Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Yarum Praise Songs
2. Stack O' Lee Blues - Mississippi John Hurt
3. Travelin' Blues - Blind Willie McTell
4. Stone Pony Blues - Charley Patton
5. Black Snake Moan - Blind Lemon Jefferson
6. Pigmeat - Leadbelly
7. Broken Yo-Yo - Alger "Texas" Alexander
8. Broke and Hungry Blues - Peg Leg Howell
9. It Won't Be Long Now - Barbecue Bob, Laughing Charley
10. Georgia Crawl - Eddie Anthony, Henry "Rubberlegs" Williams
11. Dangerous Woman - Mississippi Jook Band
12. Gator Wobble - Memphis Jug Band
13. In the House Blues - Bessie Smith
14. Shake It Down - Lillian Glinn
15. Pratt City Blues - Bertha "Chippie" Hill
16. What It Takes to Bring You Back - Butterbeans & Susie
17. Midnight Hour Blues - Scrapper Blackwell, Leroy Carr
18. East St. Louis Blues - Faber Smith, Jimmy Yancey
19. Good Whiskey Blues - Peetie Wheatstraw
20. W.P.A. Blues - Black Bob, Casey Bill Weldon
21. Sorry Feeling Blues - Bo Carter
22. Little Queen of Spades - Robert Johnson
23. Parchman Farm Blues - Bukka White
24. Me and My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie

Disc 2:

1. I Want Some of Your Pie - Blind Boy Fuller, Sonny Terry
2. Million Lonesome Women - Brownie McGhee
3. Wild Cow Moan - Joe Williams, Sonny Boy Williamson
4. All by Myself - Big Bill Broonzy
5. Roll 'Em Pete - Pete Johnson, Joe Turner
6. Bald Headed Woman [*] - Lightnin' Hopkins,
7. You Shook Me [*] - Willie Dixon
8. Mannish Boy [*] - Muddy Waters
9. She Caught the Katy (And Left Me a Mule to Ride) [*] - Taj Mahal
10. I Ain't Superstitious [*] - Jeff Beck Group
11. Killing Floor [*] - Electric Flag
12. One Good Man [*] - Janis Joplin
13. Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen [*] - Santana
14. Highway 61 Revisited [*] - Johnny Winter
15. Texas Flood [*] - Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan
16. Dangerous Mood [*] - Keb' Mo'
17. Cry a While [*] - Bob Dylan
18. Ride On [*] - Little Axe

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #244491 in Music
• Released on: 2003-06-03
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

The album that opened my eyes to roots music!
I first bought this as an 2-disc album back in 1973, and was fascinated by these early blues artists. Back at the time, this type of music was virtually unknown unless you were an old folkie or bluesman. I had bought Robert Johnson's album before this, but this was a revelation. It includes iconic blues artists from the 20's and 30's like Leadbelly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Patton, Blind Willie McTell, Bessie Smith plus many other lesser knowns that were hot back in the day, like Barbeque Bob and Laughing Charlie,Butterbeans & Susie, Bertha "Chippy" Hill, or the Mississippi Jook Band, which in 1936 recorded "Dangerous Woman", a rollicking barrelhouse piano number that has been considered by some to be the first rock and roll record (notice the boogie pattern of the piano which has early rock structure). Well, when I got rid of my old LP's, I tried for a long time to find in on CD, and I finally did in 2004 and was surprised to see it had been updated to include twice as many songs up to the modern era of Janis Joplin, Keb Mo, Muddy Waters, Santana and more. If you really want to get a full historical spectrum of blues music, this is the one. I actually enjoy the older stuff better because it brings back memories of that old LP, which I wore out. Plus the older stuff is weirder with more hokum and wild sounds. But,this is a must for any blues or roots music fan!

Great starting place
What a great introduction to the blues! I had this on vinyl in the 80's and then foolishly sold it and every other record. There was a volume 2, and it wasn't the bonus tracks found here. Maybe we'll see that one day too. The cover of my version was totally different to this. Well done to whoever initated this re-issue.

Great collection
Bought this in the early '70s in a slightly different form and was knocked out. This music, especially the real early stuff, was unfamiliar to me and the variety of styles and subgenres of blues on this two record set was a revelation. I nearly wore out my LP copy. Went looking for the CD version and found that it has been updated/expanded to include British Invasion and New Blues (my term) artists. That's both good and bad. While I love Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughn and welcome their inclusion, why did the chroniclers have to cut my favorite song on the whole damn thing. I'm speaking, my boy, of the Elmore James classic "Sunnyland". This rockin' slide guitar number features Elmore at his peak with his trademark crying vocals and a thumping backup band. If you want to hear this little gem, I suggest you buy "Shake Your Moneymaker" by Elmore James (which also includes the screamer "Look on Yonders Wall"). There's a slow version of "Sunnyland" on "The Early Years" collection which I don't like nearly as much. But I digress. "The Story of the Blues" remains a fine collection and well worth the money.