Marion Abernathy "The Chronological Marion Abernathy: 1947-1949" (Classics, 2001)
Uptempo postwar R&B from the swinging West Coast-LA scene... Abernathy was a transplant from the Midwest who recorded "Voo-It! Voo-It!," one of the first hits for blues record mogul Art Rupe (who later founded Specialty Records). This disc collects twenty tracks she later cut for the King label, backed by Hot Lips Page and other swingin' players of the time. I like this kind of jumpin' blues, but frankly, a little of it goes a long way, and Ms. Abernathy was not first-flight talent. This is fun, but it wears thin after a few tunes.

Annisteen Allen "The Chronological Annisteen Allen: 1945-1953" (Classics, 2004)
Another West Coast songbird whose vocal style is appealing but limited, and whose repertoire includes a lot of by-the-numbers uptempo R&B tunes... This was okay, but I'm not enough of a blues completist that I felt I had to hang onto the album. Interesting to check out, but not a keeper...

Eric Bibb "An Evening With Eric Bibb" (MC Records, 2007)
A sweet, personable live set with acoustic bluesician Eric Bibb, sparingly backed on electric bass at an unpretentious show in Sydney, Australia. Bibb is affable and open, providing low-key, inobtrusive melodic blues with a heavy dose of laid-back folkie mellowness... Introducing one song, he tips his hat towards his friend, Taj Mahal, an obvious and much-welcome influence. Although he's been around for a decade or so himself, Bibb still brings youthful promise to the genre that Taj Mahal helped define... Fans of the style will enjoy this disc; a perfect compliment to Bibb's studio work.

Rory Block "The Lady And Mr. Johnson" (Rykodisc, 2006)
A solid, if somewhat staid, tribute to the haloed 1920s blues avatar Robert Johnson... Block plays with great earnestness and enthusiasm, though she places herself at a disadvantage tackling a whole album's worth of songs from such a foundational figure in the genre's history. It's a bit like Brandon Marsalis, et. al., playing straight, old-school New Orleans -- try as they might, it's pretty hard for modern-day devotees to recreate the same live-wire intensity as the original artists had back then -- it just isn't the same. Still, for a modern blues record, this is pretty darn good, and fans will not be disappointed. There's certainly no mistaking Block's sincerity and passion -- or her chops. She's still one of the finest blues pickers around.

Lucille Bogan "Complete Recorded Works v.1" (Document, 1994)
Lucille Bogan "Complete Recorded Works v.2" (Document, 1994)
Lucille Bogan "Complete Recorded Works v.3" (Document, 1994)
Lucille Bogan "Reckless Woman: 1927-1935" (EPM, 1994)
Lucille Bogan "Lucille Bogan 1924-1932" (Story Of Blues, 1993)
Mississippi blues singer Lucille Bogan (aka Bessie Jackson) came from the old school of commercial blues, working as a contemporary of Bessie Smith in the early 1920s. She pretty much specialized in singing dirty songs, and is best known as the author of the immortal "Shave 'Em Dry," although, as it turns out, that was one of the least raunchy of her songs. Any of these albums may include more than enough nasty songs to satisfy the casual listener, but if you're looking for some truly shocking material from the olden days, Bogan is an artist to search out. She also frequently appears on various hokum-oriented collections. She is, of course, wildly popular with connoisseurs of the style, meriting profile pages on many blues-related websites, including Eyeneer, Blue Flame Cafe and Red Hot Jazz, to name a few...

