Customer Reviews

Blues 3

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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.