Three full albums from heavy rocker Bob "Catfish" Hodge – a great underground talent on the Detroit scene of the late 60s and early 70s – and one who recorded for the same Westbound label as Funkadelic! Hodge shares a lot with some of the best Detroit talents of the time – namely a real genre-crossing sound that's very color blind – one that mixes in equal parts blues, rock, and soul – and which sometimes hits some funkier edges too – no surprise, given the Westbound recording style at the time. The guitar is great – often fuzzy, but never too freaky – and nicely focused on the rhythms on most tunes, until it takes off in some sweetly expressive solos. Hodge's vocals have a nice degree of grit, and a quality that's a bit like Dr John – in which he's referencing older modes and styles, but manages to come off without any hoke at all. The 2CD set features all three albums recorded for the Westbound/Eastbound label – Soap Operas, Dinosaurs & Alleycats, and Boogie Man Gonna Get Ya – plus b-sides and a few unreleased tracks too. Titles include "Train To Detroit", "Boogie Man", "Different Strokes", "Ghetto", "Hungry Love", "Big Boss Man", "Oscar Teo", "For Free", "Des Woman", "Sweet Cocaine", and "We Got Love In Our House". (Rock, Blues) CD

The title's not right – as there's plenty of soul and plenty of blues throughout – just the sort of thing we'd expect from Stan Mosley's long legacy of indie recordings from the contemporary underground! We first started hearing Stan's music on the Malaco label at the end of the 90s – a great continuation of that company's way of keeping southern soul alive by mixing it with a bit of blues – a quality that definitely comes through on some of these cuts, with a bit of blues guitar solo in the lineup – while Stan soars out as more of a deep soul singer on others! The vocals are wonderful throughout – nicely unbridled, and very much up to Mosley's legacy – on titles that include "You Need Love", "Blues Man", "I Can't Get Next To You", "This Train", "Losing Hand", "Stomp", "Right Next Door", and "I'm Back To Collect". LP, Vinyl record album

An album from the 80s, but one that echoes a much older tradition of folk and blues – with a vibe that hardly fits the dated spelling of the duo's name! Serious Bizness is the team of Jaribu and Ngoma Hill – who harmonize together on some very message-oriented music, in a way that was often a bit overlooked in the generation of beatboxes and keyboards, but which has all the pride and power of acoustic sessions from the Civil Rights generation! Instrumentation is just acoustic guitar on most numbers, but Jaribu and Ngoma have a way of really making the songs ring out with a great deal of power – on titles that include "High Tech", "Southern Shame", "Down Underground In A Company Town", "Stolen Dreams", "Stop The Bosses", and "Malcolm Lives". CD

A deep look at a blues scene that doesn't always get its due – music not from Chicago, Memphis, or various points south – but some nicely gritty tracks that were cut in New York during the postwar years! Despite New York's fame as a hub of jazz, soul, and other styles – the city also had a surprisingly strong blues scene in the 50s and 60s, which is when most of these tracks were recorded – music that's both in the electric modes that were showing up in other urban centers at the time, and also in some more traditional modes that were sometimes left behind in other cities – but which got a nice revival in New York, thanks to an interest in folk blues from the underground! Material here was originally recorded by a range of different labels – Old Town, Atlantic, Mercury, Prestige, Fire, Apollo, King, and Chess – and as you'd expect from Ace, there's also some unreleased material on the set, all presented with a great assortment of notes and details on every single track. 26 titles in all – with cuts that include "Bad Blood" by Champion Jack Dupree, "Step It Up & Go" by Blind Boy Fuller, "The Guy With A 45" by Allen Bunn & His Trio, "Stormy Monday Blues" by Bob Gaddy, "Kansas City March" by Wild Jimmy Spruill, "Four Women Blues" by Larry Johnson & Hank Adkins, "Idle Hours" by Lonnie Johnson with Victory Spivey, "Hard Times" by Noble Thin Man Watts, "Believe Me Darling" by June Bateman, "Security" by Tarheel Slim & Little Ann, "Jack That Cat Was Clean" by Dr Horse, and "Goodbye Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison. CD

BB King hips up his groove a bit here – picking up some of the crossover soul and rock touches used by contemporaries over at Chess/Cadet, and expanding his sound with a range of guests that include Leon Russell, Joe Walsh, and Carole King! Despite the presence of these bigger names, the set's very much in BB's own spirit – mostly focused on his vocals and guitar work, and still mostly including original compositions. A few tunes get nice and funky on the rhythms, although still very much in a blues-based way – and Jimmie Haskell contributes a few larger arrangements from time to time. Titles include "King's Special", "Until I'm Dead & Cold", "You're Still My Woman", "Hummingbird", "Go Underground", and "Chains & Things". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal set of underground blues from 60s Chicago – with separate sections of work by Otis Rush, Jimmy Cotton, and Homesick James & His Dusters! LP, Vinyl record album