Paul Butterfield Blues Band "The Elektra Years - An Anthology" (Elektra, 1997)
Of the American whiteboy blues bands of the 1960s hippie era, none had more pure firepower and panache than the Butterfield Blues Band. Fronted by the triple talents of harmonica player and lead vocalist Paul Butterfield, the lead guitars of Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield, and keyboards by Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin, all this and also Howlin' Wolf's fabled rhythm section, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay, who were with the integrated band at its inception. The Butterfield band was one of the few (largely) white groups that could legitimately hold its own among the electrified black blues artists (as teenagers, they had studied at the feet of the masters of Chicago's dynamic Southside scene) and they put to shame the random, drugged-out sloppiness of the psychedelic rock and jugbands of San Francisco and elsewhere: the Butterfield band knew the blues real deal, and they knew how to play it for real. Of course, that also meant that they emulated some of the sillier or more tedious aspects of the blues elders, particularly the exaggerated machismo of guitar heros like Albert King and the torturous, agonized melodrama that passed for "raw emotion" back then, but still sounds like mannerisms and posturing now... Still, when they hit a solid groove, these guys had real chops and soul. Although they had real roots, they were clearly tapped into the folk and rock worlds, and one of the band's big claims to fame is their composition, "East/West," a 13-minute psychedelic blues jam that mixed electric urban blues with Indian raga motifs, and (at the time) was one of the longest rock tunes every recorded. Over the course of several albums, from 1965-71, the band fragmented several times, shedding various members as they pursued different projects -- Bloomfield went psychedelic and started the Electric Flag; Naftalin split for San Francisco and started his own blues band, and Bishop went off into his own brilliant, quirky explorations of Southern roots and blues. Bloomfield turned towards psychedelia and soul, adding a horn section that included sax player (and future smooth jazz star) David Sanborn. The results of these later years are mixed, though consistently interesting, and this far-ranging 2-CD set documents a vibrant, creative band, a group working at the eclectic, restless edges of the best contemporary blues and hard rock of the era. Definitely worth checking out if you are into exploring the genre-bending work of artists in the hippie years.

Butch Cage & Willie B. Thomas "Old Time Black Southern String Band Music" (Arhoolie, 2006)
Good, old-fashioned fiddle-led blues, originally recorded back in the early 1960s, but hearkening back to a decades-old tradition in African-American music. This album is a fine compliment to the FOLKS, HE SURE DO PULL SOME BOW compilation that came out a while back on the Old Hat label. Like those Depression-era recordings, this set is distinguished by its raw simplicity and forthright desire to get listeners up and out of their seats, as well as to tell a good story or two. There's a distinctive flair here that sets this style apart from the mainstream of blues, as well as from "country" flavored old-time records. Definitely worth checking out!

Blanche Calloway "The Chronological Blanche Calloway: 1925-1935" (Classics, 1994)
Cab Calloway's older sister, Blanche started her career in the early years of blues recordings... She was a good blues growler, but it must be admitted that she had serious limitations... When she wanted to swoop up into the falsetto range, or attempted glissandi, her shortcomings as a singer became all too clear. Also, she had some really bizarre pronunciation at times... Still, she recorded with plenty of major talent -- Louis Armstrong, Cozy Cole, Ben Webster and others -- and when she had hold of a good novelty song, she cold be lots of fun. There are plenty of tracks on this disc that you don't need to listen to more than once, but a few that would be nice to keep in your early blues/jazz playlist for years to come. Generously programmed and definitely worth checking out, although maybe you don't need to knock yourself out to track this disc down.

Clifton Chenier "Louisiana Blues And Zydeco" (Arhoolie, 2005)
A bonus-filled reissue of zydeco legend Clifton Chenier's first album for the California-based Arhoolie Records label, which helped bring Louisiana swamp music into the blues and folk mainstream. Chenier became the undisputed king of the genre, churning out supercharged, accordion-led dance grooves; these bluesy early 'Sixties recordings aren't quite as sweaty and funky as his later hits in the 1970s, but fans will still be thrilled to have 'em back in print, especially with added material from the ever-mysterious Arhoolie vaults. Ayyyyy-eeeeeeeeee!!!!

Louise Hoffsten "Knackebrod Blues" (Memphis International, 2002)
For decades, the blues have become so tame and tradition-bound that hearing a new artist come along and make the style sound rough and dirty again is almost like a divine revelation: Oh, so you mean modern blues don't have to be so goddamn boring?? Wow!! So let's welcome Louise Hoffsten, a slight, plain-featured blonde whose tiny voice expands to fill in the spaces left by her a remarkably muscular electric combo. Knackebrod Blues may be the most dynamic, energizing blues album of the last ten years. More remarkable still is that Hoffsten is actually from Sweden, and that her previous albums were more in a quiet, offkilter indierock-ish mode... Here she brings a sexy, slightly trashy, jagged-edged Joan Jett-like feel to these songs that is at once electrifying and alluring. Highly recommended. (And, yeah, the release date was in 2002, but I don't think this got US distribution until '04... So, close enough, right?)

