Electric Memphis Blues

These are Howlin' Wolf's earliest and rarest sides recorded at the Sun studios, as raw and explosive as lues records come. Much of this was issued on various European albums during the '70s, always transferred off of muffled-sounding copy tapes. These 21 tracks (all but two of...

The second volume in this series collects up all the known Memphis recordings that were either issued or originally offered to Chess. As such, it stands as a marvelous collection of Wolf's early 78s for that label. But what truly puts it over is the added bonus of a newly discovered acetate...

These are the Modern/Cobra masters -- 17 cuts from the sessions Walter did with Sam Phillips in 1951, including several alternate takes. This is mostly great acoustic harp, but it does contain the songs "Have a Good Time," and "Need My Baby" with Walter playing amplified harp...

While there are numerous Howlin' Wolf compilations and anthologies available that trace his extraordinary career, the 25-track 1951-1952 compilation from the French Classics label focuses on Wolf's crucial early Memphis sessions. Recorded for Sam Phillips in 1951 and 1952 prior to...

Raw, chaotic, one-man band blues of the highest order. Highlights include the original version of "Tiger Man," and Louis' scorching lead guitar work on "She Treats Me Mean and Evil." Compiling virtually all the recordings he made for Sam Phillips in Memphis in the early...

Howlin' Wolf was certainly a master of the blues, and MCA Special Products' Bluesmaster, thankfully, does offer some evidence proving why that's an acknowledged fact, not simply a matter of opinion. Granted, a ten-track budget-line collection could hardly be called definitive, but...

The U.K.'s Ace label pulls together 20 tracks on this all-killer-no-filler comp. There is a nice range of material from Howlin' Wolf's Memphis era. Tracks on Sings the Blues include

Joe Hill Louis was a one-man band, pure and simple. It's what he did, singing while playing guitar, adding in harmonica runs and keeping 4/4 time on a hi-hat and bass drum, all at once. It's a rare thing, one-man bands. A few names come to mind, like Doctor Ross, Jesse Fuller, and...

When Rufus Thomas passed away on December 15, 2001 at the age of 84, admirers could take some comfort in knowing that he had lived a long, productive life. Most of his major hits were recorded for Stax in the '60s and early '70s, but after Stax's collapse, Thomas continued to...

Harpist and singer Junior Parker was far from a one-trick pony, and his early ragged R&B tracks from the 1950s, which never strayed too far from the lues, are both refreshing and surprisingly varied. This fine set contains his earliest recordings for Modern, Sun Records, and his first sides...

This is the latest in a series of increasingly ubiquitous reissues of Howlin' Wolf's early-'50s Memphis-era recordings for Sam Phillips. The sound is clean, and good and loud, and the selection -- short of matching Bear Family Records' complete Memphis sides by Wolf (spread...

Music Avenue has assembled some pretty wonderful budget compilations and this one falls right into line with the best of them. Like the Muddy Waters compilation, Howlin' the Blues contains 41 cuts spanning two discs. The first one makes up the lion's share of Howlin' Wolf's...

This is one of the all-time great blues series ever recorded. Aside from the classic Chess albums (Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, etc.), there is no better introduction to Chicago-style blues than this three-volume set. Each one is incredible. This third album contains the...

With such a wealth of great harmonica blues out there, and with such an outstanding track record on Rhino's part in general when it comes to historical compilations, it's no surprise that their second anthology of harmonica blues is just as good as the first. There are fine cuts by...

This 25-track collection brings together some of the most inspiring blues harp performances on record. With the exception of John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson's "Bring Me Another Half a Pint" (what's better known as Jimmy Rogers' "Sloppy Drunk" and...

Tennessee-born, Los Angeles-based singer/guitarist Adams, who has been a sideman for the better part of four decades, is billed to sing like an angel (he is from that City) and play guitar like a man possessed. It's not hard to buy. His vocalizing has a sweet, soulful quality ala Robert...

This is very early amplified Walter, recorded in the fall of 1954 for the Black-owned United/States labels. On four of the cuts, Big Walter is playing backup harp and solos for singer Tommy Brown; the other two cuts represent Big Walter's first Chicago record under his own name. Includes...

This second volume of a two-volume entry in MCA's Chess 50th Anniversary reissue series chronicles the second decade of blues classics produced by the landmark company. Although Chess' big four (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson) are all finely...

Everything that Joe Hill Louis recorded for Modern and Meteor in the early '50s is on this 28-track compilation. That includes singles, scattered cuts that would first show up on numerous anthologies on different labels years after they were recorded, and a previously unissued alternate...