Search - Various Artists, Va-Blues Legends :: Blues Legends

Terry M. (tmulcahy) from ALBUQUERQUE, NM
Reviewed on 2/6/2016...

Quite a mix of blues on here. There's rockin' amplified blues by Little Walter and Robert Nighthawk. You can tell just where Rock 'n' Roll came from when you listen to these musicians. It may be blues, it's foot-stomping, swing-your-partner, boogie-woogie blues. On the other hand, there's some soulful crooning too, offered up by the rest of the musicians on this compiliation, with some really fine guitar work and piano tickling.

Some interesting and uncommon tracks

The Turtle | Weverton, MD USA | 03/09/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like most LaserLight releases, this one is a little light on the liner notes and leaves a couple of things out, but the quality of the recordings is quite good. The collection -- a good one if you want to introduce a friend to early Chicago blues -- ranges from a down-home, wide-open version of "Rollin' And Tumblin'" recorded by Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Baby Face LeRoy for Parkway in 1950, through a great track of Sleep John Estes doing "Drop Down Mama" in a 1962 comeback session. The only thing that doesn't fit all that well is the inclusion of some tracks by Memphis Slim -- they're almost TOO slick. They're worth listening to for their own sake, and for the appearance of a very young Matt "Guitar" Murphy -- he was 22 or 23 at the time. All in all, a solid disc and definitely worth passing on to anyone just getting started with Chicago blues."