Louise Hoffsten "From Linkoping To Memphis" (Memphis International, 2005)
I was disappointed by this disc, although I'm sure many fans of modern blues and old-school soul will find it just fine. The reason I'm disappointed is that Hoffsten's earlier albums were quite striking -- this Swedish singer had emerged as one of the liveliest, most electrifying blues singers in recent memory. Here, though, she slicks up her sound, moving from the evil sounding, pared-down rawness of 2004's Knackebrod Blues into a slicker, more overwrought R&B material, aiming for more of an Etta James or Dusty Springfield vibe than her previousl take-no-prisoners approach. If you like modern blues, this disc might be one you'll really want to check out, though it wasn't exactly the direction I'd expected (or hoped) Hoffsten would take.

Skip James "The Complete Early Recordings Of Skip James: 1930" (Yazoo, 1994)

Skip James "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" (Shout Factory/Biograph, 2003)
A sweeeeet set of good, old-fashioned acoustic Delta blues from the masterful Mississippian, Skip James. After getting screwed out of his royalties way back in the Depression era, James had quit the music business, and was rediscovered by John Fahey and some of his pals, who were in the midst of their epic folklore forays of the early 1960s... These tracks were recorded right after James made his stunning comeback at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, and you would never in a gazillion years guess that the guy playing on these records had hung up his guitar for over two decades... These are sweet, soulful recordings -- quite lovely, as a matter of fact, even when James is addressing truly dark material, such as his own cancer diagnosis, in "Sick Bed Blues" and "Washington, DC Hospital Center Blues." Great stuff...!

Louis Jordan "The Best Of Louis Jordan" (MCA, 1975)
The longtime standard-issue best-of collection for this energetic, hard-rocking jump blues/jazz/R&B legend. Originally a 2-LP set, this features Jordan's biggest hits of the late 1940s, including "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," "Caldonia," "There Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," "What's The Use Of Gettin' Sober" and "I Want You To Be My Baby." Affable, but hard-rockin', Jordan proved one of the most durable musicians of the 20th Century, particularly for people who are into "researching" the roots of rock'n'roll... Several of these songs also found their way into the repertoire of the country swing band, Asleep At The Wheel, reaffirming the close ties between postwar country and blues. Great stuff! For an official, major-label release, the sound quality is surprisingly iffy at times (occasionally including scratches from the vinyl source material!), but the music kicks ass! Highly recommended -- the more you listen, the more you'll dig it!

Louis Jordan "Rock 'N' Roll" (Mercury/PolyGram, 1989)
The title realy does say it all on this one... These are actually later recordings but the jump blues king, stuff recorded for Mercury Records in the late '50s (1956-57), about a decade after the original versions of songs such as "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie," "Caldonia" and "There Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" were first laid down. This disc includes remakes of those and other tunes, as well as other pepped-up, hep tunes. Many of the arrangements are given a slightly square major-label "rock" treatment, in an obvious attempt to co-opt the booming teen scene. Lots of major talent was involved: Quincy Jones arranged and produced the first sessions, and Mickie Baker played some mean, old electric guitar.

Julia Lee "Kansas City Calling" (Jasmine, 2005)
Pianist Julia Lee was the queen of the Kansas City swing-blues scene, leading a powerful big band packed with some of the best KC musicians of the post-WWII era. She specialized in raunchy, even scandalous novelty songs in which sexual matters were dealt with in honest appraisal. This is a generously-programmed single disc retrospective, with nearly two dozen tracks culled from Lee's career... Plenty of her well-known raunchy novelty songs are included -- "My Man Stands Out," "King Size Papa," "Snatch It And Grab It," "Chuck It In A Bucket," "I Didn't Like It The First Time," etc. and a couple of less-salacious numbers added in the margins. Odd that they included "Don't Save It Too Late," but didn't pair it with the companion number, "Don't Come Too Soon." Still, a pretty good introduction to her work... If nasty novelty blues tunes appeal to you, you'll definitely want to check Ms. Lee out.

Julia Lee "Kansas City Star" (Bear Family, 1995)
This extensive, 5-CD box set offers a fuller version of Lee's work than the standard compilations of her risque novelty hits... Which isn't to say there isn't plenty of smut on here as well, but you also get a chance to hear her cut loose with the groovy blues riffs without the potential distraction of the novelty tropes... Pretty cool stuff!

