You Don't Know My Mind brings back the familiar, friendly growl of modern-day traditionalist Guy Davis, with a pipin' hot baker's dozen of his compositions. Again, on this disc Davis has some extremely able players to help augment his songs and support his vision of them, never overplaying or getting in the way, but providing that constant base of support from which the performer can extend his inspiration. His voice wraps around the lyric and infiltrates it, giving it that heartfelt feeling that makes it his song. This is a consummate performer who loves his music and knows its roots and origins.

Tracking down the ultimate woman blues guitar hero is problematic because woman blues singers seldom recorded as guitar players and woman guitar players (such as Rosetta Tharpe and Sister O.M. Terrell) were seldom recorded playing blues. Excluding contemporary artists, the most notable exception to this pattern was Memphis Minnie. The most popular and prolific blueswoman outside the vaudeville tradition, she earned the respect of critics, the support of record-buying fans, and the unqualified praise of the blues artists she worked with throughout her long career. Despite her Southern roots and popularity, she was as much a Chicago blues artist as anyone in her day. Big Bill Broonzy recalls her beating both him and Tampa Red in a guitar contest and claims she was the best woman guitarist he had ever heard…

The most important part of Lightnin' Hopkins' career was spent in juke joints in Houston, but during the early 1960s, he also became a star along the folk circuit, playing clubs that catered mostly to college students eager to hear authentic acoustic blues. Several of those shows were recorded over the years to capitalize, and while the albums don't have the same importance as Hopkins' classic blues sides of the 1940s and 1950s, they do show another side of the man, and one he seemed to take to very naturally. Hootin' The Blues is one of Hopkins' better folk club concerts, capturing him in an intense performance on acoustic guitar, rapping (in the sense of talking) about the blues and what it means as he introduces some powerful songs: "Blues Is a Feeling," "In the Evenin'," and "Meet Me in the Bottom," among others…

A grab bag of early-'60s Hopkins, four of the songs recorded solo in a Houston studio in July 1961, two recorded with bass and drums in New York in May 1964, and the other six recorded live as a solo in New York in December 1964. These were originally released on the following Prestige/Bluesville LPs: the 1961 cuts on Walkin' This Road by Myself, the two New York band songs on Down Home Blues, and the live New York tracks on My Life in the Blues. Hopkins plays good country blues on the 1961 numbers, particularly on "Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes" and his interpretation of "Good Morning Little School Girl." The two 1964 band efforts are pretty good spare electric blues, whether "I Like to Boogie" or the more unusual "Get It Straight," which gets rather close to country music in its rhythms and guitar work…

This collection spotlights the great Delta bluesman Son House at three distinct points in his life. Included here are three of his 78s issued in the 1930s by Paramount Records, several of the Library of Congress field recordings done by Alan Lomax in 1941-1942, and a sampling of rediscovered 1960s concert pieces, including a riveting version of Blind Willie Johnson's "John the Revelator." All of this material is available elsewhere, but having examples of these different eras all on one disc makes this set a nice introduction to the full sweep of House's recorded legacy.

One of the most weirdly compelling elements of Smokes Like Lightnin' is Mack McCormick's liner notes, reproduced from the original 1963 LP. Almost breathtaking in their ferocity, McCormick's notes characterize Hopkins as a spoiled crybaby whose only redeeming quality is his ability to make music. The album, recorded in three 1962 sessions, consists simply of Hopkins and his guitar, except for three songs that are performed with a full band. The sound is spare and very loose, with a re-recording of "T Model Blues" and the dance song "Let's Do the Susie-Q," a musical exhortation that seems unlikely to inspire dancing. A brief and uneven album, Smokes Like Lightnin' is less compelling than Hopkins' '50s recordings, but strikes an appealingly lazy acoustic groove.

Recorded for Prestige's Bluesville subsidiary in 1960 and reissued on CD for Fantasy's Original Blues Classics (OBC) series in 1990, Lightnin' is among the rewarding acoustic dates Lightnin' Hopkins delivered in the early '60s. The session has an informal, relaxed quality, and this approach serves a 48-year-old Hopkins impressively well on both originals like "Thinkin' 'Bout an Old Friend" and the familiar "Katie Mae" and enjoyable interpretations of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee's "Back to New Orleans" and Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "Mean Old Frisco." Hopkins' only accompaniment consists of bassist Leonard Gaskin and drummer Belton Evans, both of whom play in an understated fashion and do their part to make this intimate setting successful…

Drawing on over 30 years of experience playing the country-blues, complete with tutorials from some of the undisputed masters, it comes as no surprise that Stefan Grossman can so consistently conjure up the authentic spirit of the music with each successive release. His original compositions show Grossman to be the most confident of guitarists in his genre, effortlessly borrowing from the stylings of Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, and Blind Willie McTell among various others. While his playing isn't overly flashy, it need not be. The precision and craftsmanship injected into the fluid, rolling original "Yazoo Strut," the harder blues groove of "Spider Web Blues," and a powerful rendition of Reverend Gary Davis' "Candy Man" are country blues at its very best.

