Two decades' of work by Elder Charles Beck – a really important force in the early years of gospel music, and an artist who really helped link the music to more secular styles too! Beck plays both piano and trumpet – the latter quite a surprise, and is used here on early cuts to ... (Gospel, Blues)read moreCD
A great set that may well be Big Maybelle's best record ever – really rare work that's quite different than her famous work of the 50s! The set was recorded in the Criteria studios in Miami – and it's got a cool southern soul sound that's part Bobby Blue Bland bluesy soul, and part ... (Soul, Blues)read moreCD
(In a very cool Japanese-styled, LP-like cardboard sleeve cover!)
Tremendous work from Clarence Gatemouth Brown – a postwar guitarist who was big on the Texas scene, but who had the modern flair and jazzy swinging groove of some of his contemporaries who'd left for the west coast! All the work here is from the early years of the Peacock Records label, and ... read moreCD
Wonderful work from Walter Brown – a bluesy singer who first rose to prominence in the early 40s band of Jay McShann (alongside a young Charlie Parker) – but who recorded these great cuts in the postwar years! The style is a nice fusion of earlier jazz modes and some of the leaner ... (Vocalists, Blues)read moreCD
Eric Clapton —
Blues ... CD Universal, 1970s. Used 2 CDs ...
Just Sold Out!
A cool little record with vintage sounds to match its cover image from Robert Crumb – performed here by a combo with Crumb on banjo and vocals, in kind of an offbeat take on early styles from jazz and string band music! The rest of the group plays a number of different instruments – ... (Jazz, Blues)read moreCD
Two rare concert performances from the Reverend Gary Davis – both from a time when his talents were finally getting the exposure they deserved, and presented in stunning showcases like this! CD1 features a performance from Portland, in 1969 – recorded with a gritty edge, but a great ... read moreCD
A pair of amazing all-star albums from Chess Records – back to back on a single CD! First up is Two Great Guitars – in which Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry come together in a really unique album for Chess Records in the 60s – and that's saying a lot, given all the groundbreaking ... read moreCD
Really fantastic work from Willie Egan – a west coast singer from the glory days of R&B on that side of the country, and one you might know best from his work in the duo of Marvin & Johnny! And yes, that's a pretty obscure duo, but an important one in the pre-soul years – ... (Soul, Blues)read moreCD
Great early work from Lowell Fulson – tracks recorded in the 50s for Chess Records – all in Chicago, and a fair bit more obscure than some of Lowell's better-known sides from the 60s! There's still a nicely gritty groove going on here – a style that's rooted in blues, but which ... read moreCD
A really well-done dip into the New York City blues scene of the 50s – one that presents a wealth of work we might not have heard otherwise, pulled from labels that include Old Town, Harlem, Jax, Wing, Dog, and Groove! There's a nice mix of material here that really shows the way the city ... read moreCD
Seminal sounds from one of the most important early figures on the music scene in New Orleans – an artist who was able to mix blues roots with jazzier elements, in a way that often hit the classier styles of some of the hippest artists on the LA scene in the postwar years! Gayten would later ... (Soul, Blues)read moreCD
A really amazing package – not just for fans of John Lee Hooker, but for anyone who loves postwar blues in general! The work here is all from the tiny Sensation Records label in Detroit – the label to first record John Lee Hooker in the late 40s, and who continued to do sessions with ... read moreCD
John Lee Hooker —
Healer ... CD Chameleon, 1989. Used ...
$2.99
Sure, you've got other Lightnin Hopkins CDs back home in your collection – but this set is will pretty darn essential – as it features a whopping 57 songs in all, including 37 unreleased tracks, and other material that's hard to find on CD! CD1 features some of Hopkins' best work of ... read moreCD
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 ... read moreCD
Two great female blues talents, recorded at a time when they were still alive and well in Chicago – Alberta Hunter on vocals, and Lovie Austin on piano! CD
Really great later recordings from Mississippi John Hurt – recorded in Washington DC, hence the title – and done in this stripped-down mode that really captures Hurt at his best! The tracks were all recorded for the Library Of Congress, mostly on the stage of the Coolidge Auditorium, ... read moreCD
An amazing step forward for the young Etta James – a singer who was delivering a raw, shouting form of R&B just a few years before – but who here ascends into soul music heaven with her famous work on the album! The title cut is the stuff of legend – played and played, again ... (Soul, Blues)read moreCD
A great split set of recordings – one that brings together a good deal of rare material from both the artists on the cover! The set begins with important Chicago recordings from Homesick James – great electrified work, but often with a quality that still echoes some of the rural roots ... read moreCD
Heavy blues, cut on the London scene of the 60s – a set that features singer/pianist Curtis Jones, working with a cool combo that includes a young Alexis Korner on guitar! The sound is nice and stripped down – lots of vamping piano lines from Curtis, very much in a space between boogie ... read moreCD
BB King live at the Cook County Jail in Chicago – and given the amount of great live shows going on in the institution during the early 70s, the jail must have been one hell of a place to be incarcerated! This classic features BB King entertaining the prisoners with a wickedly sharp blues ... read moreCD
More than a decade's worth of work from the mighty Eddie Kirkland – a Detroit singer and guitarist who came up on the same scene as John Lee Hooker, but whose style was maybe even more urban and electric overall! Kirkland's sometimes eclipsed by his work with Hooker – partly because he ... read moreCD
A great look at the mighty talents of Leroy Kirkland – not much of a lead star on his own, but a fantastic force in the worlds of soul, blues, and R&B in the postwar years! Leroy's one of these guys who really starts to show up when you pay attention to credits on older singles – a ... read moreCD
Mance Lipscomb —
Navasota ... CD Sunset Blvd, 1972. New Copy 2CD ...
