Pre-fame recordings from these three British guitar giants – with titles that include "West Coast Idea" and "Snake Drive" by Eric Clapton, "Freight Loader" and "Choker" by Eric Clapton with Jimmy Page, "Steelin" and "Chuckles" by The All Stars with Jeff Beck, and "Down In The Boots" and "LA Breakdown" by The All Stars with Jimmy Page. LP, Vinyl record album

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Titles include "Running On Faith", "No Alibis", "Before You Accuse Me", "Old Love", "Breakign Point", "Pretending", "Anything For Love", and "Hard Times". CD

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Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Eric Clapton on guitar, Don Vappie on banjo, Carlos Henriquez on bass, Victor Goines on clarinet, Ali Jackson on drums, Chris Stainton on keyboards, Dan Nimmer on piano, Chris Crenshaw on trombone, and Marcus Printup on trumpet. CD

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Otis Rush, Little Walter, Freddy King, T-Bone Walker, & more! CD

A killer set of southern rock – even if the whole thing was recorded in London, while the group was on tour with Eric Clapton! Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett are at the height of their powers here – really reworking rootsy southern elements into the kind of sharp-edged 70s sound that made them such an important part of the scene at the time – even though they never went as mainstream to get the kind of crossover fame as some of their contemporaries! But it's that true-to-roots quality that really keeps things great here – as they work with famous help from Eric Clapton and Dave Mason on guitars – alongside sounds by southern stalwarts who include Bobby Whitlock on organ, Jim Price on trumpet, Bobby Keys on saxes, and Jim Gordon on drums. Titles include "Things Get Better", "Little Richard Medley", "Coming Home", "That's What My Man Is For", and "I Don't Want To Discuss It". LP, Vinyl record album

A famous date that showcases the Chess Records influence on the sound of the Brit rock scene – one that has a number of key players "giving back" to the label, and working on a special date with Howlin Wolf! Wolf's rough vocals are in the lead on all tracks, and he also plays a bit of harmonica and guitar as well – and other artists include Steve Winwood on piano and organ, Eric Clapton on guitar, Bill Wyman on bass, and Charlie Watts on drums – all players who are respectful of the original bluesy sound of Chess, and who clearly dig the opportunity to show off their chops in the setting. Titles include "I Ain't Superstitious", "Poor Boy", "Do The Do", "Red Rooster", "Built For Comfort", "What A Woman", "Highway 49", "Who's Been Talking", and "Rocking Daddy". LP, Vinyl record album

We're not normally ones to rave about electric blues albums, but this one's a lot nicer than you might think – recorded with plenty of deep soul touches, and even a dose of funk in the right places! We hate to admit it, but a big part of the credit here goes to Eric Clapton – who produced most of the record and gives Buddy and Junior a tightness that's missing from some of their other records of the time. There's almost a post-Cream sort of groove to the record – that "hipper than rock" sensibility that colored many of Clapton's old group members' projects for Atlantic in the years after Cream disbanded. But of course, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells are the real stars of the set – and the record's good enough to make even jaded Chicago residents like us appreciate their talents here! Titles include "A Poor Man's Plea", "My Baby She Left Me", "A Man Of Many Words", "I Don't Know", and "This Old Fool". CD

With Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Bob Dylan, and others. CD

Searing early work from this legendary group – recorded live at the Marquee in London, with a very young Eric Clapton on guitar – and titles that include "Too Much Monkey Business", "Respectable", "Here Tis", "I'm A Man", "Five Long Years", "Pretty Girl", "Smokestack Lightnin", and "I Got Love If You Want It". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Stevie Winwood, John Mayall, Peter Green, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Robert Plant, Genesis, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Pink Floyd. CD

Music from Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Skip James, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Ray Charles, Etta James, B.B. King, Mohn Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Keb' Mo', Susan Tedeschi, Los Lobos, Cassandra Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, and Robert Cray & Shemekia Copeland – 21 tracks in all. CD

One of the superest of the late 60s supergroups – with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Rick Grech! Titles include "Had To Cry Today", "Presence Of The Lord", "Do What You Like", "Sea Of Joy", and "Well All Right". CD