Julia Lee "Ugly Papa" (Jukebox Lil, 1995)

Julia Lee "The Chronological Julia Lee: 1927-1946" (Classics, 2005)

Julia Lee "The Chronological Julia Lee: 1947" (Classics, 2005)

Memphis Minnie "Hoodoo Lady: 1933-1937" (Sony Legacy, 1991)
Great stuff. This disc opens up with the marvellously raunchy "Down In The Alley," and continues along with a generous selection of twenty of the best recordings made by this vigorous, dynamic, groundbreaking blues picker. A completely arresting performer, Memphis Minnie was the first gal to excel at the same game as the boys: hot guitar playing, the kind of stuff that rock'n'roll comes from. Great singer, too. This disc is one of the highlights from the outstanding Roots & Blues series which inaugurated Sony's real commitment to quality archival releases in the CD era. It's great stuff.

Cyril Neville "Brand New Blues" (M.C. Records, 2009)
(Produced by Brian J)
A sweet solo album from drummer-singer Cyril Neville, the youngest member of the illustrious Louisiana musical royalty known as the Neville Brothers band. Not surprisingly, this record is funky and sensuous, with that distinctive, Caribbean-tinged New Orleans rhythm. Neville might be sixty years old, but he sounds as vigorous and soulful as ever, and there are plenty of good, gritty guitars behind his percussion. A strong, fresh-sounding record that's sure to make a lot of fans happy... I guess the blues aren't dead, after all!

Johnny Shines "Traditional Delta Blues" (Biograph, 1991)
Sweet acoustic blues, from sessions recorded back in 1972-74... It honestly doesn't get much better than this! Plenty of familiar old songs, but all presented in a distinctive, captivating personal style. Highly recommended.

Effie Smith "The Chronological Effie Smith: 1945-1953" (Classics, 2004)
Cool stuff from one of the California blues scene's great unsung heroines... Effie Smith worked with Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton and Johnny Otis before setting out on her own after WWII... Smith's background as a comedienne may help explain why her work is so much sly and expressive than many of her contemporaries; she really gets into the groove of these tunes and puts a lot of feeling into the words. She also excels at a variety of styles -- smooth ballads, uptempo blues and even a scorcher or two, such as the sizzling "I Been Down In Texas." This disc is a gem, a nice discovery for folks looking for rockin' foremothers to groove out on. The liner notes are nice, too -- Smith and her husband, John Criner, were both intimately involved in the growth of the West Coast blues scene, from their own efforts on a variety of independent labels, to the the teen-oriented R&B-pop scene of the early '60s (her son wrote the Olympics' big hit, "Western Movies," and Effie's second career as a behind-the-scener, doing promotional work for the Stax label in the '70s. At any rate, this disc is fun... Smith's approach may have been a little laid-back, but she sounded pretty darn cool.

Tarheel Slim & Little Ann "The Red Robin & Fire Years" (Collectables, 1990)
Singer-guitarist Alden Bunn (aka) Tarheel Slim and his wife and singing partner Little Annie (Anna Lee Sanford) were cut from much the same mould as Ike and Tina Turner -- a blazing guitarist and powerful singer, A veteran of '50s R&B and group vocals, Bunn was clearly the driving force behind the duo, while Little Ann often rose to the fore in their duets with her piercing, slightly eerie voice. Slim's powerful voice is remarkable as well, and after a while you may wish they'd recorded more solo tunes -- although they both sound great, their duets don't always mesh as well as you'd want. The best tracks on this collection are electrifying, although there is a great deal of variability from track to track. For one thing, they seem to have chased several popular styles -- there's an "Unchained Melody" soundalike, a few Dinah Washington-style ballads - and these attempts to fit the sound a la mode don't always work as well as the spine-tingling blues that was really the pair's forte. But that blues stuff is pretty awesome: if you like sizzling old-school electric blues, you'll want to check this one out!

Tarheel Slim "No Time At All" (Trix, 1977)

Big Mama Thornton "In Europe" (Arhoolie, 2005)
Oh, those lucky Europeans! Before the Stones and Yardbirds really got the point across and all the old Chess bluesmen found a welcoming embrace in the American hippie/acid rock scene, some of the most talented blues artists in the world went on long, tough European tours. Here's Big Mama Thornton, one of the greatest blues belters of her generation, wowing the old world with sidemen like Eddie Boyd, Buddy Guy, Walter Horton and Fred McDowell backing her up. These 1965 recordings were made in a British studio, but they capture the loose, funky, fiery power that the band brought to their live shows in Germany and elsewhere on the Continent. The wealth of sheer firepower and talent here is enough to make a blues fan drool just looking at the album cover -- and when you put the disc in, it gets even better! Highly recommended.

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