$23.9924.99
Rare live work from the great Mance Lipscomb – most of it from that early 60s time when his music was being discovered by a larger audience from the first time ever! Mance was born in 1895 – but as the notes point out, he never got the chance to make records during the early 78rpm ... read moreCD
A well-titled set – as the album features some of the best early sides that Little Walter recorded for Chess – records that went on to set a whole new standard both in blues vocals and harmonica! There's tightness here that's a bit different from some of the other Chess blues at the ... read moreCD
Amazing stuff from the Converted Mind of Bishop Manning and his family! Manning was a former down & dirty blues singer who was changed forever byThe Good Word in the early 60s – and the lived in realness of these recordings certainly suggests a blues pedigree. It's completely wonderful, ... (Gospel, Blues)read moreCD
An album that definitely lives up to its title – as the set is definitely a turning point in the career of John Mayall, and the debut of brand new lineup that helped move his music past a the straighter sound of American blues! There's still plenty of blues at the core – and great ... (Rock, Blues)read moreCD
Possibly one of the best-remembered albums by John Mayall's legendary Blues Breakers combo – thanks to vocals and guitar from a young Eric Clapton! Clapton at this point is way fresher than in later years – not prone to cliches, and still coming across with a raw, edgey power that is ... (Rock, Blues)read moreCD
(Out of print. Minor wear at spine – otherwise in great shape!)
The world-changing late 20s and 1930s recordings of the great Charley Patton – grainy, soul shaking delta blues that's as pivotal and stirring as ever, if not even more so post-millenium, given that weary, old world lost beauty of it! 24 tracks including "Mississippi Boll Weavil ... read moreCD
Essential New Orleans piano from Professor Longhair – an artist who was neither a professor, nor a man with much hair! The chrome-domed pianist had a huge influence on the sound of New Orleans R&B and soul to come – as he played in a triplet-heavy way that was rooted in blues, but ... (Soul, Blues)read moreCD
Jimmy Reed —
Jimmy Reed Rocks ... CD Bear Family (Germany), Late 50s/Early 60s. New Copy ...
$15.9920.99
Jimmy Reed rocks, there's no doubt about that – and classic work like the cuts in this set had a key impact on all the new styles brewing up at the end of the 50s – in a moment that made Jimmy Reed way more than just another urban blues singer at the time! The key to Reed's groove is ... read moreCD
An incredible late 50s set for King by singer Lula Reed – and a pretty unique blend of R&B and bluer and moodier material – but a lot more upbeat than you'd expect from the title! Lula's voice is a genuine vessel for the bluesy material, but it's also light and lovely, and works ... (Soul, Blues)read moreCD
Not really famous, but gritty & grooving bluesy gospel soul from Famous L Renfroe – and artist who might even be more mysterious to us after hearing the record! The Flying Sweet Angel Of Joy is kind of a dreamlike mix of impassioned vocals, electric guitar and bass, with some drums. ... read moreCD
Seminal work from the great Todd Rhodes – a talent who was huge in the postwar years, but never fully got his dues! Rhodes was a bandleader with experience that already stretched for years in jazz before making these cuts – and his style was seminal in the development of R&B in the ... (Jazz, Blues)read moreCD
The legendary Jimmy Rogers works here with a whole host of famous guest stars – or "all-stars", as they're listed on the label – a lineup that includes Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Taj Mahal, Stephen Stills, Jeff Healey, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and Lowell ... read moreCD
A pair of albums from the legendary Shakey Jake – with bonus tracks too! First up is Good Times – a stunner from Shakey Jake – and a set that's got a surprising jazz element as well – given that the singer/harmonicist works here with Jack McDuff on Hammond and Bill Jennings ... read moreCD
Kim Simmonds & Savoy Brown —
Devil To Pay ... CD Ruf (Germany), 2015. Used ...
$7.99
Otis Spann made some great records over the years, but he sounds especially nice on the handful of sessions he did for the Bluesway label – which seem to take a Chess Records approach, then give the whole thing an extra-added punch! Otis is in the lead on piano and vocals, but the group's ... read moreCD
Some of the greatest work ever from this Kansas City singer – material from that 50s stretch when he was reinventing himself as an R&B giant on Atlantic Records – exploding with new energy, and a fair bit of nasty lyrics too! Cuts include "Honey Hush", "Crawdad ... read moreCD
(Out of print, BMG music club pressing.)
Joe Turner —
Boss Is Back ... CD Sunset Blvd, Late 40s/Early 50s. New Copy 2CD ...
$21.9922.99
A very hip collection of work from the great Joe Turner – material that hasn't been easily issued elsewhere, and which fills in a key chapter of Joe's career! CD1 features vintage material, and is heavy on work from the postwar years, but before Turner rose to a second wave of fame on ... read moreCD
One of the grooviest records ever cut by the legendary Joe Turner – a set that takes him far from his Kansas City roots, and his 50s R&B for Atlantic Records – into a mode that's maybe even more soul-based overall! The great Gene Page handles the backings here – with a ... read moreCD