Acoustic Guitarist and Blues Singer Little G Weevil has recorded a Live Acoustic Session of Blues classics with Hunnia Records.

Erotic, humorous, and loaded with double entendres, these dozen tunes were recorded between 1956-1961 by Memphis Slim, Tampa Red, Victoria Spivey, Lonnie Johnson, Pink Anderson, Memphis Willie B., and Blind Willie McTell. The collection includes "Let Me Play with Your Poodle," "I'm a Red Hot Mama," and "If You See Kay."

Groundbreaking guitar work of dazzling complexity that never fails to amaze - and this stuff was cut in the 1920s! Lonnie Johnson's astonishingly fluid guitar work was massively influential (Robert Johnson, for one, was greatly swayed by his waxings), and his no-nonsense vocals (frequently laced with threats of violence - "Got the Blues for Murder Only" and "She's Making Whoopee in Hell Tonight" are prime examples on this 19-cut collection) are scarcely less impressive. Johnson's torrid guitar duets with jazzman Eddie Lang retain their sense of legend over nine decades after they were cut.

Howlin' Wolf - Big City Blues (2021) {Modern–Soul Jam 806186 rec 1951-1962, remastered & expanded}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 323 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 164 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1951-62, 2021 Modern Records / Soul Jam Records | 806186
Blues / Chicago Blues / Jump Blues

Howlin’ Wolf was one of the greatest characters and most electrifying performers in blues history. An imposing presence, blessed with a thunderous voice, he was one of the first artists to figure out how to make thoroughly modern experimental music by emphasizing the authentic, most primitive elements of roots music. This CD contains the long unavailable album Big City Blues, which presents a collection of Wolf recordings cut for the Modern label in 1951-1952.

The 2010 issue of Mississippi Blues by Sonny Landreth on the Fuel 2000 imprint is not a new album, nor is it a representative compilation of his oeuvre. In fact, the set is a complete repackage of the album entitled The Crazy Cajun Recordings originally issued on CD by Great Britain’s Edsel in 1999. The material dates from 1973 and 1977, recorded with the famed Huey P. Meaux (aka the Crazy Cajun) when he wasn’t touring with Clifton Chenier as part of his Red Hot Louisiana Band. These 20 tracks range from Landreth’s Lafayette, LA-styled take on the acoustic Delta blues solo and with a band that included a mandolin player, an electric bassist, and a drummer to his early electric experiments playing a meld of Cajun-flavored soul, rock, and R&B. The electric slide guitar fury evidenced on his own records from the 1980s onward is all but absent here, but the acoustic slide work is particularly plentiful – check his reading of “I Know You Rider,” “Lazy Boy,” and the stomping “Prodigal Son”.

If you've ever caught Taj live solo, this recording, cut during an appearance in Germany, is what you've been waiting for. His sublime performances of "Satisfied and Tickled Too" and "Candy Man" are out of this world. While the inclusion of tuba on a few tracks does prove somewhat annoying, for the most part this is an excellent example of what makes Taj a treasure.

Final recordings: Face to Face combines previously released material from John Lee Hooker with unfinished tracks he was working on before he died. Compiled by the estate of Hooker, with his daughter Zakiya at the helm, the unreleased material leans heavily toward soul-blues united with Hooker's patented electric Delta boogie. "Loving People," "Funky Mabel," "Six Page Letter" (a ballad with synth strings), and "Rock These Blues Away" are highlights. Zakiya Hooker takes the spotlight on "Mean Mean World," singing lead alongside her father, and the acoustic "Wednesday Evening Blues" features George Thorogood on guitar. Hooker staples "Dimples," "It Serves Me Right to Suffer," "Mad Man Blues," and "Boogie Chillen" also make their perennial appearances. While there are no real surprises here, Face to Face still sounds great and is recommended alongside John Lee's last official releases, Chill Out and Don't Look Back, both on Pointblank.