British group Chicken Shack famously first got their start on the Blue Horizon label – but when they moved to Deram Records, they really stretched out and opened their sound – as you'll hear on the three albums on this set! First up is Imagination Lady – a fantastic album from this legendary British group – a bluesy rock combo who grew up in the same space as Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown, but who never fully got their due on this side of the Atlantic! The group here is a unique lineup that only recorded this one album – a trio with John Glascock on bass and Paul Hancox on drums – two players who give leader Stan Webb plenty of space in the spotlight, which means a very strong emphasis on his mindblowing work on guitar! Webb's a musician with the chops of contemporaries Eric Clapton and Peter Green, and you can definitely hear that here – and, like his contemporaries, Stan is also really taking the music way past its bluesy inspirations – using the trio to maybe bring in more of a hard rock vibe, yet never going too far in that direction either. Titles include "Daughter Of The Hillside", "Crying Won't Help You Now", "The Loser", "Telling Your Fortune", and "Poor Boy". Next is Unlucky Boy – a set that has Chicken Shack really refining the blues inspirations of their roots, heading into hard rock territory, and really helping define a sound that so many other groups would soon steal and use to great radio fame! The vocals of Stan Webb are recorded with a nice sort of echo at times – more 70s guitar hero than before, but at a level that really makes them even more powerful, and less straight blues-inspired at times – bold, powerful, and with a quality that should have made Webb one of the better-remembered greats of his generation! Titles include "Revelation", "Stan The Man", "Jammin With The Ash", "Unlucky Boy", and "You Know Could Be Right". Last up is Goodbye – a set that maybe has Chicken Shack stripping things down even more than the previous record – almost going back to their blues roots, but with all the lessons that they'd learned over other albums! Stan Webb is still a hell of a frontman, on both vocals and guitar – and titles include "Going Down", "Webb's Boogie", "You're Mean", "Poor Boy", "Webb's Guitar Shuffle", and "You Take Me Down". 3CD set features bonus tracks – single versions of "Poor Boy", "As Time Goes Passing By", and "Telling Your Fortune". CD

With Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Bob Dylan, and others. CD

Dave Mason's first solo album – and a pretty a great one! Alone Together wasn't a huge hit back in the day, but man is a ever a pleasing set. It's rich with blues & soul steeped lead vocals and sweet backing harmonies and bed of acoustic guitars at the core of most of the tunes – sometimes with a driving intensity, others with a lightly gliding pace. The production is a nice mix of blue-eyed blues and southern skewing wah wah rock – with great musicians in the mix, from Leon Russell to Eric Clapton. Tracks include "Only You Know And I Know", "Can't Stop Worrying, Can't Stop Loving", "Waitin' On You", "Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave", "World In Changes", "Sand And Deep As You", "Just A Song" and "Look At You, Look At Me". LP, Vinyl record album

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 Fulson. The guests seem to keep things in all the right spirit – never too much in a rock crossover mode – and titles include "Blow Wind Blow", "Every Day I Have The Blues", "That's All Right", "Bright Lights Big City", "Gonna Shoot You Right Down", "Ludella", "Goin away Baby", and "Don't Start Me To Talkin". CD

Bobby Whitlock finally gets his due – in a massive set that reissues the first two solo albums of this key player who worked on the albums Layla and All Things Must Pass! The self-titled Bobby Whitlock is a lost landmark in early 70s roots rock – the first solo album from Bobby Whitlock – an artist who'd previously played with Derek & The Dominoes, George Harrison, and Delaney & Bonnie – and who's getting a bit of help here from both Harrison and Eric Clapton in the studio! Yet the set's definitely Bobby's own – rooted in his Memphis background, and fusing together rock and soul with the same sort of core charm you might hear from Delaney & Bonnie – a quality that's almost color-blind at times, and which has the same sort of new southern appeal as music from The Allman Brothers or some of Bobby's bigger contemporaries. Titles include "Where There's A Will", "Song For Paula", "A Game Called Life", "Back In My Life Again", "Back Home In England", and "The Dreams Of A Hobo". On Raw Velvet, Bobby Whitlock really comes into his own – working in a style that's tighter and more confident than his debut – yet which is also still drenched in all the best southern styles of his roots! Production is rich, but never too commercial – and the album shows some of the growth in roots rock that was taking place with other acts of the same nature at the time – a space that's not far from The Band or Little Feat, but which also echoes more of Whitlock's Tennessee background overall. Eric Clapton plays on one track – and titles include "Tell The Truth", "Write You A Letter", "Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham", "Think About It", "Satisfied", and "Dearest I Wonder". Features very detailed notes – and some great photos and recollections from Whitlock! CD

With performances by Sting, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, Bob Geldof and Johnny Fingers, Phil Collins, and Donovan. LP, Vinyl record album

Features Eric Clapton on the title track and "Creepin". CD

Includes selections by John Mayall, Eric Clapton, Otis Spann, Peter Green, Steve Anglo, and Champion Jack Dupree. LP, Vinyl record album