Best There Ever Was: Legendary Early Blues

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 26, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yazoo
• ASIN: B0000AGWIQ
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,439 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #17 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Memphis Blues
  • #46 in Music > Blues > Delta Blues
  • #74 in Music > Blues > Acoustic Blues

Track Listings

1. Dough Roller Blues - Garfield Akers

2. Big Road Blues - Tommy Johnson

3. My Black Mamma - Part 1 - Son House

4. Ain't No Tellin - Mississippi John Hurt

5. Cypress Grove - Skip James

6. I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole - Blind Willie Johnson

7. Mama, Tain't Long Fo' Day - Blind Willie McTell

8. Barefoot Blues - Jaydee Short

9. I'll Go With Her Blues - Robert Wilkins

10. Squabblin Blues - Ed Bell

11. It Won't Be Long - Charlie Patton

12. What's The Matter Blues - Frank Stokes

13. Last Kind Word Blues - Geeshie Wiley

14. Bullfrog Blues - William Harris

15. You Gonna Quit Me Blues - Blind Blake

16. The Gone Dead Train - King Solomon Hill

17. Outdoor Blues - Memphis Minnie

18. Prison Cell Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

19. Graveyard Digger's Blues - Sam Collins

20. Big Chief Blues - Furry Lewis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Blues compilation I've found, January 8, 2008

By 

paul ramone "Quit buying stuff. Online shoppi... (ca) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best There Ever Was: Legendary Early Blues (Audio CD)

I've been getting into this stuff for the last year or so and this is, far and away, the best "sampler" cd that I have found. In fact, it's much more satisfying to listen to these songs in this sequence than it is to listen to them on a compilation of pre-war 78's by a single artist.

Sure, Robert Johnson is great, but listening to all of his songs back to back to back can be a bit repetitive musically. After all, no one was making albums back then. Only singles, which often were variations on a theme which weren't intended to be played one directly after another. (I realize that Robert Johnson doesn't appear on this cd, but I am simply making a point.) Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers is a great album, but, I would argue, this is a better one. And that's really saying something.

Not every song chosen is the most commonly acknowledged "best" song by that particular artist, but that is actually to this disc's advantage. For example, "Cypress Grove" by Skip James is absolutely great, even if it's not as widely praised a "Devil Got My Woman." This strategy helps to prove the merits of an artist like Skip. He is not a one hit wonder. (Insofar as anything by Skip James has ever really been considered a "hit."

One last note: In the R. Crumb documentary, track number 13, "Last Kind Work Blues" by Geeshie Wiley, is the 78 rpm record which Crumb plays in his home as he assumes a near-fetal position.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It certainly is the best there ever was, October 1, 2007

By 

A Rothchild "Alvin" (nova) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best There Ever Was: Legendary Early Blues (Audio CD)

This is actually my second time purchasing this. I wore out the first copy. This is, simply put, the most concentrated "cream of the crop" of pre-war guitar blues ever put out and the best sounding as well. Garfield Aker's Dough Roller is a masterpiece of the first order and there are few things on the set that don't compete neck to neck with this one. A real value and a wonder to hear!

5.0 out of 5 stars Potent distillation of early blues greatness., February 15, 2011

By 

Scott McWade "dubs" (NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Best There Ever Was: Legendary Early Blues (Audio CD)

Quirky song choices keep this collection fresh over a lifetime of listens. Each of these artists is represented by a lone selection, 20 artists, so it's a broad sampling from the era. The remastering is nothing short of a sonic miracle, on par with recent retreatments of Louis Armstrongs Hot 5s and 7s, on JSP. This collection and Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers should be one and two in any semi-legit blues collection.