Blues 3

The Blues (Chess Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002OAA
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #471,765 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Diggin' My Potatoes - Washboard Sam

2. Walking The Blues - Willie Dixon

3. Lonely No More - Little Milton

4. I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline) - Howlin' Wolf

5. Off The Wall - Little Walter

6. Rollin' Stone - Muddy Waters

7. It's My Own Fault - John Lee Hooker

8. Baby, Please Don't Go - Muddy Waters

9. Fattening Frogs For Snakes - Sonny Boy Williamson

10. Time Brings About A Chance - Jimmy Witherspoon

11. The Sun Is Shining - Elmore James

12. The World's In A Tangle - Jimmy Rogers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Brief, but very good, June 29, 2004

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues 3 (Audio CD)

This half-hour of music was originally issued by Chess Records in 1967 as part of their budget-priced LP series "The Blues", collecting then-current singles by Chess artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson (II).

Volume 3 is one of the best in the series. There is not a whole lot here for long-time blues collectors, sure, but this is nevertheless a great CD for a half-hour drive, and newcomers will find it to be a good introduction to classic Chicago blues.

It features two singles by John Lee Hooker (a gritty, band-backed "It's My Own Fault") and Elmore James (the slow grind of "The Sun Is Shining"), two artists who aren't usually associated with Chess, but they did record a few sides each for Chicago's premier blues label. And Muddy Waters is here as well, of course, repesented by an early "Rollin' Stone" and a later band-backed rendition of Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go". Howlin' Wolf's awesome "I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" is another highlight.

There are also some relatively unfamiliar songs here, like Washboard Sam's up-tempo "Diggin' My Potatoes" (Sam, born Robert Brown, was the illegitimate son of Frank Broonzy, the father of Big Bill Broonzy), Jimmy Witherspoon's ballad (!) "Time Brings About A Change", and Little Milton Campbell's swinging soul-flavoured "Lonely No More".
Sonny Boy Williamson's "Fattening Frogs For Snakes" is perhaps the best song on the album, and one of the finest in Rice Miller's catalogue. And the album winds down with Jimmy Rogers' thoughtful "The World's In A Tangle".

All in all, this is a fine (albeit too brief) example of what the Chess vaults had to offer. A great listen.