Blues — Recently Added

He may be blind, but he's plenty satisfied – and so are we, with this excellent package of rare 78rpm recordings from Willie Johnson! The sound quality is great – which is important, as Willie's got a style of guitar that's almost lighter in tone than some of his contemporaries – ... LP, Vinyl record album

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

Important work from Memphis blues legend Joe Hill Louis – a key postwar figure who was mostly known in the clubs for his act as a one-man band, but who also recorded often during the early years of Sun Records too! In fact, the work here is quite different than any sort of gimmick you might ... CD

Really raw work by Reverend Charlie Jackson – gospel in subject, but delivered in a style that's much more blues overall – thanks to a stripped-down presentation, and lots of electric guitar from the man himself! The Rev comes across here like some cat recorded out at a juke joint in ... CD

Astoundingly strong early recordings by Mississippi blues hero RL Burnside – with violence-tinged songs performed with a clearer, though no less tough voice than we heard on the songs that made him a bit more famous in 1990s! Includes RL's takes on traditionals played on acoustic guitar and ... 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

A mid-60s smoker from the great Bo Diddley – a set that's maybe more obscure than some of his initial classics, but equally great! Bo's completely on fire right from the start – fast-riffing his guitar with that rhythm he invented, and which bore his name for decades to come – ... CD

One of the rootsiest albums ever recorded by Taj Mahal – a set that begins with a song by Lightnin Hopkins, then seems to have Taj echoing a lot of the spareness of that work! The film's set in the 30s, and the music is very rootsy rural blues – with just Taj Mahal on vocals, steel-bodi ... CD

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

Funky blues from the great Lowell Fulsom! Lowell's best known to the world for his classic "Tramp", a tight funky number that virtually created a whole subgenre of soul, as Otis Redding and Joe Tex were quick to cut answer records to cash in on the action. Nobody could beat Lowell's ... CD

One of the hippest albums from Brother John Sellers – thanks to work from a combo that features Mickey Baker on guitar, Ernest Hayes on piano, and Haywood Henry on flute and tenor! LP, Vinyl record album

Rare material from the early 78rpm blues years – work by Mississippi John Hurt, Mr Freddie Spruell, Ki Ki Johnson, Blind Bobby Baker, Willie Reed, Sluefoot Joe, and Frenchy's String Band! LP, Vinyl record album

Early material recorded in Chicago and New York – the Chicago sides solo, the New York titles with Roosevelt Sykes on piano! LP, Vinyl record album

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A great early album from Junior Wells – and one that really opens up that more soulful side of his talents that was becoming a Chicago hallmark at the time! The set was produced by Samuel Charters, but has none of the rootsy vibe of his earlier work on Folkways – and instead matches ... LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue recognition of the blues contributions of Willie Dixon – a set that pulls him out of the indie ghetto and pushes him firmly into the mainstream with this key release on Columbia Records! Yet despite that placement, the style is nicely down home – a strong recreation of ... LP, Vinyl record album

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BB King at his late 60s best – working here in the company of producers Johnny Pate and Quincy Jones, and serving up a great blend of blues and soul in the process! The set's less a "best of", than a collection of ABC work that doesn't seem to be on the other full albums of the ... LP, Vinyl record album

BB King in London – not playing live, but working in the studio with a host of British musicians he'd inspired over the years! The lineup varies from track to track, giving a nice sort of variety to the album – and the overall feel is a bit like some of the Chess London sessions of the ... LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "You So Dumb", "No Good Woman", "Highway 61 Blues", "The Way I Feel Blues", "Kelly's 44 Blues", "Kelly's Special", "As True As I've Been To You", and "Mr Syke's Blues". Also features "Barrel Of ... LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Set A Day", "Alligator Man", "Workin With Homesick", "Telephone", "I Got To Move", "Unlucky", and "Been Round A Long Time". LP, Vinyl record album

An early vinyl-only collection of postwar blues from Ace – with work from Lightnin Hopkins, Eddie Kirkland, Memphis Slim, Homesick James, Roosevelt Sykes, Buddy Lucas, and Lonnie Johnson! LP, Vinyl record album

Features Charlie McCoy, Big Bill Broonzy, and Big Joe Williams on guitar – and Walter Davis on piano! LP, Vinyl record album

Features Mojo Buford on harmonica and vocals – with Little Smokey Smothers on bass, and Sonny Rogers, Sammy Lawhorn, and Pee Wee Madison on guitars! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the rootsiest blues albums that Prestige ever recorded – just Robert Pete Williams on vocals and acoustic guitar! LP, Vinyl record album

Two generations of blues – presented together here in a classic Folkways package! Side one features Alan Lomax recordings of Son House – done on a trip to the delta in 1942, after Lomax was able to talk Son's boss into giving him the afternoon off, so they could drive to a grocery ... LP, Vinyl record album

A really well done collection of work recorded by Howlin Wolf for Chess – put together in the early 70s, but featuring sides from the 50s and 60s. The album's got a good set of notes by Pete Welding, and tracks that include "Down In The Bottom", "Forty Four', "My Country ... LP, Vinyl record album

A late 50s collection of earlier 78rpm singles issued by Aladdin Records – material that's far rawer than the "strums" in the title might imply! At a time when other blues musicians were fleshing things out a bit – sometimes adding in larger backings, horns, and a bit of ... LP, Vinyl record album

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 ... LP, Vinyl record album