Search - Various Artists :: Aristocrat Of The Blues (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) [2-CD SET]

Start of the Urban Blues

hausser@burgoyne.com | Salt Lake City | 02/24/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is probably a "must have" if you are a collector of Post War Urban Blues. The Aristocrat label evolved into the famous Chess label, and this album foretells Chess's success. Famous singers, but not their most widely known recordings."

Fine collection of pre-Chess Chess material

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 02/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, before they started using the name "Chess", that is.

These 51 tracks were recorded between 1947 and 1950 for the Chess bothers' fledgling blues label, and feature artists like Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, Sunnyland Slim, Leroy Foster, Tom Arcia, and Jimmy Oden. Everything is superbly remastered, the sound is crisp and clean, the best you're ever likely to hear, and most of the music is top-notch as well.



The only "problem" is that there is just too much Muddy Waters here. Not that a lot of Muddy Waters is a bad thing, far from it, but all of these early Muddy-singles have been readily available for many years, and most serious bluesfans are bound to own them already, which means that they have to buy a CD's worth of songs that they already have in order to get 26 more or less rare songs.



That's not to say that you should avoid this album, however...there is some wonderful music here, apart from the Muddy Waters-songs, particularly Jimmy Oden's "So Nice And Kind", Little Johnny Jones' rendition of "Big Town Playboy", two cuts by saxist/band leader Tom Archia, and four songs by Sunnyland Slim. And eight of slide guitar master Robert Nighthawk's very best electric sides are here as well, including "Anna Lee", "Prison Blues", "Jackson Town Gal", and the classic "Sweet Black Angel", and those are perhaps the best songs of the entire collection. A couple of those sides have never before been available on CD, by the way.



The Muddy-songs are great as well, obviously, especially the ones with Sunnyland Slim on piano, and the slide guitar-driven "Little Geneva", and it is a real pity that "Aristocrat Of The Blues" has been discontinued. It is a fine overview of the early days of urban electric blues.

(And I have a copy! He!he! ;o)"