Barbecue Blues (1998)

About this title: Barbecue Blues relies on a cutesy concept -- it contains nothing but blues and R&B songs about food, barbeques and appetites -- but it works surprsingly well, mainly because most of the featured artists are excellent. Surprisingly, the compilers decided to bypass modern electric blues for classic female blues, jump blues, classic R&B and country blues. It's a gambit that works, because it gives the album a distinctive identity. There are a couple of weak cuts, to be sure -- that's usually the case with various-artists compilations -- but the majority of the songs here are excellent and the ... read more

Tracks:

1. Boogie Woogie Barbecue
2. Saturday Night Fish Fry [Jordan/Walsh]
3. Red Beans
4. Potato Chips [Bundora]
5. Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer) [Grant/Wilson]
6. Hungry Woman's Blues [Adegbalola]
7. Appetite Blues [Crawford]
8. Alligator Meat [Swift/Swift]
9. Cole Slaw [Stone]
10. Pass the Biscuits Please
11. Ice Cream Man [Brim]
12. Take Out the Squeal (If You Want a Meal) [Jackson]
13. Barbecue Blues [Hicks]
14. Chicken, Gravy and Biscuits [Williams]
15. Too Much Barbeque [Cameron]

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