Willie Dixon is right, he IS the blues
932209
I have to agree with one reviewer that the critic can't have listened to the album or just does not like blues cuz this is what it's all about. Willie Dixon wrote and performed more great blues over his lifetime, along with promoting up and coming blue musicians to the joy of all of us. This will be a well played favorite of mine for sure. My only complaint is that the liner notes, as noted, are from the original album and do not make mention of the individual artists playing except to say that they are "his hand picked crew of Chicago blue veterans". I really would like to know who the guitar player and especially the harp player, are? Anyway, if you love Willie Dixon, I think you'll love this album.
1209205
I think blues music just keep everything real, I feel everyone gets that sad feeling once in a while.  This song real life.
3293795
Otis Rush.....
Does he sing better than he plays? Does he play better than he sings? Is there anyone anywhere who could mirror what he does?
For my money, one of the very best interpreters of Willie Dixon tunes ever. And as far as it goes, his singing and guitar playing are inimitable. Soaring vocals and searing solos are just packed with energy and drenched with emotion. He can rock it, swing it and grind out gritty mean blues.
This collection has an absolutely stellar array of the greatest Chicago blues players. Starting with Willie Dixon, who anchors and swings the tunes, to both the Walters, Big Walter Horton and Little Walter Jacobs on harp. Also on board are Matt Guitar Murphy, Ike Turner and one of the two best Chicago blues piano players ever, the great Lafayette Leake. (Otis Spann was numero uno.)

Standards that are part of the electric blues fabric include the deep darkness of Double Trouble and Groanin' the Blues, to the very best version ever of, I Can't Quit You, Baby. Tune after tune leaps out at you. Some swinging, some heavy, a little rhumba here and there and everything with plenty of grit. There's also the quirky, Jump Sister Bessie that I didn't get the first few times I heard it in the early 70's until it took root. It's a hoot, holler and a hit.

Not only is this collection an education, it's just about a must have if you're serious about electric blues fan. Right from the source.
2452645
Solid writing in the blues vein with a touch of rockabilly. There are a couple of standouts here. Charge It (Jerry's only vocal on the album) is a real-life story that could be about thousands of bluesmen from the 80s on. It's a classic blues. Home Run Hitter works the double entendre to the maximum in an up-tempo number that is hard to get out of your head once you hear it. Poison Kisses has a swampy feel that features the master Duke Robillard. Portnoy featured in the Muddy Waters band for 6 years and is also on Claptons deepest blues album Up From the Cradle. This is a master of the harmonica. Other players seek him out to find out which microphone and amplifier he uses to get that classic blues sound. Hes recognized as a master teacher. While the blues has always focused on band leaders it is people like Portnoy who have completed the classic sound that makes the blues so recognizable. Home Run Hitter (an update of his original recording Poison Kisses) is his best realized work as a leader, harmonica master and songwriter.
2543199
This is a good solid blues CD, with songs varying from toe tapping to mellow. This pairing of performers, was certainly more beneficial for Clapton, than for King. Even at BB's age, his voice is smoother, than Clapton's. As mentioned earlier, there is a full spectrum of songs, ending with the silky smooth, old classic, "Come Rain Or Come Shine".
4483508
A concise and quite significant, in my opinion, basically Blues relationship issues that have guided to THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND has become one of the most representative groups of American BLUES, BLUES ROCK and PROGRESSIVE ROCK.
2743092
This is a great CD! Chess Records veteran Willie Mabon plays some stellar blues piano here. The real appeal, however, is the great guitar-work on this disc by both Hubert Sumlin (legendary guitarist for Howlin' Wolf) and Eddie Taylor (equally important guitarist heard on many Jimmy reed classics). Both guitar aces demonstrate exemplary rhythm and lead work. This recording from 1979 is probably one of the last examples of 'authentic' Chicago blues layed down by these blues giants. All the tracks are smoking. Three of the tracks are tributes to the Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, and Jimmy Reed. For fans of the golden age of Chicago blues this CD is a very worthwhile purchase!
3676921
Never being all THAT much of a blues fan, I must admit, this man knows his craft and he knows it well. His guitar work on this record is just as amazing as his vocals. All ten tracks are very well written and produced. Cuts that made me sit up and take notice were "Little Birds", "I Can't Quit", "Not Bad For Love" and "Simple Things". Nice modern-day electric blues. Also notice he does a cover of the late Otis Redding's "Trick Or Treat". Very good. Should appeal to fans of Buddy Guy, Jimmy Vaughan, Keb Mo' and maybe Eric Clapton. Worth checking out.
3521099
You've find it...
If you're looking for some grassy, rocky, jazzy blues,  don't go somewhere else. Chicago is the TOWN of BLUES. And this album (with  the other of the serie) is really what you should consider BLUES. Yes  Robert JOHNSON, Muddy WATTERS, John Lee HOOKER, BB KING, Eric CLAPTON are  over the top, but listen to this album. And if you had travel to Chicago  and had a beer in one of those bars around, you'll be right back in town. I  miss Chicago and my nights out there, but with THIS CD...
480530
Wow, why don't we inthe southern portion of the United States know this guy?  This man and his band, actually rock the blues with the best of them.  And we are not talking slow blues, we are talking Stevie Ray Vaughn style kick butt blues!!!  Canandian blues as best I can tell.  I would love to catch this guy "live"!!!
838409
Here is a man about to turn 65 who has played the blues his whole career.  This CD opens with an acoustic blues tune that makes you believe that the singer has reached the end, and then the rest of the CD blows that idea away.  This collection of tunes has solid feel.  You can hear how people like Clapton have learned from Buddy Guy.  Buy it, you will love it!
4833305
these are some excellent early sides laid down by robert lee mccoy also known as robert nighthawk.  although some of the tracks are run-of-the-mill 30s chicago blues, sounding a lot like tampa red and sonny boy williamson, there are a few real gems in this compilation.  "prowling nighthawk blues" is the song that gave robert his name, and the last two songs "mama don't allow me to stay out all night long" (which sounds similiar to bukka white's "shake 'em on down") and "friar point blues" are two of the finest country blues ever recorded - the first just as plaintive as the best of robert johnson and the second one of the greatest slide guitar pieces in the delta blues tradition.  if you dig chicago blues artists of the thirties such as tampa red, johnny temple, big bill, etc. this cd is an essential acquisition.  however, if you are more familiar with robert nighthawk's later recordings of the 50s and 60s you may be disappointed by the absence of slide guitar - strange that the greatest electric slide guitarist of all time should have played so little acoustic slide in his younger years.
2197908
This album hit me in the same way Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Texas Flood" did back in the '80s.  It's powerful and in my opinion his finest work to date.  Imagine Billy Gibbons, SRV, Jimi Hendrix, BB King combined with the edge and intensity of Walter Trout and you will have an idea of what this album is all about.  He covers a lot of territory and to call this simply a blues album would be a misstatement.  The guitar work is blistering but what really shines is his songwriting.
4961957
I bought the CD and noticed the John Lee Hooker style, then i looked in the little album book - and read "In memory of John Lee Hooker".
So i guess this album is kind of a tribute to The Boogie Man, and i like it.
This is old style real blues. Listen to it and enjoy. This is a real treat.
4369428
Mud, Mud, Mud Morgan, we love you..~ Always MUD! And band, o yeah. He has a Great way with music and those (shezam!) ~Woids! I love the way he talks! Let alone all the rest of Muddy, the singer, leader, cool like a cat. Great sound, replaying this collection often. Live is a beautiful thing with Muddy and the greatest musicians /all, / in this later lineup. I was lucky to meet Willie Big Eyes and see him play after we lost Muddy and even drive Pine to a few gigs. A privelege. He liked  the 70 coupe de ville just fine. The greatest, craziest real people make great real music. Those 2 passed in ONE year..with maybe 20+  year's difference in age.  Willie and Pine were close, played in the Legendary Blues band..around Chicago and they were legends. I think they went on the road..they even got props in Chicago where blues is not treated like the true gift it really is. No French Quarter for Blues. Hey Buddy is all high class now!!
It was a true shock when Willie was also suddenly lost. But Willie really was at the top of his game and truly seemed to love the life he lived. As Pine did. They are partying with the man, Muddy himself..and most all the other guys, over time, from his band too, right now.  Not bad. Still, sorely missed.
He left us some of the best music anywhere.  Party on..!
2392420
I have been a Dylan fan since his first album, Bob Dylan. I have lived through all the changes that this man has gone through and put me through. Now down to business.

