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Various Artists

4

Audio CD
VARIOUS ARTISTS

27

Audio CD
$27.47
Classic Harmonica…

15

Audio CD
$9.99
Various Artists

10

Audio CD
$9.99
Various Artists

31

Audio CD
$91.93
VARIOUS ARTISTS

6

Audio CD
$24.99

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. That Black Snake Moan - Blind Lemon Jefferson

2. Broke And Hungry Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

3. Match Box Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson

4. Shake That Thing - Papa Charlie Jackson

5. Shave 'Em Dry - Ma Rainey

6. Countin' The Blues - Ma Rainey

7. Jailhouse Blues - Bessie Smith

8. Mama's Got The Blues - Bessie Smith

9. Back Water Blues - Bessie Smith

10. Special Delivery Blues - Sippie Wallace

11. Death Sting Me Blues - Sara Martin

12. Barbecue Blues - Barbecue Bob

13. Mean Trouble Blues - Jaybird Coleman

14. Long Lonesom Day Blues - Texas Alexander

15. Kansas City BLues (Pts 1 And 2) - Jim Jackson

16. Why Don't You Come Home Blues - Furry Lewis

17. Dark Was The Night - Blind Willie Johnson

18. Minglewood Blues - Cannon's Jug Stompers

19. Cool Drink Of Water Blues - Tommy Johnson

20. Big Road Blues - Tommy Johnson

21. Bull Doze Blues - Henry Thomas

22. How Long, How Long Blues (Pt 1) - Leroy Carr

Disc: 2

1. Blues Before Sunrise - Leroy Carr

2. Downtown Blues - Frank Stokes

3. Stack O'Lee Blues - Mississippi John Hurt

4. Rolling Mill Blues - Peg Leg Howell

5. Mr. Johnson's Blues No. 2 - Lonnie Johnson

6. Pony Blues - Charley Patton

7. Forty-Four Blues - Roosevelt Sykes

8. Bumble Bee Blues - Memphis Minnie

9. I'm So Glad - Memphis Minnie

10. The Dirty Dozens (No 1) - Speckled Red

11. Diving Duck Blues - Sleepy John Estes

12. K.C. Moan - Memphis Jug Band

13. Sittin' On Top Of The World - Mississippi Sheiks

14. M & O Blues - Walter Davis

15. Dry Spell Blues (Pt 1) - Son House

16. Devil Got My Woman - Skip James

17. Chain Gang Bound - Bumble Bee Slim

18. Broke Down Engine Blues - Blind Willie McTell

19. Big Bill Blues - Big Bill Broonzy

20. I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town - Big Bill Broonzy

21. Old Original Kokomo Blues - Kokomo Arnold

22. Strut That Thing - Cripple Clarence Lofton

23. Crow Jane - Carl Martin

24. Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams

Disc: 3

1. The First Time I Met You - Little Brother Montgomery

2. I Believe I'll Dust My Broom - Robert Johnson

3. Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson

4. Peetie Wheatstraw Stomp - Peetie Wheatstraw

5. Good Morning, Little School Girl - Sonny Boy Williamson

6. Sloppy Drunk BLues - Sonny Boy Williamson

7. Sent For You Yesterday - Jimmy Rushing

8. Roll 'Em Pete - Joe Turner

9. Wee Baby Blues - Joe Turner

10. Fixin' To Die Blues - Bukka White

11. Step It Up And Go - Blind Boy Fuller

12. Anna Lou Blues - Tampa Red

13. Worried Life BLues - Big Maceo

14. I've Been Treated Wrong - Washboard Sam

15. T-Bone BLues - T-Bone Walker

16. Call It Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker

17. Mozelle Blues - Tommy McClennan

18. It's A Low Down Dirty Shame - Louis Jordan

19. Cherry Red - Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson

20. That's All Right - Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup

21. Drifting BLues - Charles Brown

22. Mr. Blues Jumped The Rabbit - Wynonie Harris

23. Boogie Chillen' - John Lee Hooker

24. Tim Moore's Farm - Lightnin' Hopkins

25. No Rollin' Blues - Jimmy Witherspoon

Disc: 4

1. Louisiana Blues - Muddy Waters

2. Honey Bee - Muddy Waters

3. Reconsider Baby - Lowell Fulson

4. Eyesight to the Blind - Aleck Fulson

5. Monkey Womam Blues - Jimmy And Mama Yancey

6. Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton

7. Mystery Train - Junior Parker

8. Hoodoo Man - Junior Wells

9. Every Day I Have the Blues - Joe Williams

10. Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf

11. The Sky is Cryin' - Elmore James

12. Women Blues Boogie - Memphis Slim

13. Farther Up The Road - Bobby Blue Bland

14. I'll Take Care of Myself - Bobby Blue Bland

15. The First Time I Met the Blues - Buddy Guy

16. Rooster Blues - Lightnin' Slim

17. So Many Roads, So Many Trains - Otis Rush

18. Big Boss Man - Jimmy Reed

19. I Got a Woman - Ray Charles

20. Join the Army - Henry Johnson

21. Let's Straighten It Out - Latimore

22. Dog Days of August - John Cephas/Phil Wiggins

Product Details

Audio CD (February 1, 1994)
Number of Discs: 4
Format: Box set
Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
Label: Smithsonian Collection
ASIN: B0000017SO
Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,864 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
