They don't call Jimmy Dawkins "fast fingers" for nothing – and the first few minutes of the record are definitely testament to his mighty power on the guitar! The instrument is electric, and recorded with this sense of powerful echo that easily has Dawkins blowing away some of the UK blues rockers who were starting to get into the game at the time – as do his vocals, which we'd put head to head with some of the giants who took this mode and ran with it through the arena rock scene of the 70s! Yet throughout, it's the guitar that's especially amazing – completely confident and masterful, even though this was Jimmy's first album – with nice lean support from Eddie Shaw on tenor, Lafayette Leake on piano and organ, and Mighty Joe Young on second guitar. Titles include "Little Angel Child", "Night Rock", "Triple Trebles", "It Serves Me Right To Suffer", "Breaking Down", "I Don't Know What Love Is", and "I Wonder Why". CD features two bonus tracks – "Sad & Blues" and "Back Home Blues". CD

Bo Diddley we already love you – but this set gives us another reason why! Although Bo's probably best known for his classic R&B work of the late 50s and early 60s, but during the 70s he also managed to cut some massively funky albums for Chess – working in the blues revival/funk turnover sound that was pioneered in the Cadet Concept studios with some of the label's classic artists of earlier years. The grooves on this set are amazing – heavy funk all the way, and filled with a ripplingly strong guitar sound over heavy drums and bass – still handled with the same offbeat sense of humor that we love in Bo's older work, but retuned nicely for the hip heavy sound of the 70s! The CD features 20 tracks in all – pulled from 4 albums on Chess from the early 70s – and titles include "I Don't Like You", "Funky Fly", "Shut Up Woman", "Elephant Man", "Down On The Corner", "The Shape I'm In", "Bad Trip", "Hey Jerome", "Infatuation", "Take It All Off", "Bo Diddley-It Is", "Stop The Pusher", and "Hit Or Miss". CD

A set that's one of the more obscure Lightning Hopkins albums of the 60s – as it was issued on the short-lived label Candid, an imprint that was mostly known for modern jazz! Yet the approach here is wonderfully faithful to the music that Hopkins does best – a well-recorded solo date that's handled in ways that are similar to some of the Prestige Records blues albums of the time – maybe in part because as things went mainstream and more commercial, it was up to some of the jazz labels to preserve a more stripped-down sound! Hopkins sings and plays guitar – and even handles a bit of piano too – on titles that include "Take It Easy", "Mighty Crazy", "Trouble Blues", "Wonder Why", "Mister Charlie", and "I've Had My Fun If I Don't Get Well No More". LP, Vinyl record album

An album named after a genre, but one that offers up the very special focus that BB King brought to blues music – especially in these early years of his career! King's a giant at this point – a hell of a singer, with a sound that's a key bridge between gospel and soul – and a equally solid guitarist, able to grace his tunes with searing solos, but in a way that's never as showy or overcrowded as all the later bluesmen who tried to copy his act! Instead, King's balance here is perfect – and often set to romping backings that link his approach not only to a postwar R&B tradition, but maybe even to the jazz world as well – with a vibe that's a lot less downtrodden than you might expect from a record called "the blues". If you've never dug BB at this early point in his career, you'll find plenty here to love – and titles include "When My Heart Beats Like A Hammer", "What Can I Do", "Troubles Troubles Troubles", "Early In The Morning", "You Don't' Have To Cry", and "Why Do Everything Happen To Me". CD features bonus tracks – "Sweet Little Angel", "Tickle Britches", "I'm In Love", "Bye Bye Baby", "Don't Keep Me Waiting", and "Don't Break Your Promise". CD

An excellent collection of rare work from the legendary BB King – a selection of 25 tracks from the vaults of RPM and Kent Records, 23 of which appear here for the first time ever! Some cuts are alternates, some are different versions of other recordings – and all are pretty darn wonderful – that sharp-edged BB King sound right at the start, before the famous Memphis powerhouse was recording for bigger labels in a more commercial setting! Lots of these cuts have a jazzy backing alongside BB's sweet guitar and raspy vocals – a mode that's similar to the mix of bigger band and bluesy elements you'd get on early work from Bobby Blue Bland – that great Memphis mix of modes that always makes us love this stretch in King's career so much. Titles include unusual versions of "Sweet Little Angel", "Catfish Blues", "Early In The Morning", "I Wonder Why", "Goin Down Slow", "Whole Lotta Meat", "Loving You In Vain", "Long Nights", "The Woman I Love", "Soul Beat", "Don't You Want A Man Like Me", "Be Careful With A Fool", and "Whole Lot Of Lovin". CD

