3 comments about Alligator Records 30th Anniversary Collection.

1. Alligator does it again! Incredible compilation. If you are contemplating starting a blues collection get the Anniversary Collections by Alligator first. These CD sets introduce you to many talented artists without shelling out 100's of bucks.

   As an extra there is a video of Hounddog Taylor that you can play on your computer. Very nice!




2. The first thing I did when I got this CD was play the bonus CDROM video track of Hound Dog Tayor & The Houserockers' "Taylor's Rock" on my computer and cranked up the volume. My computer will never be the same! Taylor's slide playing is raw, powerful stuff on this nearly four-minute instrumental captured in black and white from the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues Festival. Taylor also tears the roof off the house with a raucus version of "It's Alright." It's no surprise that Taylor closes out the live disc. Taylor's eponymously titled debut on Alligator was the first of his career and the first for the then fledgling blues label.

   The blues thrives in a live setting and even though I live in Nebraska, I've had the chance to see several of these artists perform at Lincoln's famed Zoo Bar, including Son Seals, Luther Allison and Coco Montoya.

   Among the five previously unreleased tracks (all on the live disc) are a ten-minute version of Albert Collins' slow blues "Dyin' Flu" and a nearly eight-minute version of Little Charlie & The Nightcats' smoldering "I'll Take You Back."

   While the live disc crackles with raw energy, the studio disc includes stellar performances as well, including Koko Taylor's white hot "Bring Me Some Water" and the Holmes Brothers' haunting "Homeless Child."

   In addition to Chicago style blues, you also get the New Orleans-influenced blues of Marcia Ball and Henry Butler, the zydeco stylings of C.J. Chenier, Texas guitarists Johnny Winter and Albert Collins, and Alligator's first-ever overseas artist--British-born Australian Dave Hole.

   If you're looking for a inexpensive introduction to Blues 101, you won't find a better textbook than this. And if you need additional incentive, 20 lucky customers will find a coupon good for the entire Alligator catalog on CD. [But this 2-CD set is a terrific consolation prize!] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED




3. Yes,this five stars are just a few,just a few of many others,infinity others from the constelation of this truly great Blues Record!
   And i'm proud to be the first to review this album.I'm proud because i'm a really bluesfan...I'm proud because i'm really a Gator fan...proud to have in my own home a collection of almost 700 cds,95% blues cds...proud to take part in this special moment of Alligator Records.The history of the Gator Records is really fantastic,and specially in the person of this visionary man,Bruce Iglauer.Bruce worked with the great Bob Koester from Delmark Records,visited many universitary shows to choose some new talents to record.Then,he left Delmark to improve his own Record,where he could get new talents.The first album recorded,
   was with great simplicity,at 1971,when he discovered Hound Dog Taylor,and it must be considered a legendary album.Many others
   appeared with rare competency since that early days.And what we can say is that Alligator is a Record, constantly growing,surprising us with rare moments,masterpieces,new talents...Shemekia Copeland is,for me the confirmation of all this competency,to believe in new talents,promotes this talents giving all of the support and took them to the stelar!
   So,i can say that i'm proud and happy to participate of this rich moment.And this album that comemorates this healthy 30th.Years,is absolutely a "Must Have",destinated to become a "Classic"blues album,not only by the quality of the bluesmen there,so still by this new concept to creates,inovates,supports all of the good news we have to the modern blues scenery!
   And what we must desire is to be alive when the 40th.Anniversary Record album, will be recorder at 2006!
   Until that,i'm happy with my collection of 130 Gator's albums....What you're waiting for?????Let's improve your own Gator's Collection...Sure you'll not be desappointed...
   You'll really be happier than ever......JUST AS I AM!

No comments about Olliet Records Story.

2 comments about Crucial Rockin' Blues.

1. Crucial Rockin Blues has several of the current blues greats performing an assortment of straight rocking blues and rocking r&b. It is a great CD to broaden straight rock enthusiasts', or straight blues enthusiasts' tastes.



2. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT SELECTION OF MULTI-ARTIST ELECTRIC BLUES. SUPRISINGLY A NUMBER OF THE SONGS ARE VERY RECENT, SUCH AS COCO MONTOYA'S "LAST DIRTY DEAL" ONE OF THE BEST FROM HIS RECENT RELEASE. TINSLEY ELLIS' "THE NEXT MISS WRONG" IS TINSLEY AT HIS ABSOLUTE BEST. PERFORMING A FOOT STOMPING, ROADHOUSE COOKER! DAVE HOLE IS HIS USUAL MAGICAL, WHIMISICAL, AUSTRALIAN, SLIDE MASTER, WITH HIS GUITAR JUMPING AROUND, LIKE AN UNATTENDED WATER HOSE TURNED ON FULL THROTTLE! GUITAR SHORTY'S SONG "i'M GONNA LEAVE YOU" IS PROBABLY HIS BEST COMBINATION OF STRING BENDING AND VOICE YET RELEASED. THE ONLY NEGATIVE IS THE ATTEMPT OF ROY BUCHANAN, REDOING THE ALL-TIME ROCK CLASSIC BY EDWIN STARR, "25 MILES"! IF YOU'RE GOING TO REBUILD THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, DON'T USE POPSICLE STICKS, USE GOLD! (ANOTHER BAD EXAMPLE IS OCEANS ELEVEN) IN SUMMARY, THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE STEAL AT $8.00! SHAQ "THE KING OF THE WORLD BLUES REVIEWER'S" SAYS BUY IT! P.S. SONG #2 "ROUTE 90" BY JOHNNY WINTER IS ROLLICKING GOOD FUN, BUT IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE "SURFIN U.S.A. BY THE BEACH BOYS!

4 comments about Blues Masters, Vol. 16: More Harmonica Classics.

1. An excellent compilation of blues harp playing. Buy this if you are looking to hear the best and learn some of the best techniques ever!



2. I already had two other CD's in this collection which are also harmonica
   blues. This was good, but sounded too much like the others. I also purchased the Blue's Master's slide guitar classics which is great.



3. You've heard that saying about a hundred monkeys clattering away at a hundred typewiters for a hundred years...I don't know excactly how it goes in English. Anyway, it seems that an ape called Jo Jo ended up writing a review rather than the collected works of William Shakespeare.
   I mean, honestly...what do you think an album titled "Blues Masters vol. 16 - More Harmonica Classics" is?!
   
   Well, never mind.
   This is a very nice companion volume to Blues Masters vol. 4 ("Harmonica Classics"). Most longtime blues fans will own much or even all of this material already, of course, but beginners or "mid-level" blues fans should delight in the wealth of excellent material on this disc - aggressive up-tempo freight train harmonica and slow, smouldering fills and solos.
   
   Most of the really big guns are here, like James Cotton, Slim Harpo, Little Walter Jacobs, Sonny Terry, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells, white boy Paul Butterfield, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, and Aleck "Rice" Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II).
   And most of the more obscure stuff is very interesting as well: William Clarke's "Pawnshop Bound", Lazy Lester's rendition of "I Hear You Knockin'", a great, swaggering "The Briar Patch" by Gary Primich, Papa George Lightfoot's thumping "Jump The Boogie", a raw early electric blues with a gritty sandpaper vocal, and Doctor Isiah Ross' tough, energetic "Come Back Baby".
   
   This is far from everything you need to know about blues harmonica, of course, and a couple of tunes were chosen for the harp playing rather than their overall musical quality, I guess.
   But there is a lot of quality stuff here, making "More Blues Harmonica" a really good buy for all but the most hardcore blues fans (they'll own 9/10 of this stuff already).



4. This power-packed CD is a must for both players and lovers of the harmonica, particularly of the blues-harp variety.

   Most all of the tunes here are listenable, but some mighty powerful stuff abounds. On Howlin' Wolf's number, he sounds as if he's playing 2 harps at once. Junior Wells, in his rendition of Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Help Me," does a moving tribute to Sonny II both vocally and harmonically (as Sonny II died shortly before this was recorded). Sonny I is well represented here with "Shake Your Boogie" (although his harmonica is drowned out by the other instruments in parts of this song).

   The king of Country blues harmonica, Sonny Terry, does an amazing turn with "Hootin' Blues Pt. 2" which defies written description. Wisely, Magic Dick Seltzer's classing "Whammer Jammer" is also included, as it sounds as if this tune may have been inspired by the above-mentioned Sonny Terry tune (listen and compare).

