Mrs Jones". (Vocalists, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

Production by David Axelrod. CD

Fantastic material from Jimmy Witherspoon – that sublime mix of blues and jazz that really set him apart from the rest! Titles include "Failing By Degrees", "Big Fine Girl", "Have A Ball", "Fickle Woman", "Sweet Lovin Baby", and "Ain't Nobody's Business". (Vocalists, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A great batch of raw R&B vocals from Jimmy Witherspoon – along with backing by an excellent group that includes the great Clifford Scott on tenor, the always-great T-Bone Walker on guitar, and the little-known Bert Kendrix on organ. Tracks are short, and have a bit more fire than some of Jimmy's other work. Titles include "Grab Me A Freight", "Don't Let Go", "Money's Gettin' Cheaper", "Cane River", and "Drinking Beer". (Vocalists, Blues) CD

Jimmy Witherspoon takes the stage at the Olympia Theater in Paris – recording here with a hip small combo who really help him find his unique blend of blues and jazz! The album's got a feel that's quite similar to any of Witherspoon's best American dates of the time – a swinging jazz take on older KC vocal modes, handled by Jimmy in a voice that's easily one of the most recognizable of his generation. Players include Buck Clayton and Emmett Berry on trumpets, Dicky Wells on trombone, Buddy Tate on tenor, and Sir Charles Thompson on piano – and titles include "I Make A Lot Of Money", "Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You", "I'll Always Be In Love With You", "Blowin The Blues", and "Everything You Do Is Wrong". (Vocalists, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

(Vocalists, Blues) CD

Legendary Paramount recordings from Charlie Patton – mostly recorded in Richmond, Indiana in 1929 – but easily some of the most important Mississippi blues of the time! The package features a wealth of seminal songs from the June, 1929 session that really helped launch the Patton legacy – tracks that are arguably as important to the development of blues as the work of Robert Johnson, and which quite possibly circulated even more at the time. Patton's got a slightly folksy approach, and a sense of darkness that really makes most of these numbers very riveting, even all these many decades later – an acoustic brilliance that's had folks coming back to his music time and time again over the years.. CD features 20 titles in all – and tracks include "Screamin & Hollerin The Blues", "Pea Vine Blues", "Hammer Blues", "Dry Well Blues", "Poor Me", "Hang It On The Wall", "Down The Dirt Road Blues", "Mississippi Boweavil Blues", and "Tom Rushen Blues". CD

(Vocalists, Blues) CD

Features Gary Davis on six and twelve string guitar, plus a bit of harmonica – on titles that include "Lovin Spoonful", "Samson & Delilah", "You Got To Move", "Twelve Sticks", "Buck Dance", and "Twelve Gates To The City". LP, Vinyl record album

A really well done collection of work recorded by Howlin Wolf for Chess – put together in the early 70s, but featuring sides from the 50s and 60s. The album's got a good set of notes by Pete Welding, and tracks that include "Down In The Bottom", "Forty Four', "My Country Sugar Mama", "Spoonful", "Red Rooster", "Moanin For My Baby", "I Asked For Water", "Wang Dang Doodle", "Who's Been Talkin", "Built For Comfort", "Ooh Baby Hold Me", "Baby How Long", "Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy", and "Killing Floor". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer album of funky blues – recorded by Howlin Wolf during the period when Chess/Cadet was backing its older artists up with some of the newer funk musicians it had working in its studios! The overall sound works quite well – and although purists at the time moaned at the way artists like Wolf, Etta James, and Bo Diddley were being handled (especially with a "we know better than them" message on the cover like this!), the funky blues records from this time actually seem to be some of the most enduring from Chess – especially with younger listeners in the 21st Century! A big part of the success here goes to producers Charles Stepney and Gene Barge – who helped bring together a younger batch of players for Wolf's backing – including Pete Cosey and Phil Upchurch on guitars, Louis Satterfield on bass, and Morris Jennings on drums. Titles include "Spoonful", "Tail Dragger", "Smokestack Lightning", "Red Rooster", "Evil", and "Down In The Bottom". LP, Vinyl record album

Features "Suitcase Blues" by Sippie Wallace, "Trouble In Mind" by Jimmy Witherspoon, "Make Me A Pallet On The Floor" by Mama Yancey, "St Louis Blues" by Big Joe Turner, "Every Time" by Lil Green, "Destination Love" by Wynonie Harris, "Rain Is A Bringdown" by Ruth Brown, "I Don't Want To Be President" by Percy Mayfield and much more. LP, Vinyl record album

The title definitely gets it right – as this 70s collection brings together most of the best Chess Records material by Howlin Wolf from the late 50s and early 60s – almost all of them small combo sides that present the man in all of his raspy, growling glory! The tracks span a space from 1954 through 1965 – showing a great development over the space of a decade, but no departure at all from that core energy that made Wolf one of the key figures to transform the sound of blues in the postwar years. Other players include Hubert Sumlin on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, and JT Brown on tenor – and titles include "Evil", "Spoonful", "No Place To Go", "Down In The Bottom", "Who's Been Talkin", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy". LP, Vinyl record album

2 blues classics from the great Howlin Wolf – back to back on a single CD! First up is the self-titled Howlin Wolf – a record that has Wolf tightening it up a bit from his earliest years at Chess, and moving into a groove that would forever make him one of the key artists to record for the label! The raspy, rootsy feel of earlier years is still in place – but the recording quality's a bit better, and the tunes have a more unified feel – thanks partly to some classic compositions from Willie Dixon, whose work makes up a very big part of the album! Tunes were recorded between the years 1959 to 1962, and brought together for the record – and titles include "Shake For Me", "Spoonful", "Going Down Slow", "Down In The Bottom", "Wang Dang Doodle", "Red Rooster", and "Tell Me". On Moanin In The Moonlight, a set filled with raspy vocals, Wolf sings in a way that definitely lives up to his nickname! The sound here is spare and stripped down, with very little accompaniment – usually just a bit of guitar, piano, bass, and drums – and sometimes not even all that much! Wolf's vocals are wonderful throughout – archetypal, but not nearly as cliched as some of his contemporaries came to sound – with a timeless feel that really holds up throughout. Titles include "Smokestack Lightnin", "No Place To Go", "All Night Boogie", "Evil", "I Asked For Water", "Forty Four", and "Somebody In My Home". CD

20 songs from Larry Davis, Johnny Copeland, Lowell Fulson, T-Bone Walker, BB King, Jimmy Nelson, Ray Charles, Saunders King, Jimmy Witherspoon, Mari Jones & more. CD

A really well done collection of work recorded by Howlin Wolf for Chess – put together in the early 70s, but featuring sides from the 50s and 60s. The album's got a good set of notes by Pete Welding, and tracks that include "Down In The Bottom", "Forty Four', "My Country Sugar Mama", "Spoonful", "Red Rooster", "Moanin For My Baby", "I Asked For Water", "Wang Dang Doodle", "Who's Been Talkin", "Built For Comfort", "Ooh Baby Hold Me", "Baby How Long", "Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy", and "Killing Floor". LP, Vinyl record album