Searing, ultra-dread Chicago blues. Total murder like Double Trouble, when Otis had barely turned twenty, with Ike Turner on second guitar. Genius.

Perhaps his best LP, from 1975, with an ace band, including horns. Rough, raw, and emotionally gripping as ever, and slashed through with his unmistakable guitar sound, from the mean, rollicking opener Cut You Loose to the Diddleyesque, wigged-out, hard-shuffling finale Motoring Along.

Hot, party-hearty zydeco. In the great Clifton Chenier tradition — except for the killer Chic version, wrapping things up! ‘The Jackson 5 of Zydeco’ — aged 11 to 17.

Fine Detroit doo wop, Drifters and Coasters style, definitively presented in this limited edition.

Stone-classic country blues album recorded by Pete Welding for Testament in 1970. Just singing and slide guitar, still crackling and luminous with the time Shines knocked around with Robert Johnson in the mid-30s.
“Blues is like death. Blues is when you are lost. Blues is when you are depressed but don’t know why you are depressed.”
It’s a must.

Terrific collection of spiritual and gospel songs performed in informal non-church settings between 1965-1973 — mostly guitar-accompanied and performed by active or former blues artists.

The second of two records issuing from 1962 sessions with Big Joe Williams, Memphis Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, and Lonnie Johnson (and Bob Dylan on harmonica). Originally released on VS’s own Spivey imprint.