The Four Kings of Blues Guitar

If the music on this little slab wasn't so utterly hot, this would have been merely a novelty record. The Four Kings in the title refer to, of course, B.B. Albert, and Freddie King, and the fourth ascendant to the throne, who is perhaps lesser known except by blues aficionados, but is well-known to soul music fans, Earl King -- electric guitar masters all. This two-disc collection assembles between five and six of each artist's best-known cuts, giving the listener a solid introduction to their best material, making this a solid blues primer for those who follow the sounds of modern-day bluesmen like Eric Clapton (influenced deeply by Freddie King, he covered "Hideaway" when he was with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers), Stevie Ray Vaughan (whose worship of Albert King was well-documented -- there is a terrific bootleg of the two playing together), and Jimi Hendrix (who learned some licks firsthand from Earl and covered "Let the Good Times Roll"). As for B.B. King, virtually every Chicago bluesman and every rocker who lays claim to the blues, including the three mentioned above, owe him homage. All versions of these songs are the original recordings, making this a smoking collection to own. This is all-killer, no filler; but what would you expect from Kings? ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi