Blues — Recently Added

Great work from Smokey Wilson – a southern bluesman by birth, but one who relocated to the LA scene in the postwar years, where he really started to groove! This 70s album is a great example of the way that Wilson merged his roots with some of the soulful currents of the Cali scene – ... LP, Vinyl record album

Lightnin Hopkins at his best – a set that rings out with all his bold electric tones on the guitar, yet which also has the moody, stripped-down feel of a blues recording from a few decades before! The electricity really does a lot to deepen the tone – both in the echo from Hopkins' ... LP, Vinyl record album

The only album ever cut by Charles Edwards – a harmonica player who'd been on the Chicago scene since the mid 50s, but only made this full record in the studio during the 70s! The set's got a nice raw vibe – maybe rawer than most other material on the Mr Blues label at the time – ... LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal sounds from Elmore James – a classic album that brings together material recorded in California, New Orleans, and Chicago – all with an amazing focus on Elmore's stunning talents on electric guitar! The music here mixes sides that have tight band backing with some smaller combo ... LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe one of the greatest settings we've ever heard for Sonny Terry – as the record's a nicely stripped-down gem that presents Lightnin Hopkins at his best! Lightnin plays guitar with a rhythmic vibe and spins out these effortless lyrics throughout – that almost-conversational style ... LP, Vinyl record album

The cover's a striking one – and it definitely supports the music inside, given that most of these Bo Carter tunes are vintage blues tunes with a decidedly erotic bent! The metaphors are obvious, but they're put together beautifully – without any of the heavy-handed schlock that later ... LP, Vinyl record album

John Lee Hooker hails from Detroit, and his postwar work had a huge impact on urban blues – but here, he's recording in a style that's maybe a bit more rural – maybe no surprise, as the album came from the same sessions that yielded The Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker record! This ... LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest albums ever made by Willie Dixon as a leader – a really cooking set done after years backing other folks up in the Chess Records studio – and a date recorded for the Chicago-based Ovation Records label, who really let Willie do his thing! Given that Dixon plays bass ... LP, Vinyl record album

A really great, but very unusual John Lee Hooker album – one that was recorded in London with backing from later blues rock heroes The Groundhogs – a group who do a really great job here of hanging back, and letting Hook really take the lead! All those raw, gritty charms of Hooker's ... LP, Vinyl record album

Really smoking sounds from the young James Cotton – a blues harmonica player extraordinaire, and one who really transformed the Chicago electric scene in the 50s and 60s! This set's got a killer batch of material – and features tracks from James' first recording session, work with ... CD

Four fantastic albums from Bobby Bland – all brought together in a single package for the first time! First up is Come Fly With Me – great work from Bobby Blue Bland – one of the few artists to rise up at the end of the 50s, and still find a way to chart their own path forward in ... CD

A trio of crucial early 70s albums from blues giant Freddie King – all brought together in a single set! First up is Getting Ready – a pivotal album in the career of the great Freddie King – his first in a set of records done for the Shelter label in the early 70s – and the ... CD

Folk soul guitar player, singer, songwriter, storyteller and genuine character Abner Jay's brilliant home recordings – the first release of his "terrible comedy blues" in far too long – courtesy of the always deep digging Mississippi label! Abner takes on the topical issues ... LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent collection of rare work from the legendary BB King – a selection of 25 tracks from the vaults of RPM and Kent Records, 23 of which appear here for the first time ever! Some cuts are alternates, some are different versions of other recordings – and all are pretty darn ... CD

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 great overview of the work of Abner Jay – as much of a blues singer as the folk artist promised on the cover – working here in a stunning array of styles, pulled from a variety of recordings he made in the late 60s and early 70s! It's clear that Jay is one of those talents who was ... LP, Vinyl record album

Have guitar, will travel – and back in the day, Bo Diddley was going pretty darn far with great material like this! The album's a real standout, even in the classic Chess catalog of the early years –no filler, no covers, just all original material by Bo Diddley – done in that ... LP, Vinyl record album

Two Chicago blues legends, coming together on stage at the Montreux festival – but with the sort of raw energy you might expect to hear when the pair were working together at a west side club! The guitar genius of Buddy Guy is no secret to anyone – but here, it's got a raw sense of ... CD

One of the funkiest albums ever from Junior Parker – a great little set that shows he had a lot more to offer than just the average bluesman! The album's got a nice little soul sound in the backings – tight rhythms from Horace Ott, who nicely avoids a lot of the cliches that the blues ... CD

Raw funky blues from the Cleveland scene – unreleased recordings from the obscure singer Fred Davis, who hardly ever set his music to wax back in the day! The album's got a gritty blend of blues inflections and soulful expressions – similar to some of the hippest west side work from ... CD

A hip little record – produced by Bob Thiele as pre-Flying Dutchman effort, and with some of the great vibe of the blues records on that label! The set's got an unusual lineup – with jazzman Richard Williams on trumpet, plus Ed Davis on tenor, Marshall Hooks on guitar, Curtis Tillman ... CD

A great little set from T-Bone – recorded at the end of the 60s, with a lineup that includes other blues musicians like Joe Turner, Otis Spann, and George Harmonica Smith, plus jazz funk players like Paul Humphrey and Ernie Watts! The vibe is very laidback – and most tracks on the ... CD

Late live work from the legendary Big Mama Thornton – an artist who always seemed to give her best in a concert setting, and who definitely knocks it out of the park here in some material recorded with prison members for an audience! The group here is especially sharp – with harmonica ... CD

A smoking little set from George Harmonica Smith – an album recorded in late 60s LA, but done with plenty of Chicago blues touches! The players here are all top-shelf – and include Muddy Waters on guitar and Otis Spann on piano – who definitely help keep a Windy City vibe going ... CD

The mighty debut of the great Luther Allison – a set that would go on to make Luther a legend, and begin a huge run of key records from the Chicago scene! There's a gritty groove here that's got some elements of funk and soul in the mix – that west side approach that really helped ... CD

Harmonica player Al Miller's no newcomer to the scene – as he's got roots in the Chicago blues world of the 60s – and works here on a tight set of tracks that show that his talents have only improved over the years! Al sings a bit, and even plays a bit of guitar – but his ... CD

The great Roosevelt Sykes has a legacy of blues recordings that goes way back to the early days of the 78rpm single – but he really seems to shine even more in later years, when labels like Delmark helped really give him a chance to get back on top, and show the world what they'd been missing ... CD

A set with a title that's echoed by another full length album from Buster Benton – but instead a limited EP release with a very cool 10" package – one that features some of the best material that Buster recorded for the Jewel/Ronn label on the Chicago scene in the early 70s! ... LP, Vinyl record album

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 ... LP, Vinyl record album

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