A great little 70s album of electric blues – a set that begins with a song about Watergate – then moves off into a whole other great range of themes too! Bob Kirkpatrick's got a vibe here that's in the better style of the small club scene of Detroit or Chicago at the time – lean, gritty, and with vocals wrapped around his guitar in a really wonderful way – getting support from a slightly unusual trio that features Jothan Callins on bass, Ron Burton on piano, and Harold White on drums – two of whom you'll know from work in spiritual jazz! Titles include "Watergate Blues", "Sweet Little Angel", "I Don't Know Why", "When The Sun Rose This Morning", "I Been Down So Long", and "I Got Love". CD

A great example of why Little Milton was always one of the few Chicago blues artists who could also break strongly in the soul camp at the time – and a beautifully balanced set that perfectly shows both sides of the Chicago scene of the time! Production is by old Vee Jay maestro Calvin Carter, and arrangements by Gene Barge, who manages to slide effortlessly between blues and soul on the set – almost pushing Milton into Tyrone Davis territory, but keeping things a bit more rougher and down home on some of the other numbers. The sound is wonderful – very deep and rich, and with a sound that's head and shoulders above most other albums of this type in the late 60s. Titles include "Baby I Love You", "If Walls Could Talk", "Things That I Used to Do", "Let's Get Together", "I Play Dirty", "Blues Get Off My Shoulder", "I Don't Know", and "Poor Man". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible rare work from Magic Sam – a set recorded at his home in Chicago during the late 60s, and which has Sam coming across maybe more like a soul singer than ever before! The setting is very lean – just Sam on electric guitar and vocals – and it's that laidback approach that really lets the magic flow forth – these incredible vocals that could have easily been turned towards deep soul, if Sam wanted to record for Atlantic – and maybe even more powerful here without any other studio support at all! And sure, the approach is different than the better-known Magic Sam albums – but it's also a fantastic illustration of his mighty talents, as you'll hear on titles that include "I Can't Quit You Baby", "You're So Fine", "That's Why I'm Crying", "I'm So Glad", "Baby You Torture My Soul", "What Have I Done Wrong", and "Give Me Time". CD

Incredible rare work from Magic Sam – a set recorded at his home in Chicago during the late 60s, and which has Sam coming across maybe more like a soul singer than ever before! The setting is very lean – just Sam on electric guitar and vocals – and it's that laidback approach that really lets the magic flow forth – these incredible vocals that could have easily been turned towards deep soul, if Sam wanted to record for Atlantic – and maybe even more powerful here without any other studio support at all! And sure, the approach is different than the better-known Magic Sam albums – but it's also a fantastic illustration of his mighty talents, as you'll hear on titles that include "I Can't Quit You Baby", "You're So Fine", "That's Why I'm Crying", "I'm So Glad", "Baby You Torture My Soul", "What Have I Done Wrong", and "Give Me Time". CD

A famous 70s session from the great Muddy Waters – one that has him heading over to London, and rubbing shoulders in the studio with some key musicians whose work he'd helped inspire! Chess Records first tried this mode out with Howlin Wolf in 1970 – but the Waters session is maybe even more cohesive and uplifting – thanks in part to Muddy's ability to really reach out and welcome in fans and supporters from the outside! There's still some Chicago help at the core, thanks to a young Carey Bell on harmonica – working here alongside UK rock superstars who include Rory Gallagher on guitar, Rick Grech on bass, and Steve Winwood on piano and organ – plus some work on organ from Georgie Fame (billed as Georgie Fortune), and guest vocals from the great Rosetta Hightower. Back in Chicago, Johnny Pate added a few touches with his arrangements – and titles include "Key To The Highway", "Walkin Blues", "I Don't Know Why", "Sad Sad Day", "Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man When I'm Gone", "Blind Man Blues", and "Young Fashioned Ways". 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

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

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 totally great collection of rare material from the Bluestime label – a rare rootsy side of the Flying Dutchman imprint at the start of the 70s! Flying Dutchman is a well-remembered label for its rich array of funk and jazz titles – and although Bluestime worked in the blues side of the spectrum, most of these numbers are pretty darn funky too – thanks to some shared musicians and production talents with the main Flying Dutchman scene. In other words, the tracks are all pretty darn hip – and way way more than blues – really more funk tunes that have a gritty, raspy edge – like those rare few times when Chess Records' bluesmen got nice and funky. Titles include "I'm A Dues Payin Man" by Optis Spann, "Every Day I Have The Blues" by T-Bone Walker, "Plastic Man" by Joe Turner, "Love" by Harmonica Slim, "Paris Blues" by The Super Black Blues Band, "I Wonder Why" by Otis Spann, "Something So Bright" by Malcolm & Chris, "That's Alright" by Harmonica Slim, Chicago Charva Chapter" by The Plaster Caster Blues Band, "Disillusion Blues" by Leon Thomas, and "For BB King" by T-Bone Walker. (Funky Compilations, Blues) CD