Lonesome in My Bedroom
Artist: Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson

This was Johnson's final album before his death in 1976, and it was originally cut for Black and Blue (now reissued with three bonus tracks). While various tracks reflect the influence of Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker, Johnson's own inimitable vocals, raspy lines and tart guitar eventually create his own aura. He is nicely backed... Read More

His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)
Artist: Little Walter
Community Score: 7.00

As MCA reconfigures their Chess catalog, this 20-track single-disc compilation now takes the place of their original 12-track Best of Little Walter collection, a landmark blues album which had remained in print for over three decades. This collections reprises ten of those seminal tracks (leaving off the echoey "Blue Light" and "You Better Watch... Read More

His Best
Artist: Sonny Boy Williamson [II]

While some hardliners will point to his early 1950s Trumpet recordings as his most undiluted work, Sonny Boy's tenure at Chess Records was his longest and most successful and therefore deserves first look for the novice coming to this remarkable bluesman at ground level. This 20-track collection takes 17 tracks from the excellent two-disc... Read More

His Best: 1956-1964
Artist: Muddy Waters

The first eight tracks of this 20-track collection date from 1956: "All Aboard," and featuring both James Cotton and Little Walter on twin harmonicas, "Forty Days and Forty Nights," "Just to Be With You," "Don't Go No Farther," "Diamonds at Your Feet," "I Love the Life I Live," "Rock Me," and the studio version of "I Got My Mojo Working." By... Read More

Where Have You Been? Live in Montreux 1976-1994
Artist: Luther Allison

This CD features the exciting blues guitarist/singer Luther Allison on selections taken from four appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Although the title says 1974-94, the earliest numbers are actually from 1976, and these are the most memorable cuts on the CD. Even when sticking to cover tunes throughout the powerhouse performance (such... Read More

Buddy's Blues (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)
Artist: Buddy Guy
Community Score: 10.00

As part of MCA's Chess Records 50th Anniversary series, this sweats his multi-disc retrospective, The Complete Chess Studio Recordings, down to a scintillating 15-track package and comes up with a bare-bones winner. There's loads of great guitar on classics like "First Time I Met The Blues," "Let Me Love You Baby," "Pretty Baby," "My Time After... Read More

His Best: 1947 to 1955
Artist: Muddy Waters

This entry into MCA's Chess 50th Anniversary Collection now officially takes the place of The Best of Muddy Waters as an essential first purchase in building a Muddy Waters collection. All 12 songs that comprise the budget-priced The Best of Muddy Waters are aboard, with eight more essential goodies from his first period of creativity, including... Read More