Dylan is not the Dylan of the earlier years. However, this third part of the "trilogy" is very good. He's cranky, unfortunately still religious, and still commenting on the world we live in. The music is laid back blues, country and jazz tinged and some rock and roll thrown in for good measure. Most of the time his lyrics make sense and even offer insights, sometimes they just rhyme. I find myself listening to this album a lot. The songs I particularly like are "Thunder on the Mountain," and "Workingman's Blues, # 2." the latter song is as political as the old Bob is gonna get, he even mentions the "proletariat" and "fight on the front line."

You can't go back in time, except to listen to his old stuff, which is still far superior to his new stuff. But this ain't half bad and much better than most of the other pop stuff being produced. I'll see you at the Meadowlands Bob.
4704331
This is another CD that I found in my friend Regina's shop, Art and Soul.  It is a collection of Blues, with 14 cuts by different musicians/vocalists.  It has:

  Arthur Adams and B.B. King ----- Get you next to me

  Keb Mo' ------------------------ Hand it Over

  Ruth Brown --------------------- Good Day for the Blues

  Henry Gray --------------------- How could you do it

  Taj Mahal ---------------------- Cakewalk into town

  Robert Cray & Albert Collins --- She's into something

  Sugar Pie Desanto -------------- Hello, San Francisco

  Raful Neal --------------------- Call me Baby

  Otis Rush ---------------------- I got the blues

  Sunpie Barnes ------------------ Sunpie's Romp & Stomp

  Eric Bibb ---------------------- Needed Time

  Chris Thomas King -------------- Why Blues

  Susan Tedeschi ----------------- Just won't burn

  Soloman Burke ------------------ None of us are free

The playing time on individual cuts runs from 2:34 to 5:39.  Total playing time is not given.  I have it playing on my media player as I write this.  It is published by Putumayo World Music (guaranteed to make you feel good! and it lives up to that promise).  Putumayo is to be congratulated for putting together an outstanding collection.