Soul Sensation
Artist: Carol Fran & Clarence Hollimon

The new sweethearts of the blues' debut for Black Top is an uncommonly varied affair, the pair performing blues, jazz, and every stylistic stripe in between. Hollimon's red-hot licks are seldom short of amazing (his instrumental showcase "Gristle" is a stunner), and Fran's full-throated vocals shine on everything from a Gulf Coast-styled "My... Read More

Test of Time
Artist: Ronnie Earl

Test of Time collects the highlights from Ronnie Earl's six Black Top albums. The 18-song compilation showcases one of the finest blues guitarists of the '80s, picking nearly all of his finest material, which happen to include duets with Robert Jr. Lockwood and Hubert Sumlin. The album is an excellent introduction to Earl, as well as his most... Read More

Triple Play
Artist: Lucky Peterson

Even more impressive than his previous Alligator set, thanks to top-flight material like "Don't Cloud Up on Me," "Let the Chips Fall Where They May," and "Locked Out of Love," the fine house band at Greenlee's King Snake studios, and Peterson's own rapidly developing attack on two instruments. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide Read More

I'm Back
Artist: Dutch Mason

Dutch's album is full of gems from Albert King and Albert Collins songs to Bo Diddley's classic "Who Do You Love." My favorite is "I Ain't Drunk (I'm Just Drinkin')." ~ Chip Renner, All Music Guide Read More

Roadhouse Blues
Artist: Albert King
Tell Me What I Want to Hear
Artist: Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets

First-rate, contemporary Texas shuffle and blues with tasteful, biting guitar comes from Funderburgh and great vocals and harp from Mississippian Sam Myers. This is their most varied and ambitious release to date (the band seems to get better with each album). The title track was used in the movie China Moon. "Rent Man Blues" is a humorous... Read More

Peace of Mind
Artist: Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters

Peace of Mind features some nice, swinging stuff. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide Read More

Mighty Long Time
Artist: James Cotton

Although the titles are all familiar (most of them a little too much so), Cotton and his all-star cohorts (guitarists Jimmie Vaughan, Matt Murphy, Luther Tucker, Hubert Sumlin, and Wayne Bennett, the omnipresent Perkins on keys) pull the whole thing off beautifully. Cotton's cover of Wolf's "Moanin' at Midnight" is remarkably eerie in its own... 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

Fear No Evil
Artist: Robert Ward

One of the most amazing comeback stories of the modern blues era was ignited by this astonishing album. Robert Ward hadn't recorded as a leader in close to a quarter century, but his melismatic, almost mystical vocal quality and quirky, vibrato-enriched guitar sound utterly vital and electrifying as he revives some of his own obscure oldies... Read More