Blues: The Essential Album

• Artist: Various Artists
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 07, 2004
• Type: Collection (various artists)
• Genre: Blues

Review

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 here is worthwhile, and a few of the cuts are indeed certified classics: Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog," Muddy Waters' "Still a Fool," B.B. King's "Sweet Sixteen, Pts. 1-2," Junior Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues," and Canned Heat's "Goin' Up the Country." Plenty of other major blues performers are represented, too, including Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Elmore James, Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House, Sonny Boy Williamson, John Lee Hooker, and Albert Collins. The track selection, however, seems on the arbitrary side, favoring lesser-known performances that aren't necessarily as good as the artists' more celebrated sides, and sometimes not nearly as good: no one would put "Lazy Poker Blues" among the Peter Green version of Fleetwood Mac's top moments, for instance. There are also some cuts that are not so much blues as blues-influenced (Tom Waits' "Get Behind the Mule," Doc & Merle Watson's "Mississippi Heavy Water Blues"). The irreverent flexibility of the apparent criteria for inclusion, however, does leave room for some enjoyable, seldom-anthologized items that make for welcome surprises, like Leadbelly's version of "Rock Island Line," Big Maybelle's lush and earthy ballad "Candy," Big Joe Williams' propulsive early-'50s track "She Left Me a Mule," and R.L. Burnside's 1967 recording "See My Jumper Hangin' Out on the Line." It's more a sampler for the casual yet adventurous blues admirer than the dedicated blues collector, and as such, wouldn't make a bad gift for someone who likes the blues but isn't particularly motivated to buy blues records. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Nothing in Ramblin'		Memphis Minnie	(2:46)
Travelling Riverside Blues	R. Arthur Johnson	Robert Johnson	(2:46)
She Left Me a Mule	Big Joe Williams	Big Joe Williams	(2:32)
Standing at the Crossroads	R. Arthur Johnson	Elmore James	(3:01)
Still a Fool	Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	(3:18)
61 Highway		Mississippi Fred McDowell	(5:21)
V-8 Ford	Willie Love	Willie Love	(2:51)
Hound Dog	Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller	Big Mama Thornton	(2:50)
Love Like a Hydrant	Lightnin' Hopkins	Lightnin' Hopkins	(3:55)
This War Will Last for Years		Son House	(2:57)
Cheating and Lying Blues	Joe Clayton	Robert Nighthawk	(4:58)
Keep It to Yourself	Sonny Boy Williamson	Sonny Boy Williamson	(2:35)
High Fever Blues	Corey Harris	Corey Harris	(3:13)
Worried Life Blues	Sleepy John Estes, Hammie Nixon	Big Maceo	(2:55)
Come Here Baby		Robert Pete Williams	(2:01)
See My Jumper Hangin' Out on the Line			(2:36)
Rock Island Line	Alan Lomax, Huddie Ledbetter		(2:32)
Sittin' Here Thinkin'	John Lee Hooker	John Lee Hooker	(3:19)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Lost in a Dream	Johnny Otis	Johnny Otis, Little Esther	(3:16)
S.K. Blues, Pt. 1	Saunders King	Big Joe Turner	(3:02)
S.K. Blues, Pt. 2	Saunders King	Big Joe Turner	(2:58)
Airplane Blues	Jack Kelson, Jr.	Helen Humes	(2:32)
Boogie Guitar	Nikos Veliotis	Johnny Otis & His Orchestra	(2:36)
Candy	Joan Whitney, Mack David, Alex Kramer	Big Maybelle	(2:41)
Double Crossing Blues	Jessie Mae Robinson	Johnny Otis, Little Esther	(2:49)
Sweet Sixteen, Pts. 1-2		B.B. King	(6:16)
Hoodoo Man Blues	Sonny Boy Williamson	Junior Wells	(3:07)
Ice Pick	Albert Collins		(3:08)
Lazy Poker Blues	Peter Green, Clifford Adams		(3:25)
Get Behind the Mule	Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan	Tom Waits	(6:52)
Goin' up the Country		Canned Heat	(2:52)
Mississippi Heavy Water Blues		Doc Watson, Merle Watson	(2:54)

Credits

John Crosby (Liner Notes), John Crosby (Compilation)