Blow'n the Blues: Best of the Great Harp Players (2000)

About this title: Subtitled "best of the great harp players," this pulls tracks from various Vanguard releases from the 1960s. Kicking off with five tracks from Junior Wells and five more from James Cotton, the set moves to pick up performances of Big Walter Horton behind Johnny Shines and a duet with a very young Charlie Musselwhite. Musselwhite has four tracks as solo artist, followed by two from the Siegel-Schwall Band. But the true highlight is a live at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival recording of the original Paul Butterfield Blues Band. With Mike Bloomfield on slide guitar, Butterfield tears into a ... read more

Tracks:

1. Help Me [Bass/Williamson]
2. Messin' With the Kid [London]
3. Stormy Monday Blues [Crowder/Eckstine/Hi]
4. Checking on My Baby [Wells]
5. Early in the Morning [Traditional]
6. Cotton Crop Blues [Cotton]
7. The Blues Keep Falling
8. Rocket 88 [Brenston]
9. Honest I Do [Reed/Abner]
10. Coast Blues [Cotton/Talbert]
11. Hey, Hey [Shines]
12. Rockin' My Boogie [Horton]
13. Chicken Shack
14. Juke [Little Walter]
15. Christo Redemptor [Pearson]
16. My Baby's Sweeter
17. Angel Food Cake
18. Tell Me
19. Blues With a Feeling [Little Walter]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.