Search - Various Artists :: Chess Blues Piano Greats (50th Anniv Coll)

The extraordinary success of Chess Records was founded upon the groundbreaking guitar-charged tracks laid down by bluesmen Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Lockwood Jr., Sonny Boy Williamson, and Buddy Guy, plus rockers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, with the piano playing a supporting role in their ensembles. But this comprehensive two-CD offering reminds us of the many 88-key blues classics Chess released as well. Popular piano men Eddie Boyd and Willie Mabon are featured here with studio stalwarts Otis Spann and Lafayette Leake. Boyd leads off with slow stunners "24 Hours" and "Third Degree," which heavily influenced the 1960s British blues scene, and the surprisingly upbeat "Just a Fool". The stylish Mabon, more entertainer than bluesman, is represented by his big jump-blues hits "I Don't Know" and "I'm Mad," followed by four cuts from the masterly Spann and three superb instrumental tracks by the mysterious Leake. --Alan Greenberg