During the last quarter of the 20th century, and thanks largely to Eric Clapton's remarkable devotion to his memory, Robert Leroy Johnson posthumously became the most celebrated Delta blues musician of the pre-WWII era. Among numerous editions of his complete works and various anthologies that combine his recordings with those of his contemporaries and followers, J.S.P.'s The Road to Robert Johnson and Beyond combines many of his essential performances with those by dozens of other blues artists from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Henry Thomas to Muddy Waters and Elmore James. 105 tracks fill four CDs with several decades' worth of strongly steeped blues that trace the African American migration from the deep south on up into Chicago. This is a fine way to savor the recorded evidence, as primary examples from Blind Blake, Charley Patton, Son House, Charlie McCoy, Walter Vincson, Skip James, Ma Rainey, Tampa Red, Kokomo Arnold, Scrapper Blackwell, Leroy Carr, Lonnie Johnson, and Peetie Wheatstraw lead directly to early modern masters like Big Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Bill Broonzy, Johnny Temple, Leroy Foster, Johnny Shines, Homesick James Williamson, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Snooky Pryor, Little Walter, and David Honeyboy Edwards, among many others.

This three-CD set documents some historic country-blues performances by the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Bukka White, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Mance Lipscomb. The urban side of things is well represented by Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters with Otis Spann, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and The Chambers Brothers turning in a riveting rendition of “See See Rider.” Included here are 11 previously unreleased tracks. A must for acoustic-blues fans.

While it's no secret that guitar king Peter Green is obsessed with Robert Johnson, having done two previous recordings of his music, this box is in essence something else. There are three CDs included here, one of which is Hot Foot Powder, the first album by the Peter Green Splinter Group, which included guest performances from the likes of Otis Rush, Honeyboy Edwards, Dr. John, Hubert Sumlin, and Joe Louis Walker, among others. The second disc by the band, The Robert Johnson Songbook, featured mainly the Green band, though Free/Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers guests on a tune. Fans already have these without a doubt, so Snapper Music - with Green's blessing - assembled a 28-cut collection of original Robert Johnson recordings chosen by Green. Adding them all together in a box with a handsome booklet for a decent price makes it all worthwhile…

Time traveler Alvin Youngblood Hart's albums have darted from crusty Delta fingerpicking and hollering to Hendrixian hellfire to crunchy, primal rockin' blues, all with the ring of authority that comes from complete commitment to the music. This time, he's set the wayback machine to the early '30s, using guitars, mandolin, banjo, and a lot of heart to interpret tunes by Son House, Charley Patton, Skip James, Leadbelly, and others. Somehow, the dust of old Mississippi, the state where the Oakland-born musician now resides, seems to have gotten into his blood. Hart sounds like Parchman Farm's newest inmate as he wails and moans through "How Long Before I Can Change My Clothes," plucking notes from a National resonator guitar. Chiming out chords and quick runs on banjo, he makes Odetta's "Chilly Winds" seem like they're carrying the voices of lost ghosts, recounting their lives of misery under Jim Crow's wing. Hart tends to take many of these classics, like Patton's "Tom Rushen Blues" and Leadbelly's "Alberta," at slightly slower tempos, which gives him more time to squeeze gut emotions from his lightly graveled phrases and lets his pluck-and-drone playing work its hypnotic effect. Stark and impressive for the power Hart generates alone, this may be the acoustic blues album of the year.

At the time these tracks were cut, 1967 and 1968, R.L. Burnside was working on a plantation in Coldwater, MS, cutting silage. Folklorist George Mitchell was on a mission to record unknown blues singers down South. Mitchell heard about Burnside and paid him a visit, asking if he could record him. That night Mitchell returned to Burnside's place with a case of beer and some whiskey. Ten months later, Burnside had his first release. While these 14 tracks didn't jump start Burnside's career, they are stark, organic, and timeless, just Burnside and his acoustic guitar running down mainly traditional material that he arranged. This is an absolute treasure for Burnside aficionados and casual blues listeners alike.

The digital remastering on this compilation is just as superior to any previous attempts to transcribe Patton's marginally recorded and preserved legacy as that of the Document discs. And as it is only slightly less thorough - the Document discs include extra takes on "Elder Green Blues," "Hammer Blues," and "Some of these Days I'll Be Gone" - this compilation seems the likely choice for anyone with an interest in pre-war Delta blues. Both affordable and handsomely packaged, the three-disc box includes extensive liner notes written by blues historians Keith Briggs and Alex Van Der Tuuk, with reminiscences by Patton crony Son House.

John Lee Hooker never abandoned his raw, gut bucket Mississippi-Delta-comes-to-the-city approach to the blues throughout his fifty-year career, and if he got a tad bit slicker towards the end of that career, it was only a tad and only by degree. There are innumerable Hooker collections on the market, and this two-disc set wouldn't be anything particularly special except that it actually charts through his entire history, beginning with the ageless "Boogie Chillen," which was recorded in 1948 and topped the R&B charts for Modern Records in 1949, through "Tupelo," which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Pointblank LP Chill Out in 1995.

As a bonus to accompany their annual calendar, Blues Images adds a disc of classic 1920's blues. Featuring Pre-War classics from Blues masters such as: Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe, Willie Lofton, Henry Thomas, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Mississippi Sheiks and others.

This excellent companion volume to Founder of the Delta Blues pulls together 23 more Patton tracks (including some alternate takes that were for years thought to be lost) to give a much more complete look at this amazing artist. It's interesting here to compare the tracks from his final session to his halcyon output from 1929. Highlights include "Mean Black Cat Blues," Patton's adaption of "Sitting on Top of the World" ("Some Summer Day") and both parts of "Prayer of Death," originally issued under the non de plume of "Elder J.J. Hadley." The sound on this collection is vastly superior, from a noise-reduction standpoint, to its companion volume.

On this recording, Burnside presents the blues in its original and purest form. His music is not very different from the Southern blues of the 1900s. Five songs from this recording, ‘Jumper hanging on the line’, ‘Long-Haired Doney’, ‘Poor Black Mattie’, ‘Catfish Blues’ and ‘Rolling and Tumbling’, are versions of traditional blues pieces that are known to everyone in the State of Mississippi. These songs date from before the blues structures with standardised texts and harmonies; they are close to the ‘hollers’ and the vocal line is supported by the repetition of the musical phrase on the guitar. The other songs are adaptations, by Burnside himself, of hits of the 1950s. Other blues artists from Mississippi and Texas perform these songs: Robert Nighthawk, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Elmore James and John Lee Hooker. After immersing himself in these versions, Burnside gives his own, very personal interpretation: the result is almost traditional…

2007 GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING BEST TRADITIONAL BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR HISTORY IN THE MAKING Once in a lifetime you may experience a brief moment when the stars align and something truly extraordinary happens. This was the case in October 2004, when four of the greatest living blues legends were assembled in Dallas, Texas for one incomparable night of music. At the time they ranged in age from 89 to 94 and all had received the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Award, the highest honor in the USA for traditional arts. These musicians have devoted their entire life to playing the blues, and staging such an epic event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once reunited, the old magic reemerged. It was if they were long lost school buddies.