Chicago/The Blues/Today!: The Complete 3 CD Volume Set (Various Artists)
Rating: *****
The greatest pure American music by far is the blues. And this phenominal set contains some of the best blues recorded this side of World War II.
In 1965 famed blues archivest Samuel Charters searched Chicago clubs for the best new talent in the blues, and boy did he ever find it! In the end, there were three volumes of great new blues from nine then relativly unknowns. All kinds of electric postwar blues were included, from slide guitar, harmonica, mandolin, and piano players. The sound really goes together well, and the back-up musicians for each guy are just as good as the headliners (Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Big Walter Horton, and Fred Below just to name a few).
CD 1 has three undeniable legends. Junior Wells is the first. One of the greatest sidemen around at the time (backing up the likes of Muddy Waters), his set is full of soul, and his vocals are the best they’d ever sound. His deep harp carries each song, from his tribute to his mentor and blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson called "Help Me" to the standards "It Hurts Me Too," and "Messin’ With The Kid." But the best song from all three CDs, and I mean it, is his "Vietcong Blues," a disturbing ode to all people who lost the family members in the war. "How’d you like it if that were your brother out there??" he asks wickedly, so you can feel his passion. Buddy guy, as he does throughout Juniors set, adds some of his best guitar work.
After him comes master slide guitarist J.B. Hutto. An influence on any great slide player, he rips it up this, his best work, putting out some of the nicest blues guitar ever put on record. The high spot is "Too Much Alcohol."
Up next is the greatest blues pianist ever. Period. All of Otis Spann’s work is amazing, jaw dropping stuff. And this doesn’t dissapoint. With just drummer S. P. Leary for backing, Otis proves he doesn’t need a guitarist at all. He was actually sick during these recordings, which makes it even more amazing, and gives his vocals a Louis Armstrong feel. If you listen closely, you can hear him cough a couple of times too. Highlights: "Burning Fire" and "Spann’s Stomp."
The Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet has a lively group of tunes with the revered leader of the band playing some extraordinary harmonica. Otis Spann and Leary are along here as well, and they beef up the songs a lot. There are quite a few classics here, like "Rocket 88" and "West Helena Blues."
Guitar great Otis Rush cranks out a variety of songs, with the almost surf instrumental "Everything’s Going To Turn Out All Right," the deep blues of "I Can’t Quit You Baby" and "It’s My Own Fault" ( the former of which was done by Led Zepplin on their first record), and the jump like blues of "Rock."
A slide player in the grand Elmore James style, Homesick James, finishes up disc two. As a matter of fact, the first song is an Elmore James nugget, "Dust My Broom." The intensity of that carries throughout his set, which also includes the oft recorded classic "(Baby Please) Set A Date"
Another immense talent starts off the final CD, Johnny Young. Although I'll have to admit that his was the only name on the jacket that I didn't recognize, I was blown away by his set which had a lot of tasty guitar and mandolin. The mandolin actually sounds quite good mixed in with the rest of the instruments, too. Big Walter Horton adds a nice round of harp as well.
Johnny Shines is the oldest bluesman on this set, going way back to the times before the Great Dapression. He's got a nice plugged in group of songs here, although they do have a very country blues flavor. When he sings "Mr. Boweevil" he really means it, as he actually had to deal with them in his life.
A one off cut invades four songs in to Johnny Shines set (two are left after it). It's an instrumental harp duet between Charlie Musstlewhite and Big Walter Horton. With two legends like that you know it's gotta be good. And it is. Even though Musstlewhite is a little timid (it's expected, he was very young at the time) it is one of the highlights of this whole collection.
One of the best parts of this 3 CD set is it's handsome packaging. The jacket design is indescribably well crafted yet kind of hard to describe.The main photography scheme is a beautiful picture of railroad tracks covered in snow, which are alternate pics from the same set from the original release. Instead of a standard glass case, this is made of cool paper/cardboard. It folds out in to four sections, one for each CD and the booklet. Also when it opens up it folds out into some more great pics.
The best part by far, though, is the price tag. At only $20 it is a steal. So pick it up now. It's what every true music fan needs.