Etta James Rocks the House
Artist: Etta James

Simply one of the greatest live blues albums ever captured on tape. Cut in 1963 at the New Era Club in Nashville, the set finds Etta James in stellar shape as she forcefully delivers her own "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and "Seven Day Fool" interspersed with a diet of sizzling covers ("What'd I Say," "Sweet Little Angel," "Money," "Ooh Poo Pah... Read More

King of the Blues - BOX
Artist: B.B. King

No way can a mere four discs cover every facet of the blues 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 pivotal RPM/Kent masters before digging into his 1960s ABC-Paramount... Read More

A Heart Full of Blues
Artist: B.B. King
Blues for Me
Artist: B.B. King
The Blues
Artist: B.B. King
Mr. Blues - ABC
Artist: B.B. King

Has some very nice moments. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide Read More

The Big Blues
Artist: Albert King
Community Score: 7.00
At Last!
Artist: Etta James
Community Score: 9.00

After spending a few years in limbo after scoring her first R&B hits "Dance With Me, Henry" and "Good Rocking Daddy," Etta James returned to the spotlight in 1960 with her first Chess release, At Last. James made both the R&B and pop charts with the album's title cut, "All I Could Do Was Cry," and "Trust in Me." What makes At Last a great album... Read More

Top Ten
Artist: Etta James
The Second Time Around
Artist: Etta James

Etta James's second album isn't what you pull off the shelf when you want to hear her belt some soul. Like her debut, it found Chess presenting her as more or less a pop singer, using orchestration arranged and conducted by Riley Hampton, and mostly tackling popular standards of the '40s. If you're not a purist, this approach won't bother you in... Read More

Teasin' You
Artist: Snooks Eaglin

The best of Eaglin's terrific series of Black Top efforts so far -- song selection is absolutely unassailable (lots of savage New Orleans covers, from Lloyd Price and Professor Longhair to Willie Tee and Earl King), the band simmers and sizzles with spicy second-line fire (bassist George Porter, Jr. and drummer Herman Ernest III are a formidable... Read More

The Best of B.B. King - MCA
Artist: B.B. King
Community Score: 8.00

True, this 1973 vintage best-of album covers a ridiculously slim wedge of time in the blues king's long career. Yet this period was quite significant, for it marks the crest of B.B. King's initial entry into the pop music mass market -- and this album surfs succinctly, if not comprehensively, over the high points of his turn-of-the-decade... Read More