Blues: The Essential Album (2004)

About this title: The title of this two-CD compilation rather wildly overstates its importance, as does the subtitle "the most important artists, the classic performances, the key songs." Few would consider, for example, Little Esther's "Lost in a Dream" or Big Joe Turner's "S.K. Blues" among the greatest blues cuts of all time, and as significant as Helen Humes and Willie Love may be, few would consider them among the most important blues artists. Putting the over-hype to the side, this is a decent and wide-ranging, though unfocused, collection of 32 blues songs spanning the 1930s to the 1990s. Everything ... read more

Tracks:

1. Nothing in Ramblin' [McCoy]
2. Travelling Riverside Blues [Johnson]
3. She Left Me a Mule [Williams]
4. Standing at the Crossroads [Johnson]
5. Still a Fool [Waters]
6. 61 Highway [Sparks]
7. V-8 Ford [Love]
8. Hound Dog [Leiber/Stoller]
9. Love Like a Hydrant [Hopkins]
10. This War Will Last for Years [House]
11. Cheating and Lying Blues [Clayton]
12. Keep It to Yourself [Williamson]
13. High Fever Blues [Harris]
14. Worried Life Blues [Estes/Nixon]
15. Come Here Baby [Williams]
16. See My Jumper Hangin' Out on the Line [Burnside]
17. Rock Island Line [Ledbetter/Lomax]
18. Sittin' Here Thinkin' [Hooker]
19. Lost in a Dream [Otis]
20. S.K. Blues, Pt. 1 [King]
21. S.K. Blues, Pt. 2 [King]
22. Airplane Blues [Jackson/Kelson]
23. Boogie Guitar [Veliotis]
24. Candy [David/Whitney/Krame]
25. Double Crossing Blues [Robinson]
26. Sweet Sixteen, Pts. 1-2 [Ertegun]
27. Hoodoo Man Blues [Williamson]
28. Ice Pick [Collins]
29. Lazy Poker Blues [Green/Adams]
30. Get Behind the Mule [Waits/Brennan]
31. Goin' up the Country [Wilson]
32. Mississippi Heavy Water Blues [Barbeque Bob]

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