Track Listing

1. Cross Road Blues
2. Terraplane Blues
3. Come on in My Kitchen
4. Walking Blues
5. Last Fair Deal Gone Down
6. 32-20 Blues
7. Kindhearted Woman Blues
8. If I Had Possession over Judgement Day
9. Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)
10. When You Got a Good Friend
11. Rambling on My Mind
12. Stones in My Passway
13. Traveling Riverside Blues
14. Milkcow's Calf Blues
15. Me and the Devil Blues
16. Hellhound on My Trail
17. Traveling Riverside Blues [Alternate Take]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9488 in Music
• Released on: 1998-09-15
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
If there is a recording that is required listening for every blues fan, it's this one. Robert Johnson wasn't just King of the Delta blues; he was one of its founding fathers, and these re-mastered tunes are as timeless and important today as they were all those years ago. The songs that passed into the blues canon, to be covered by countless guitarists over the years, are here: "Crossroad Blues," "Preaching Blues," "Come On In My Kitchen," "Walking Blues," and more. And on this particular version of this often-reissued recording, there's an additional treat: a previously unreleased version of "Traveling Riverside Blues." Absolutely essential. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

Excellent remastering
This is some of the best delta blues ever recorded, but enough has been written about that. The reason to get this compilation and its companion "King of the Delta Blues Singers Vol. 2" is for the wonderful remastering. The sound on these two issues is far better than the 1990 "Complete" box set (and better even than the remastered 1997 version of that set). Both volumes of "King of the Delta Blues" employ minimal noise reduction. While this leaves some high end hiss and low end rumble, it makes the recordings clearer, more full bodied and natural sounding than any versions of Johnson's recordings that I have ever heard. His voice and guitar do not sound as thin as they do on previous issues. I also prefer the sequencing on this CD over the "Complete" set, which has back to back alternate takes. The only thing you miss out on with "King of the Delta Blues" volumes 1 and 2 are a handful of alternate takes which appear only on the "Complete" box set. It should be noted, however, that this CD contains a version of "Traveling Riverside Blues" that does NOT appear on the "Complete" box set. Highly recommended!

The true classic blues record
If you only own a select number of Blues records this should be one of them. It even includeds a newly discovered alternate bersion of Traveling Riverside Blues. This version was unearthed by the Library of Congress. This artist has influenced countless rockers from Keith Richards to Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page. This record is a classic 5 star album.

The Blues start here..
Which much anticipation and a little trepidation I decided to pick up "King of the Delta Blues Singers". It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was a nice surprise.

If you're a fan of the modern electric blues, you may be disappointed, as Johnson sang the blues with only his guitar. What he lacks in a backup band, he more than makes up for with a soulful voice, and great guitar playing. You can really hear the emotion pouring out of this man.

If you have an open mind and want to experience where the blues came from, you can't go wrong with this album. The two versions of "Traveling Riverside Blues" are worth the price alone.

On a side note, this could be on my copy only, but on some of the songs there may be a noticeable hissing sound, I guess it's understandable with these classic recordings being so old, and it shouldn't prevent you from enjoying them.