This four-disc box set is a veritable treasure chest of early prewar blues with a cut-off point somewhere in the early 50s. The first disc features seminal tracks from the dawn of the music by Bessie Smith ("Weeping Willow Blues"), Blind Blake ("West Coast Blues #2"), Barbecue Bob ("Barbecue Blues"), Blind Lemon Jefferson ("One Dime Blues," Tommy Johnson ("Cool Drink of Water Blues"), and Ma Rainey ("See See Rider Blues"). Disc two features sides by Tampa Red, Son House, Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, and Charley Patton. The third disc features classics by Bo Carter, Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller, and Black Ace, while the final volume finally showcases a few postwar performances from Louis Jordan, Muddy Waters, Pee Wee Crayton, John Lee Hooker (the original "Boogie Chillen"), and B.B. King. Each of the four discs in the set pack a generous 25 tracks apiece and the transfers are reasonably decent, taking into consideration the rarity of many of the materials at hand. (Cub Koda, Allmusic)
trax disc 1:
1. Down Hearted Blues - Alberta Hunter 2. Worried Mama Blues - Ida Cox 3. Weeping Willow Blues - Bessie Smith 4. See See Rider - Ma Rainey 5. Maxwell Street Blues - Papa Charlie Jackson 6. Mr. Johnson's Blues - Lonnie Johnson 7. Dirty Woman Blues - Victoria Spivey 8. Milk Cow Blues - Freddie Spruell 9. West Coast Blues #2 - Blind Blake 10. I´m A Mighty Tight Woman - Sippie Wallace 11. To Day Blues - Peg Leg Howell 12. Barbecue Blues - Barbecue Bob 13. Rock Island Blues - Furry Lewis 14. Jim Jackson´s Kansas City Blues - Jim Jackson 15. One Dime Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson 16. Cool Drink Of Water Blues - Tommy Johnson 17. No More Women Blues - Texas Alexander 18. CC & O Blues - Pink Anderson 19. Bulldozer Blues - Henry Thomas 20. Kokomo Blues - Scrapper Blackwell 21. Cow Cow Blues - Cow Cow Davenport 22. Feather Bed - Gus Cannon 23. Hard Dallas Blues #4 - Ramblin´ Thomas 24. Prison Bound Blues - Leroy Carr 25. Ain't No Tellin' - Mississippi John Hurt
trax disc 2:
1. Train Time Blues - Tampa Red 2. Nobody Knows Hambone - Willie Newburn 3. Number Forty Four Blues - Lee Green 4. The Dirty Dozens - Speckled Red 5. That's No Way To Get Along - Robert Wilkins 6. Divin' Duck Blues - Sleepy John Estes 7. Devil In A Woodpile - Noah Lewis 8. Come Around To My House Mama - Blind Willie McTell 9. Six Shooter Blues - Georgia Tom 10. Sitting On Top Of The World - Mississippi Sheiks 11. Preachin' The Blues - Son House 12. Bye Bye Baby Blues - Little Hat Jones 13. Bothering That Thing - Kansas Joe 14. You May Leave - The Memphis Jug Band 15. Black Angel Blues - Lucille Bogan 16. Things About Coming My Way - Walter Vinson 17. Cypress Grove Blues - Skip James 18. How You Want It Done - Big Bill Broonzy 19. Baby Boogie Woogie - Curley Weaver 20. Hard Time Blues - Buddy Moss 21. My Butcher Man - Memphis Minnie 22. Hang It On The Wall - Charley Patton 23. Night Latch Blues - Yank Rachel [James Rachel] 24. Midnight Special - Lead Belly 25. Numbers Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw
trax disc 3:
1. Bricks In My Pillow - Bumble Bee Slim 2. Lead Pencil Blues - Johnny Temple 3. Mama Don't Allow No. 2 - Washboad Sam 4. Vicksburg Blues No. 2 - Little Brother Montgomery 5. Baby, Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams 6. Honky Tonk Train Blues - Meade "Lux" Lewis 7. Boogie Woogie Stomp - Albert Ammons 8. Cigarette Blues - Bo Carter 9. The Honeydripper - Roosevelt Sykes 10. Lone Wolf Blues - Oscar Woods 11. Sarah Jane - Bill "Jazz" Gillum 12. Untrue Blues - Blind Boy Fuller 13. Runaway Man Blues - Floyd Council 14. Black Ace - Black Ace 15. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl - Sonny Boy Williamson 16. Prowling Nighthawk - Robert Lee McCoy 17. Stop Breakin' Down Blues - Robert Johnson 18. Red Hot Blues - Casey Bill Weldon 19. Old Bachelor Blues - Son Bonds 20. Don't Know - Cripple - Clarence Lofton 21. Cotton Farm Blues - Walter Davis 22. Bottle It Up And Go - Tommy McClennan 23. Roll 'Em Pete - Big Joe Turner 24. Bukka's Jitterbug Swing - Bukka White 25. Alabama Blues - Charles Spand
trax disc 4:
1. Blues At Midnight - Memphis Slim 2. Junker Blues - Champion Jack Dupree 3. Catfish - Robert Petway 4. Black Spider Blues - Robert Lockwood 5. I Be's Troubled - Muddy Waters 6. Going Down Slow - "St. Louis" Jimmy Oden 7. My Mama Don´t Allow Me - Arthur Crudup 8. Wind Howlin´ Blues - Honey Boy Edwards 9. Mean Old World - T-Bone Walker 10. Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson 11. Caldonia Boogie - Louis Jordan 12. I´m Gonna Take It Easy - Gabriel Brown 13. Driftin´ Blues - Charles Brown 14. Chicago Breakdown - Big Maceo 15. Feel So Bad - Lightnin' Hopkins 16. Big Legged Woman - Brownie McGhee 17. Guitar In My Hand - Clarence Brown 18. Ain´t Nobody´s Business - Jimmy Witherspoon 19. After Hours Boogie - Pee Wee Crayton 20. Boogie Chillen - John Lee Hooker 21. Everyday I Have The Blues - Lowell Fulson 22. Got The Blues - B.B. King 23. Rocking With Red - Piano Red 24. Ludella - Jimmy Rogers 25. Evans Shuffle - Little Walter w/Muddy Waters
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