A Man and the Blues
Artist: Buddy Guy
Community Score: 10.00

The guitarist's first album away from Chess -- and to be truthful, it sounds as though it could have been cut at 2120 S. Michigan, with Guy's deliciously understated guitar work and a tight combo anchored by three saxes and pianist Otis Spann laying down tough grooves on the vicious "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "I Can't Quit the Blues," and an... Read More

Johnny Shines with Big Walter Horton
Artist: Johnny Shines

Calling an album one the best in this particular genre, Chicago blues, is a pretty big move. There are plenty of masters of this particular form, and the success of several different record companies recording the genre over the years has assured no shortage of material. Something just comes together splendidly on these sessions that elevates... Read More

More Real Folk Blues
Artist: Muddy Waters

The companion volume to the first Waters entry in the series is even more down home than the first. Featuring another brace of early Chess sides from 1948-1952, this release features some essential tracks not found on The Chess Box. With the bludgeoning stomp of "She's Alright" featuring Elgin Evans's kickass drumming and the moody introspection... Read More

The Real Folk Blues
Artist: Muddy Waters

Once Chess discovered a White folk-blues audience ripe and ready to hear the real thing, they released a series of albums under the Real Folk Blues banner. This is one of the best entries in the series, a mixed bag of early Chess sides from 1949-1954, some of it hearkening back to Muddy's first recordings for Aristocrat with only Big Crawford on... Read More

Down on Stovall's Plantation
Artist: Muddy Waters

These Library of Congress field recordings done by Alan Lomax from 1941-1942 feature Muddy with Percy Thomas on guitar, Louis Ford on mandolin, and Henry Sims on violin. Capturing Muddy in a string-band context playing his earliest repertoire, this is a major historical document. Unfortunately, the Universe edition of these recordings omits... 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

Hoodoo Man Blues
Artist: Junior Wells
Community Score: 10.00

One of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s, and one of the first to fully document the smoky ambience of a night at a West side nightspot in the superior acoustics of a recording studio. Wells just set up with his usual cohorts -- guitarist Buddy Guy (billed as "Friendly Chap" on first vinyl pressings), bassist Jack Myers, and drummer... Read More

The Legend -- The Man
Artist: Jimmy Reed

Jimmy Reed The Legend-The Man was originally released in 1965 on Vee Jay records and was reissued by Collectables in 2000. While it contains a number of classics, like "Baby What You Want Me to Do," "Big Boss Man," "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby," and "Bright Lights, Big City," what makes this reissue so compelling are the short interview sections... Read More

Hate to See You Go
Artist: Little Walter

Many blues fans identify this album by the scar on its front cover, and this doesn't mean that their copy got damaged lying around in the used-record pile. A larger than life black-and-white photograph of Little Walter fills the front cover with a visual impact that just cannot be matched in the petite world of compact discs. A jewel case would... Read More

East-West Live
Artist: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

The tune "East-West" from the second Butterfield Blues Band album of the same name made music history. It is arguably the first extended rock solo, a fusing of blues-rock with Eastern scales and tone. Here is the root of psychedelic -- acid rock. Now, thanks to Mark Naftalin (the original Butterfield keyboardist), we have three live recordings... Read More