This excellent 1970 compilation was the first of Columbia's five double albums of Smith's incomparable work. Rather than issue her output chronologically, Columbia took the approach of putting Smith's 16 earliest issued sides from 1923 [...]
When the contemporary blues firmament was in dire need of a new bigger-than-life hero in the mid-1960s, someone armed with a fresh, blazing electric guitar conception and the unyielding power to triumph over an invading [...]
Ice Pickin' was the album that sparked Albert Collins' belated rise to blues stardom, 20 years after the 'Master of the Telecaster' recorded the first of his incendiary 'cool' instrumentals, 'The Freeze.' Collins' trademark guitar [...]
Hide Away, a 10-track compilation of Freddy King's early singles and album tracks from his King/Federal sessions of 1961-63, is not the most comprehensive reissue of the Texas-born singer-guitarist's work for the label, but it [...]
Bobby 'Blue' Bland was riding high in 1961, hitting both the R&B and pop charts with his singles, headlining at clubs around the country, and making the ladies swoon, when Duke Records issued his first [...]
The Best of Muddy Waters was the first compilation of Muddy's classic singles for the LP market, listed among the new releases in an April 1958 issue of Billboard. It was only the third LP [...]
The 1958 compilation The Best of Little Walter not only represented the king of blues harmonica at his musical best, but it also was filled with hit singles: ten of the 12 tracks hit the [...]
Regarded by many blues enthusiasts as the finest LP ever recorded as an album session (rather than as a collection of singles from different sessions), Hoodoo Man Blues never made the Billboard charts but over [...]
Black Magic follows in the same vein as Magic Sam's first Delmark LP (and first Hall of Fame album), West Side Soul, combining burning West Side blues with heartfelt touches of soul. Again, most of [...]
Perfect,' was the one word Folk music archivist Alan Lomax penned in his journal the night he recorded 'Mississippi' Fred McDowell. McDowell's bottleneck style of guitar playing exhibited a beautiful touch and resonating voice-like phrasings [...]