Blues — Recently Added

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 ... 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 ... LP, Vinyl record album

Wild guitar from Luther Johnson – an obscure earlier session recorded with a nicely gritty feel, and a fair bit of funk in the rhythms too! The group's billed as the Muddy Waters Blues Band – and Muddy appears to be on the record, although the notes are a bit lean – and the album ... LP, Vinyl record album

A strangely rootsy set from Buddy and Junior Wells, with the surprise addition of Junior Mance on piano – all recorded with a "live in studio" feel that's even sparer than some of the pair's other studio work! The tracks are done in very much the down-home electric mode that was ... LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from that special place where blues and gospel intersect – where the spirit comes to play with more secular expressions – and the result is something completely sublime! The work here spans the space of a few decades, but is unified by the strong presence of guitar on ... LP, Vinyl record album

One of THE electric blues records of the 60s – a seminal set by Albert King that was probably blasted out of more college dorm rooms than southside juke joints, but which still more than deserves its due! The set was recorded by Stax with a nice raw sound – guitar very much upfront, ... LP, Vinyl record album

Always-great work from Willie Clayton – a blues singer in scene, but one who often works with a sound that's equal part southern soul – especially that late 70s moment when some of the older southern soul singers moved onto the Malaco Records blues scene! Willie's recorded with Otis ... CD

A Chicago blues gem – and some of the rarest material issued by King Records in the 60s – very gritty, earthy blues from singer Smokey Smothers – who gets plenty of help in the studio from a young Freddy King! Smothers has this raspy, almost casual style of singing – one ... CD

The complete Vocalion and Okeh Records 78s of the great Bukka White – a blues singer who was maybe a few years later than some of the first big stars from the Mississippi scene – but who's gone onto have a legacy and impact that will last for years to come! Bukka's got a very strong ... CD

Some of the first recordings ever from Chicago legend Junior Wells – made for the small States label in the Windy City, many years before Wells exploded out with much greater national fame! The music here has Junior stepping into the same early electric space that Chess Records was cutting ... LP, Vinyl record album

Rough-edged blues from the west side of Chicago – a stone classic from the mighty Magic Sam – a player who was taken from us all too soon! On the west side, they mix plenty of soul in with their blues – and you can definitely hear that on this stone smoker – a record that ... LP, Vinyl record album

If you think Vee Jay and Chess Records were the sole gatekeepers to Chicago blues in the 50s, then think again – because the city was filled with loads of great tiny labels turning out excellent work – such as the trio of imprints featured in this collection! Ace digs really deep this ... CD

Pivotal years of the Chicago blues scene – a time when the city was moving from rural influences to electric modes! That great span of work is presented here beautifully – in a set of tracks that begins in the mid 30s and end in the mid 50s – tracing an evolution that would not ... CD

If you've never fully exposed yourself to the genius of Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, prepare to get your mind blown – because he's a hell of a singer, a hell of an alto saxophonist, and a massive R&B talent in these early sides for King Records! Eddie's work here easily rivals contemporary ... CD

A classic bit of indie blues from the Chicago scene – featuring some great players from the second generation after Chess Records stopped picking up the younger local talents! Magic Sam leads the group on vocals and guitar, and he's working here with Mighty Joe Young on guitar, Odie Payne on ... LP, Vinyl record album

Rough and raw work from Big Bill Broonzy – well-done sides that feature Bill on vocals and acoustic guitar, recorded in Paris in the early 50s, and issued here in a US package on the Scepter label! There's a pretty earthy feel to most of the tracks – a real "crossroads" feel ... LP, Vinyl record album

Classic blues from Lightnin Hopkins – a set that's far rootsier than you might expect from the "electric show" in the title! Hopkins plays mostly acoustic guitar here – and sings with very spare backing overall – just a bit of keyboards, bass, and drums, plus some ... LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique album from the great John Lee Hooker – done for the mostly-soul Wand Records label, and with a feel that's quite different than some of Hooker's other records! There's a distinctly jazzy undercurrent running through the record at times – sometimes with some moody, ... LP, Vinyl record album

Great gritty sides from the mighty John Lee Hooker – material with a slightly obscure origin, but recorded in the late 50s, right in a stretch when he was cutting some of his classics! Hooker's guitar and vocals are center stage – both growling with a hell of a lot of soulful power ... 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 ... CD