It Hurts Me Too — Tampa Red (Bluebird, 1940)
Tampa Red proved himself a master of many moods during his long recording career, and with the classic line "When things go wrong, go wrong with you, it hurts me too," he showed how the [...]
Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie – Pine Top Smith (Vocalion, 1928)
"Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" is the record credited with laying the foundation for the boogie woogie craze, but its creator, Alabama-born pianist Clarence "Pine Top" Smith, did not live long enough to witness the phenomenon. [...]
All Your Love — Magic Sam (Cobra, 1957)
"All Your Love" was the record that introduced the vibrant vocal and guitar work of 20-year-old Magic Sam to the blues world. Produced by Willie Dixon for Eli Toscano's Cobra label, it became Sam's signature [...]
Spoonful — Howlin’ Wolf (Chess, 1960)
Howlin' Wolf's 1960 single 'Spoonful' for Chess Records has become one of the standards of Chicago blues but like many other such songs that are familiar to nearly every blues fan today, it never even [...]
Fever — Little Willie John (King, 1956)
Eighteen-year-old Little Willie John (1937-1968) didn't want to record 'Fever' when the song was presented to him in 1956, according to King Records producer Henry Glover, but Glover persisted and John's career got its biggest [...]
Five Long Years — Eddie Boyd (J.O.B., 1952)
Eddie Boyd, a Chicago blues pianist, songwriter, and steel mill worker, came up with a true-to-life blues in 1952 that hit home with many a working man in “Five Long Years,” a No. 1 record [...]
Love in Vain — Robert Johnson (Vocalion, 1937)
In honor of the 2011 Robert Johnson Centennial celebrations, “Love in Vain” joins several Johnson classics that have already been enshrined in the Blues Hall of Fame. Johnson's poignant original was cut in 1937 in [...]
All Your Love (I Miss Loving) — Otis Rush (Cobra, 1958)
All Your Love (I Miss Loving)' is the third of Otis Rush's classic Cobra singles to earn Hall of Fame status and the second from the same 1958 session that featured both Rush and Ike [...]
Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues — Skip James (Paramount, 1931)
Skip James' 1931 recordings for the Paramount label in Grafton, Wisconsin, all but vanished after their limited release during the Depression, now ranking among the rarest and highest-priced records on the collectors' market. But through [...]
Reconsider Baby — Lowell Fulson (Checker, 1954)
Reconsider Baby,' sometimes known under other titles after the song's opening line ('So long, oh, how I hate to see you go'), was Lowell Fulson's wistful goodbye and plea to a departing lover, with a [...]