- #1 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > St. Louis Blues
- #4 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > West Coast Blues
- #5 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > East Coast Blues

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Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars

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4 star		14%
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Top Customer Reviews

Chestnut Stew!

By A Customer on August 23, 1998

Format: Audio CD

It's hard to imagine a better introduction to pre-war American blues than this. It combines the well-known (e.g. Robert Johnson) with the obscure (e.g. Sippie Wallace) in such perfect proportion that anyone with any interest in blues will love it. The accompanying book makes for great history, great storytelling, and drawing the unifying threads. I love the piano-based tunes like Peetie Wheatstraw's "Peetie Wheatstraw Stomp" - don't let anyone fool you into thinking pre-wars is all National Steel Guitar! This and Rhino's Blues Masters series show the astonishing breadth and depth of the blues. A must!

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If you love & appreciate the Blues, you will LOVE this set!

By A Customer on June 10, 1999

Format: Audio CD

I have been a blues fan for many years and have attended many blues festivals, including the BEST BLUES FESTIVAL in the United States - the Chicago Blues Festival. This CD box set more than surpasses its expectations of what Blues is meant to represent. A 5 STAR set! The music of today pales in comparison to this truly lost art. If you love Robert Johnson, you will absolutely love this box set. I recommend without hesitation. Do yourself a favor and enjoy life - order this box set!

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Excellent Collection of Early Blues!!!

By chris meesey Food Czar on May 16, 2005

Format: Audio CD

The Blues, assembled and released under the auspices of the hallowed Smithsonian Institute, is a first-rate, 4CD collection that focuses primarily on early blues. Starting with Blind Lemon Jefferson (and "That Black Snake Moan"---what could he be referring to? Hmmm!!) and finishing with John Cephas and the "Dog Days of August" (where "the Devil is beating his wife," an old expression for rain) this collection will warm the hearts of blues fans everywhere, particularly fans of early, pre-1940's blues. If you thought that Robert Johnson was one of the earliest stars of the genre, well, think again, his contributions don't come until DISC THREE of this chronological set!! Of particular importance are ancient stalwarts Tommy Johnson (whose "Cool Drink of Water Blues", along with Henry Thomas' "Bull Doze BLues," were borrowed by Canned Heat for the sixties classic "Going Up the Country), Blind Willie Johnson (who played straight, 190-proof-Everclear, industrial-strength gospel blues---chilling!) and the early blues women Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie, and of course, Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues (in particular, Smith's "Backwater Blues" manages to sound plaintive and hopeful at the same time). In short, this collection is everything a serious collector could want for a great introduction to early blues. (The casual fan may wish to click on a few of the song samples before buying: Early blues is an acquired taste for many people.) Unfortunately, while discs three and four have outstanding selections as well, the compilers of this set chose to compress some fifty-plus years of latter-day blues into just two discs. Thus, the average fan may feel shortchanged; in particular, the 1950's and early 1960's, which many aficionadoes believe is the Golden Age of BLues, is woefully underrepresented.Read more ›

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This is a must have collection for those people like me want to finally put together a voice (and ...

By Armeen W. Gould on April 20, 2015

Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase

This is a must have collection for those people like me want to finally put together a voice (and style) with the name, covering nearly all of the greatest (and unfortunately not well appreciated) blues musicians of the 20th century Buy it. Even the recording from the 20's and 30's that are "lo-fi", not hi-fi, still crackle with energy and emotion, A great blues song is a story well told be a master translator. Buy it and you will know you are holding in your hands perhaps the richest piece of American culture of all.

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