   So for anyone who likes good harmonica music, listen and enjoy. For aspiring harmonicists, you may have think you've got it down pat, but listen to this to see how far you still need to go.

No comments about Future of the Blues, Vol. 3.

5 comments about Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans.

1. This is a very comprehensive look at New Orleans for someone who has been there many times and wants to reminisce.



2. This box of New Orleans music is the essence of the mossy City that Care Forgot. Each song reveals a particular characteristic of the city and her distinctive sound; quirky, high-spirited and strong. Wish amazon did oyster poor boys.



3. This is a great collection that could be improved through a few substitutions (I would have chosen Johnny Adams' "Reconsider Me" and Irma Thomas'"I Done Gone Over It", instead of the ones The Shout Factory made) but that's nitpicking. It's a great collection, it sounds great and a wide range of New Orleans music is represented. Well done.



4. This is a complilation of New Orleans best at their best. I am a New Orleans native living in Colorado and this anthology made me home sick! This is a wonderful collector's item and I recommend it to everyone. Enjoy New Orleans' very own Doctor's Professors, Kings and Queens.



5. A great mix of new and old music from the big easy. The booklet gives a lot of information other than the music.

1 comments about Blues After Hours: All Instrumental.

1. What initially drew me to this compilation Cd was Ronnie Earl's superb "Baby Doll Blues" which is on three of his Cd's, but all are out-of-print. I was pleasantly surprised as most of the tracks on this compilation are quite good, with standouts (besides 'Baby Doll Blues') being Mike Morgan & the Crawl's "Blues for Al and Peggy" and Tutu Jones' "I'm not Ashamed to Play the Blues." The price makes this a good bargain for the quality of music. Definitely worth getting if you like Slow Blues instrumentals.

2 comments about Not The Same Old Blues Crap II.

1. Outstanding sampler from Nortern Mississippi Hill Country Blues label Fat Possum. Much prefer this sampler to the first one. This has that gritty country blues feel with many songs feeling like they were recorded in a leaky basement(and many were). Standouts are the two RL Burnside tracks: "Goin down South" is a staple of his music and the version included of "Walkin Blues" is top notch. The previously unreleased "I Feel Good Again" by Junior Kimbrough and Charlie Feathers is worth more than the low 4.99 price to buy this. The Asie Payton tracks are both stunners and Paul Wine Jones and Super Chikan add some diversity in style with there numbers.



2. Actually, this is the same old blues...; the "purists" who run the label either don't know it or won't admit it. This sort of purist nonsense is as old as the music but whenever another generation comes along there's another spasm of it. As for the selections, this is really fine music, as varied as you could possibly want. Even some greasy old soul that somebody probably smokes cigars to while they're swilling beer (just to mention a couple seemingly proscribed activities mentioned in the liner notes). But this label records stuff Alligator never did, right? Way wrong; Hound Dog Taylor was as funky as any of this.

   Filter out all the Fat Possum trademark noise and leave that to the college students to whom it matters. This is a very fine collection of blues that any blues fan will thoroughly enjoy. Maybe a slight lean toward the rural and the rocky but so what?

5 comments about Chess Blues.

1. How should I put this...?
   
   subtle? historic? passionate? Let's just leave it at this.
   
   IT'S A 4 CD BOX WITH BLUES FROM CHESS!! THAT'S MUDDY WATERS AND HOWLING WOLF!! DUH!!! OF COURSE 5 STARS!!



2. This is a collection of 101 blues recordings from the Chess Records vault. It features many of the best known blues singers, as well as some performers that history has forgotten. Most of Chess Records' biggest hit blues records are included, but there are also many obscurities here. In fact, almost half the tracks are rarities. But the obscurities are almost as good as the well known recordings. Everything here is good, with most of the tracks being better than good. If you want to learn about the blues, this is the perfect place to start.



