Blues — Recently Added

Howlin Wolf is really getting into his thing here – 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 ... LP, Vinyl record album

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

A really interesting setting for the vocals and guitar of bluesman Arbee Stidham – set up here in front of a larger ensemble led by Ernie Wilkins, who brings in some nice currents of funk and soul as well! The recording quality is quite faithful – Stidham's guitar is way out front of a ... CD

An album recorded in the Netherlands, but a set that hits right to the heart of RL Burnside's Mississippi roots – thanks to a beautifully spare, careful presentation of the music! Most numbers feature just Burnside on vocals and guitar – with a vibe that's similar to the field ... LP, Vinyl record album

The title certainly gets it right – because although Champion Jack Dupree recorded some rootsier blues in his time, the music here is all pretty upbeat and rocking – and includes a fair bit of unissued titles recorded for RCA's Groove and Vik labels in the 50s! The set begins with a ... CD

One of the most dynamic, most on-fire blues albums recorded during the 60s by Delmark Records – a set that bursts right out of the Chicago clubs with the guitar of JB Hutto firmly in the lead! Hutto's a killer right from the start – singing and playing with a ferocity that easily ... LP, Vinyl record album

Rootsy blues from the great Excello Records – most of it recorded not too far from the Tennessee city in which the label made its home! The southern scene in the 50s was going through plenty of changes – partly because of all the migration northwards that started during the wartime ... CD

A pretty great little collection – put together by Memphis music expert Robert Gordon in support of his book of the same name! The sounds here aren't overdone Memphis cliches – no Elvis hits or Stax Records standards – and instead, the record showcases those criss-crossing modes ... LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic recordings of the legendary Furry Lewis – a musician who may be pictured in a bathrobe on the front cover, but who comes across with all the sharp edges and bold tones of his classic work! The material is part of that legendary George Mitchell series of blues recordings, and may ... LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from Slim Harpo – an album that kicks off with one of his biggest hits ever, and follows with plenty of great tunes as well! Things here are pretty rootsy and stripped-down – lots of spare, slowish rhythms (but a few funkier ones too!) – and instrumentation that's ... 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

Deep-burning Chicago blues from Corey Dennison – one of the few contemporary players who can still hold onto the electric fire from that moment when the Windy City scene first broke wide to much larger national appeal! Corey sings with a full, raspy style – and augments his lyrics with ... CD

Excellent work from Jesse Mae Hemphill – a female blues talent who lay undiscovered for many years in Mississippi, then burst forth late in her life with a fantastic run of sounds like this! Most of the tunes are relatively spare – with Jessie Mae playing electric guitar in these ... LP, Vinyl record album

Caribbean voodoo hits the American scene – served up here in a host of different mid-century styles – from jazz, to blues, to R&B – with some other nice surprises in between! The voodoo component of the tracks comes through either in the subject matter, or in the rhythmic ... CD

Doctor Ross is definitely the harmonica boss – one of those key postwar blues musicians who made his instrument as important to the scene as the guitar was back in the 20s and 30s! The music here was all recorded by Sun Records, but is a lot more raw and stripped-down than some of the more ... LP, Vinyl record album

Killer early material from Freddy King – a blues album, but one that's also got a strong resonance with instrumental soul and early funk! The record is "Strictly Instrumental" – as the cover says – and a nice batch of short bluesy groovers that feature Freddy's great ... LP, Vinyl record album

Doctor Ross is definitely the harmonica boss – one of those key postwar blues musicians who made his instrument as important to the scene as the guitar was back in the 20s and 30s! The music here was all recorded by Sun Records, but is a lot more raw and stripped-down than some of the more ... CD

Raw country blues from the 30s – a set that focuses on the shifting modes of the southern styles of the time – and brings into focus the kind of sounds that would really take off in the decade to come! The work here may not be as well-known as some of the more collected, more ... CD

A great collection of postwar blues – material that springs forth from a wealth of rare 78rpm recordings – and which includes a number of tracks that you may never hear otherwise! The set looks at the sort of records that were pivotal in pushing blues forward in the years after the war ... CD

A beautifully-recorded concert from early 60s Paris – one done as part of the legendary folk-blues tour, and featuring a great selection of musicians, all with introductions from Memphis Slim! Slim's a hell of an MC for the event, and really provides this warm context that seems to open up ... CD

A killer collection of rare blues from the Mamlish label – an imprint who brings the same sort of historical sensitivity that you might now from collections on Yazoo Records! As with that company, the music here is mostly pulled from vintage 78s, and given fresh presentation for a whole new ... LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of postwar blues – material that springs forth from a wealth of rare 78rpm recordings – and which includes a number of tracks that you may never hear otherwise! The set looks at the sort of records that were pivotal in pushing blues forward in the years after the war ... LP, Vinyl record album

Two sweet slices of work from the great Lowell Fulson – plus some bonus tracks too! The set begins with late 60s recordings that made up the album Lowell Fulson Now – very nice work from Lowell Fulsom – strongly in the mode of his Tramp album for Kent, with a mix of blues and ... CD

Lazy Lester's a lover, not a fighter – and a hell of a bluesman too, as you'll hear on these excellent sides cut for the Excello Records label at the end of the 50s and start of the 60s! Some numbers are instrumental, and focus strongly on Lester's incredible harmonica lines – blues ... CD

The title might seem a bit all-encompassing – but given the talents of the mighty Ralph Peer, it certainly fits! Peer was one of the most pioneering figures in the early days of the recording industry – a talent scout who would endlessly search the country, especially the south, for ... CD

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

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Memphis Slim may have had a Tennessee city as part of his name, but he also found a very welcome home in Paris – a city that saw Slim deliver some of his finest recordings of later years! And while most of those recordings have been issued often over the years, this set is something ... CD