Product Description
All 3 Volumes In The Highly Acclaimed ‘Chicago/The Blues/Today!’ Series — It Is Very Hard To Find A Complete Set! These 3 Records Gather Together 42 Essential Blues Numbers By Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Johnny Young, Jimmy Cotton, Otis Span, Big Walter Horton, Homesick James, J.B. Hutto & Johnny Shines!
Condition – Vinyl: NEAR MINT
Condition – Cover: EXCELLENT! Minor shelf and/or ring wear.
CHICAGO/THE BLUES/TODAY! VOL. 1
Side 1:
Help Me – Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band
It Hurts Me Too – Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band
Messin’ With The Kid – Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band
Vietcong Blues – Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band
All Night Long – Junior Wells Chicago Blues Band
Going Ahead – J.B. Hutto And His Hawks
Please Help – J.B. Hutto And His Hawks
Side 2:
Too Much Alcohol – J.B. Hutto And His Hawks
Married Woman Blues – J.B. Hutto And His Hawks
That’s The Truth – J.B. Hutto And His Hawks
Marie – Otis Span’s South Side Piano
Burning Fire – Otis Span’s South Side Piano
S.P. Blues – Otis Span’s South Side Piano
Sometime I Wonder – Otis Span’s South Side Piano
Spann’s Stomp – Otis Span’s South Side Piano
CHICAGO/THE BLUES/TODAY! VOL. 2
Side 3:
Cotton Crop Blues – Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet
The Blues Keep Falling – Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet
Love Me Or Leave Me – Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet
Rocket 88 – Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet
West Helena Blues – Jimmy Cotton Blues Quartet
Everything’s Going To Turn Out Alright – The Otis Rush Blues Band
It’s A Mean Old World – The Otis Rush Blues Band
Side 4:
I Can’t Quit You Baby – The Otis Rush Blues Band
Rock – The Otis Rush Blues Band
It’s My Own Fault – The Otis Rush Blues Band
Dust My Broom – Homesick James And His Dusters
Somebody Been Talkin’ – Homesick James And His Dusters
Set A Date – Homesick James And His Dusters
So Mean To Me – Homesick James And His Dusters
CHICAGO/THE BLUES/TODAY! VOL. 3
Side 5:
One More Time – Johnny Young’s South Side Blues Band
Kid Man Blues – Johnny Young’s South Side Blues Band
My Black Mare – Johnny Young’s South Side Blues Band
Stealin’ Back – Johnny Young’s South Side Blues Band
I Got Mine In Time – Johnny Young’s South Side Blues Band
Tighten Up On It – Johnny Young’s South Side Blues Band
Side 6:
Dynaflow Blues – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
Black Spider Blues – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
Layin’ Down My Shoes And Clothes – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
If I Get Lucky – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
Rockin’ My Boogie – Big Walter Horton’s Blues Harp Band
Mr. Boweevil – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
Hey, Hey – The Johnny Shines Blues Band
AMG –
Add this to your collection, because blues records seldom come as important, innovative, or just plain pleasurable to listen to as this set. In early 1966, blues history was made with the issuance of a three-volume set of new recordings produced by blues historian Samuel Charters. This series was known as Chicago/The Blues/Today! and the release sent shock waves through the world of rock & roll. Every artist on the three volumes had recorded before (some, like Otis Rush and Junior Wells, had actually seen small hits on the R&B charts), but these recordings were largely their introduction to a newer -- and predominately white -- album-oriented audience. The "Today!" part of the title was no bit of hyperbole, either. This series accurately portrayed a vast cross section of the Chicago blues scene as one could hear it on any given night in the mid-'60s. Rather than record full albums (which Charters had neither the budget nor the legal resources to pull off), each artist simply came in for a union-approved session of four to six songs, with each volume featuring three different groupings. With these recordings, blues suddenly gained respectability as something much more vital and vibrant than just a poor cousin of jazz. A new market for this music began, one that exists today in full blossom. Their effect on musicians was enormous. It's fair to assume that most blues-influenced artists had all three volumes in their respective collections, and the songs on them ended up in the repertoires of everyone from Jimi Hendrix (Junior Wells' "Rock Me") to Led Zeppelin (a note-for-note copy of Otis Rush's "I Can't Quit You Baby") to Steppenwolf (Junior Wells' "Messin' with the Kid") and beyond. This is one of the times when it would be best to spend the dough and add this to your collection, because blues records seldom come as important, innovative, or just plain pleasurable to listen to as this set. File under "essential."