No comments about Jukin'.

1 comments about At the Bunkhouse.

1. This is classic ST & BM. The lyrics and playing are phenomenal and at a time when both were relatively young. I cut my blues playing guitar teeth on this album. Not to be missed...

1 comments about Atlantic Blues: Guitar.

1. This is a must have for anyone with a love of the blues and the guitar artist who made it great. The last track on the CD is a live recording of Texas Flood by S. R. Vaugn, the best live track of his I have ever heard.

No comments about St. Louis Blues: 1927-1933 (Vol.1).

3 comments about Crucial Live Blues.

1. GOD, I LOVE THIS CD!! It is truly alive, in a way most other live or studio recordings cannot even come close to. It showcases extremely high-energy live performances from almost twenty different Chicago-based or Chicago-visiting blues acts between about 1980 and 2000. These are great songs performed by great blues artists, some of them funny and high-spirited, all of them raw and electrifying. This is one of those rare CDs that is unrelentingly excellent and sparkles and crackles with energy all the way through. Alligator Records offers a number of really good blues collections of acts that have come through Chicago, but I'd say this one is the best of all. [That claim is based on a familiarity with both Alligator's other compilation CDs and several dozen (or maybe a few hundred) other blues recordings--this one is one of my all-time favorites!.] If you enjoy the blues, or if you aren't sure but are curious to try it out, this is a GREAT (and inexpensive) place to start!



2. VARIOUS
   Crucial Live! Blues
   Alligator ALCD 119
   
   Alligator has converted more fans to the blues than they will ever know. Now another generation's ears will be called to the blues due to the Crucial Blues series. In addition to the authoritative music, Crucial Live! Blues comes with an attractive and tempting low-cost price tag, 60 minutes of music, 13 cuts (mostly covers), tracks recorded in the U.S., Australia, and Japan and originally released between 1974 and 2002, simple yet expressive cover art, and liner info extracted from Alligator's mail order catalog. The greatest differences between this sampler and other Alligator compilations include not being as long in duration and un-detailed credits.
   
   The vital CD features the label's finest musicians. Most of them are guitar slingers. You will encounter nine of them at this concert while the rest of the gig consists of two prized vocalists, one harp phenomenon, and one acoustic act. Lonnie Mack performs alive and kicking blues-rock with a rolling rhythm on "Riding The Blinds". The track will have you wondering why he didn't become as big a star as Stevie Ray Vaughan given the fact that Vaughan was his most devoted disciple. "Tired Man" features the unmistakable piercing guitar of Albert Collins along with impressive sax and bass that drives the definitive rhythm. More than one song will have you longing to be relaxing in a smoky Chicago blues bar. One example is "Going Back To Iuka", which showcases two hot guitarists on a rolling shuffle led by Koko Taylor's roaring throat. With classy guitar, Little Charlie & The Nightcats have the innate ability to make the blues fun. As do the acoustic and folky Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women. Ironically, their hilarious song contains lyrics written by Charlie's Rick Estrin. Lonnie Brooks' booming voice, sassy guitar, and enthusiastic rhythms are as fulfilling as a bowl of gumbo. His masterful band supports Elvin Bishop during "My Dog" and makes him vibrant. Sporting an ultra, funky, big, eight-member band, James Cotton slightly personalizes the lyrics of "Born In Chicago". Like a spontaneous, wild party thrown by your roommate, Hound Dog Taylor creates a welcome racket that you can't resist joining. Son Seals' music is raw, tough, and unpolished - just like the side of town you were told to avoid. "Cherry Red Wine" is taken from Live In Chicago, which is quite possibly, the finest live, electric, Chicago blues recording ever made. Here, Luther Allison's tantalizing live guitar work is a testimony to his brilliance.
   
   In having to bypass other great live Alligator recordings by Elvin Bishop and Little Smokey Smothers, Big Twist, and Siegel-Schwall, it must have been a struggle for the producers to narrow their selections. Since blues is such an in-the-moment music, which is best experienced live, Crucial Live! Blues is not to be missed. The only thing that could have made this a better compilation was a previously unreleased track or two thrown in for good measure. Let's hope the crucial keyboard, vocalist and horn collections aren't far behind.
   
   -- Tim Holek



3. I have probably 50 or more blues CD's. I got this one maybe a month ago, and it immediately became one of my favorites. The only dud is "Dump That Chump." Whatever your thoughts on Saffire, this particular song is a clunking boogie that just doesn't fit with the other songs. Otherwise, every song on the album is a ton of fun to listen to. I play guitar myself, and it's also a great album to jam along with. This CD would be worth a lot more than they're charging for it! And that comes from a person who thinks that most CD's are worth maybe $4.

No comments about Downsville Blues.

2 comments about Put Your Hand on Your Hip and Let Your Backbone Slip.

1. WOW! A friend of my sister's who does music with kids recommended this C.D. I work with children too so I ordered it. Several weeks went by without my getting a chance to listen to it. Then my back started giving me trouble and while I was recuperating I put this on. My oh my this C.D is really something. "Put Your Hands on your Hips and Let your backbone slip" healed me right up. It captures the heart and soul of music and makes you want to put your hands together and sing! If you want to get yourself or others up and singing and clapping then get this C.D.
   GAR run teed!



2. This review is in dedication to my husband's great-grandma. Her name is Ms. Bessie Jones. I read your auto biography in which you lead me to and enjoyed it greatly and I hear your music resonating in my spirit through your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Thank you for your legacy you left behind. I love you Mama, P.S. please keep singing me to sleep.

5 comments about God Knows I Tried.

1. Saw this fella in 'You see me laughin' on IFC. Good straight ahead delta style blues. This is the real deal.



2. Thank you for lived insight of your review. Please know it moves all kinds of folks, no matter who they are or what their upbringing may be. A Testament to the Music, I say. Maybe if more of us took the sound, the soul, the joy, and the pain of the Blues to heart, we'd have a better World.



3. Okay, the main reason I got this was Because I had Heard the song "Tramp" before and loved it. So I figured I should just get the real thing. It is wonderfull My favorite song is "Tramp". But close Behind is the "All Night Long" (Instrumental). This track just proves that A song can still be extreamly complex, even if it is only made of one cord. The bass part on "All night Long"(instrumental) is great. Gary Burnside Manages to double Junior's guitar, Walk all over the over the neck of his bass, and still keep a solid groove going.



4. Junior Kimrough was a juke joint rockin' guitarist, from the Delta. He is also one of the great blues singers of our time. He tought rock-a-billy legend Charley Feathers, how to play guitar! In turn Feathers has cited him as a main influence. This cd takes performances from the early to late 90's, all finding Kimbrough in prime form creating rockin' raw jukejoint blues. His unique playing is wonderful here as well as his distictive singing. An essential blues/roots cd. If you liek rock-a-bilyl or Charlei Feather's you'll love to hear it's roots in Kimbrough!



5. I spent part of a night recently in a road house in the middle of the Mississippi Delta shooting pool, drinking beer, and listening to Junior Kimbrough's "God Knows I tried" CD. The mixture was sublime.

   This disc is an eclectic posthumous collection of some of Junior's classic guitar work and his completely authentic blues vocals. Even though Junior Kimbrough was not OF the Delta (he was raised in the Northern Mississippi hills) he understood what the Delta Blues are.

   The first track "You're Gonna Find Your Mistake" wails. The "All Night Long" instumental is proof positive that Junior was one of the most important blues guitarists of the 20th century.

No comments about Live at the New Penelope Cafe.

No comments about The Spanish Recordings: Galicia.