I Left My Blues in San Francisco
Artist: Buddy Guy

Guy's last Chess album finds him shifting gears to keep up with the scene. His turns on "Keep It to Yourself," "Crazy Love," "When My Left Eye Jumps," "Leave My Girl Alone," and "I Suffer With the Blues" are some examples of this mercurial guitarist at his explosive best. The rest of the album is filled with groovy, soul-styled workouts; some of... Read More

Eldorado Cadillac
Artist: Billy Boy Arnold

Billy Boy Arnold, a fluent blues harmonica player and an expressive singer, made his initial impact in the 1950s/early '60s, but then went three decades between American records. The second recording from his comeback, Eldorado Cadillac, finds Arnold (who worked many yeas earlier with Bo Diddley) in enthusiastic form while utilizing a top-notch... Read More

Deep Down
Artist: Carey Bell

More than a quarter century after he cut his debut album, Bell recently made his finest disc to date. Boasting superior material and musicianship (guitarists Carl Weathersby and Lurrie Bell and pianist Lucky Peterson are all stellar) and a goosed-up energy level that frequently reaches incendiary heights, the disc captures Bell outdoing himself... Read More

Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man
Artist: Michael Bloomfield
Best of Michael Bloomfield - TAKOMA
Artist: Michael Bloomfield

While the title's accuracy is debatable, this CD contains 10 fine tracks drawn from three albums produced by Norman Dayron for Takoma between 1978 and 1980. Arrangements are spare (with one horn-powered exception) and Bloomfield's vocals are greatly improved over his early attempts. Running-time, as on all the Takoma releases, is short at 43:30.... Read More

The Real Folk Blues
Artist: Howlin' Wolf

This was originally released by Chess in 1966 to capitalize on the then-current folk music boom. The music, however -- a collection of Wolf singles from 1956 to 1966 -- is full-blown electric featuring a nice sampling of Wolf originals with a smattering of Willie Dixon tunes. Some of the man's best middle period work is aboard here; "Killing... Read More

Koko Taylor
Artist: Koko Taylor

Straight digital reissue of Taylor's debut Chess album from 1969. Produced by Willie Dixon (who can intermittently be heard as a duet partner), the set is one of the strongest representations of the belter's Chess days available, with her immortal smash "Wang Dang Doodle," and the chunky "Twenty-Nine Ways," "I'm a Little Mixed Up," and "Don't... Read More

Confessin' the Blues
Artist: Little Walter
Community Score: 10.00

This release is a little confusing, coming out as it does more than a year after the release of MCA-Chess's Little Walter rarities collection Blues With A Feeling, and two years after the double CD anthology set that contains most of the best parts of this collection. Still, for those who can't afford either of those pricey sets, this disc,... Read More

I Was Walking Through the Woods
Artist: Buddy Guy

This slim yet potent sampler of Guy's excellent early-'60s work for Chess will no doubt please newcomers looking for a bargain introduction to the blues guitarist/vocalist's prime sides. With his guitar tapped for maximum intensity, spiky and tremolo-heavy, and those vocals all pathos-rich screams and in-the-pocket bravado, Guy especially hits... Read More

Live: The Real Deal
Artist: Buddy Guy

As close as Buddy Guy's ever likely to come to recapturing the long-lost Chess sound. Cut live at his popular Chicago nightspot, Buddy Guy's Legends, with guitarist G.E. Smith's horn-leavened Saturday Night Live Band and pianist Johnnie Johnson in lush support, Guy revisits his roots on sumptuous readings of "I've Got My Eyes on You," "Ain't... Read More