Search - Various Artists :: Blues 2

****1/2

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 06/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of the finest in Chess' mid-60s "The Blues" series, volume two (out of six) may throw a few people off by opening with Chuck Berry's very much rock n' roll-flavoured single "Thirty Days".

But everything else is pure blues, from John Lee Hooker's supremely gritty "Sugar Mama" and Howlin' Wolf's eerie 1954 single "Evil", to (comparatively) young guitar slingers like Buddy Guy (the smouldering slow blues "Ten Years Ago") and Otis Rush ("So Many Roads, So Many Trains", one of his best songs featuring one of the best slow guitar solos of all time).



In between you'll find Bo Diddley's thumping proto-rocker "I'm A Man", the basis for Muddy Waters' standart "Mannish Boy", the swinging, up-tempo "It Ain't No Secret", a rarity from Jimmy Witherspoon's June, 1955 sessions, Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working" in a powerful live rendition, Chuck Berry's slow blues "Wee Wee Hours" (he was a big admirer of Muddy Waters, after all), and two of harp wizard Little Walter's best singles, "Blues With A Feeling" and a great take on "Key To The Highway", molded on Big Bill Broonzy's original.



Not a whole lot here for veteran blues listeners, but a really fine taste of classic Chess blues nevertheless."