Memphis Blues: Best Sellers

I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More compiles 23 songs Sleepy John Estes recorded between 1929 and 1941, capturing the bluesman at the height of his creative powers. Unlike many Delta bluesmen of his era, Estes worked with a full jug band, which gave his music a greater variety of textures. His...

B.B. King is not only a timeless singer and guitarist, he's also a natural-born entertainer, and on Live at the Regal the listener is treated to an exhibition of all three of his talents. Over percolating horn hits and rolling shuffles, King treats an enthusiastic audience (at some points,...

This isn't as straightforward an anthology as you might suppose from the title. Yes, it has King singles released on Kent between 1958 and 1971. King, however, left Kent in 1962, after which the label continued putting out singles from the tracks he had done with the company; often, these...

For those with enough interest, Document's Complete Works, Vol. 1 (1929-1937) is invaluable, offering an exhaustive overview of Sleepy John Estes' early recordings. The early to mid-'30s were the most fruitful years of Estes' long career, during which he recorded most of the...

No way can a mere four discs cover every facet of the lues king's amazing recording career, but MCA makes a valiant stab at it. The first two discs, as expected, are immaculate: opening with his Bullet Records debut ("Miss Martha King"), the box continues with a handful of...

This excellent compilation presents the very beginning of the Riley "B.B." King story as documented on phonograph records made between the years 1949 and 1952. Born in Mississippi, influenced by his uncle Bukka White as well as by Lowell Fulson, Wynonie Harris, and Ivory Joe Hunter,...

Issued as part of a series in conjunction with the major television documentary series #The Blues, this is a hop-skip-jump 12-song compilation of tracks spanning nearly half a century, from the early '50s to the late '90s. For a man whose prolific career has actually been the subject...

Document's Memphis Blues 1928-1935 contains the 14 Robert Wilkins sides that are currently in circulation, augmented with cuts by a pair of country bluesmen, Tom Dickinson and Allen Shaw. Since Wilkins' recordings are also available on Yazoo's Original Rolling Stone, which is...

Another 21-track anthology chock full of alternate takes and previously unreleased masters from B.B. King's 1950s stint at RPM/Kent. A wild cross-section of material -- signature items like "Sweet Little Angel" and "Please Accept My Love," an off-the-wall reading of Tony...

The Best of B.B. King is a budget-priced, ten-track selection of early recordings, and while there are some essential items missing, it still functions as a good, affordable sampler, featuring such hits as "Everyday (I Have the Blues)," "Three O'Clock Blues, " "Why...

Age is no hindrance to Bobby "Blue" Bland doing what he does best -- recording and entertaining. The husky-throated lues singer, who was close to 70 when this CD dropped, still has that growl that makes body hair stand on end, and he forges on stronger than ever without any noticeable...

As sometimes happens in the careers of lues legends who recorded for labels that recycled material in multiple formats, the release most commonly known as The Soul of B.B. King has a complicated history. The ten-track LP originally appeared under the title B.B. King on Crown CLP 5359 in 1963,...

Released in early 1960, the LP The Great B.B. King was actually a budget-priced compilation of songs he'd recorded for the Modern label over the past five or so years. This CD reissue nearly doubles the length of the original album with eight mostly previously unreleased bonus cuts, as well...

Compiling a double-disc set ranging across the long recording career of an artist like B.B. King, who has a longevity in the business that is not only startling but awe-inspiring, is a challenge indeed. Universal's Gold representation of B.B. King covers the years 1963 (14 years after he...

This Document collection reissues all of Walter Vinson's pre-war recordings, including several of his accompaniment performances for Leroy Carter ("Black Widow Spider") and Mary Butler ("Mad Dog Blues"), as well as sidemen roles for the Chatmon brothers from the...

Sleepy John Estes wasn't the world's greatest guitar player, and his singing probably never won any awards, but he was unique among early country blues players because of his ability to fashion his own songs around the people and everyday events of his hometown of Brownsville, TN, a...

Recorded in informal sessions with lues archivist George Mitchell in 1967 (except for two songs recorded in similar circumstances in 1962), Good Morning Judge captures the aging Furry Lewis in fine and relaxed form, casually spinning out some of the most hypnotic acoustic blues ever captured by...