Search - Various Artists :: Great Blues Men

Great Blues Primer

Jazz fan from New England | 11/05/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Wanna learn what the blues is all about? Grab this collection of music from the 60s and early 70s. I bought this tape and a harmonica in 1987 and taught myself to play on Muddy Water's 19 years Old. Great Music, loads of fun and a great taste of country, jump, delta, chicago and electric blues. buy buy buy"

Great blues compilation with an excellent mix of styles

Jazz fan from New England | Boston, MA, USA | 12/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first got this compilation on LP around 1971. It's based on the Vanguard blues catalog. Vanguard was actually a folkie label and most of its blues records were either country/delta style or live festival recordings that included some urban bluesmen. What this means is that this CD features songs and artists missing from better known compilations and has a really good mix of styles. Most of the recordings were made in the 1960s on modern analog equipment, including those of Delta bluesmen such as Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt and Fred McDowell, and the sound quality on these is excellent. A very few older recordings (several from the 1938 Spirtuals to Swing concert) are also included; these have the usual sound limitations for that vintage but at least one of them ("It's All Right Baby" by Big Joe Turner) is among the best tunes on the album. The live recording of "Key to the Highway" by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee is also a standout. This album is 70+ minutes of great blues music that you have probably never heard. Buy it.



(Side point: the original album had a few more tunes than are on this CD, undoubtedly omitted because they wouldn't fit on a single CD. Unfortunately, one of them is a fantastic version of "Four Day Creep" by Ida Cox from the Spirtuals to Swing concert. By all means hunt this down (it's on Vol. 4 of Cox's 'Complete Recorded Works') after you get this album)."