Live & Burning
Artist: Son Seals

Lives up to its billing. Seals's smoking set, caught live at Chicago's long-gone (and definitely lamented) Wise Fools Pub, finds him attacking a sharp cross-section of material -- Detroit Junior's deliberate "Call My Job," Elmore James's "I Can't Hold Out," his own "Help Me, Somebody" -- with an outstanding band in tow -- saxist A.C. Reed,... Read More

Queen of the Blues
Artist: Koko Taylor

Co-producer Bruce Iglauer anticipated a future trend by making this a set filled with cameos -- but the presence of Lonnie Brooks, James Cotton, Albert Collins, and Son Seals is entirely warranted and the contributions of each work quite well in the context of the whole. Taylor's gritty "I Cried like a Baby" and a snazzy remake of Ann Peebles's... Read More

Blues Hit Big Town
Artist: Junior Wells
Community Score: 10.00

This 1998 CD reissue of Wells' debut recordings for the States label adds four previously unheard tracks along with the original 13-track vinyl lineup. Wells' legacy begins with these landmark sides, featuring Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Johnnie Jones, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, and the Aces in the lineup at various points. Whether it's a slow... Read More

The Earthshaker
Artist: Koko Taylor
Community Score: 10.00

Koko Taylor's Alligator encore harbored a number of tunes that still pepper her set list to this day -- the grinding "I'm a Woman" and the party-down specials "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Hey Bartender." Her uncompromising slow blues "Please Don't Dog Me" and a sassy remake of Irma Thomas's "You Can Have My Husband" also stand out, as does the... Read More

Pleading the Blues
Artist: Buddy Guy

Recorded on Halloween night in 1979, this pairs up Wells and Guy in a fashion that hasn't been heard since Hoodoo Man Blues, their first, and best collaboration. Solid backing by The Philip Guy band (Buddy's brother) makes this album a rare treat. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide Read More

Buddy's Blues: The Best of the JSP Sessions
Artist: Buddy Guy