3. All right, students, now pay attention! Put down that racing form and pay attention right now! This here Chess Blues box set contains exactly 101 tracks. How appropriate! That makes this collection a sort of unofficial college course entitled Blues 101, and Professors Wolf, Waters, James, and Jacobs (Little Walter), etc., etc., will be your blues instructors. You will learn the Fundamentals of Blues Harp, with Little Walter ("Juke") and Sonny Boy Williamson II ("Don't Start Me to Talkin'") as your master teachers. Over here, we have a course entitled Mellow Blues, with Willie Dixon ("Walkin' the Blues") and Jimmy Witherspoon ("Ain't Nobody's Business") showing you how it's done. Then, we have instruction in Blues and the Female Voice, with Koko Taylor ("What Kind of Man Is That," "Wang Dang Doodle") and Etta James ("Somethings Got A Hold Of Me," "I'd Rather Go Blind") as your teachers. Finally, what great university would be complete without Master Classes and the best professors in the business Muddy Waters ("Got My Mojo Workin'," "I Can't Be Satisfied," "My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble"), Howlin Wolf ("Killin' Floor," "Evil," "Going Down Slow"), and John Lee Hooker ("Walkin' the Boogie," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer") holding court for your edification. No, there is no blues university, but if there was one, the above masters would surely be the instructors and Chess Blues would certainly be the required text. As I said, it's packed with an amazing 101 songs, many of the best blues tracks ever recorded. There are a few clunkers, but very few. You will spend many enjoyable hours listening to this collection. (Trust me, it takes a few hours to listen to 101 songs once!) Get it today, and enroll in the best blues education money can buy!



4. This handsome boxset, complete with a large booklet, is a superb addition to your blues collection, even if you already have the best of the major Chess artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson II.

   There are bound to be some tracks, especially by Waters and the Wolf, that overlap with what most blues lovers already own, but the "Chess Blues" compilers have done a very fine job assembling dozens of rarer tracks by artists like Robert Nighthawk, Sunnyland Slim, Otis Rush, Memphis Minnie McCoy, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Elmore James, Jimmy Oden and many others. And these high quality tracks, which make up the vast majority of the 101 cuts, make "Chess Blues" a very welcome supplement to the many available compilations featuring Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter Jacobs.




5. The Delta gave birth to the Delta Blues and Chicago gave birth to the Chicago Blues but it would not have happened without Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and, of course, the Chess Brothers. This is their legacy - no true blues fan would be without this set as part of their collection -enough said!

5 comments about Paint It Blue: Songs of the Rolling Stones.

1. I have to admit that if it had not been for the Dartford renegades, I might not have started listening to the blues. These days it's pretty hard to listen to Mick mimic bluesmen. This cd has some great Stones numbers done well: Luther Allison, Taj Mahal, Gatemouth Brown, Junior Wells, and Johnny Copeland all outblues the Stones. Yea the Stones can still play some of their material, but just as the Ramones learned to give Street Fighting Man the energy that you never realized it lacked, these master bluesman hand you cover versions that sound fresh and natural.



2. I've had this cd for about 7 years now and every now and then pull it out for a listen and each time I leave with a new song that I feel is the best and a need to search out a few cds from the artist who cover them . The last time was about a month ago and it hasn't been out of my car since. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"...brilliant. "Sway"...unforgettable. "Beast of Burdon"...outstanding. This last time has been "Ventilator Blues" by the late Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.
   
   I don't like to say that these guys did the Rolling Stones better than Mick and the gang, but on these songs...they did.



3. On this CD premier blues men like Luther Allison, Junior Wells, Johnny Copeland, Holmes Brothers and Taj Mahal cover some of the Best Rolling Stones Classics and adds it a twist of Blues. The first song on the CD seems to be the absolute best and the most refreshing - Luther Allisons version of the 1969 hit "You Can't Always Get What You Want". Sadly this version came to be Luthers Last studio recording ever, recorded short before his sudden death i 1997 - But truely at the Peak of his career.
   An Overall great CD, worth buying for Luther Allison it self!



4. Ok. Just think about this....

   Stones? Blues? Rock 'n' Roll? What else do you need? Exactly, a nice beer and you are set. Enjoy this cd forever. It makes the blues and rock and country come together like never before. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is simply the best rendition of any song that I have ever heard. Unfortunatly I only have enough money to buy 1 for a present or else I would buy a thousand to give to everyone. It's perfect. As a Music Educator, a Music Theorist, and a Composer, this is the finest CD that one could ever buy. Enjoy!




5. Some of the songs are done better than the originals (Sway, Moonlight Mile, Ventilator Blues). This cd is a must have for a Stones fan. Albert Collins? Johnny Copeland, Gatemouth Brown? It don't get no better! The Stones must have been truly flattered.