Another quality L&R Records production that has been saved by a reissue on Evidence Music. Originally recorded in 1982, Chicago's Young Blues Generation features the raw, frantic work of guitarist Lurrie Bell and harp blower Billy Branch, who remain the closest the blues scene has to a modern-day Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. Back in 1982, Bell and Branch were still carving out a sound of their own - an amalgam of Rice Miller, the West Side guitar slingers (namely Guy and Magic Sam), and the funkier Stax and Hi Records hitmakers. This album consists entirely of reworked blues and R&B covers, each one drawn out by lengthy, tag-team soloing - sometimes derivative, but more often wildly inspired and unpredictable…

Corey Harris is an American blues and reggae musician. Along with Keb' Mo' and Alvin Youngblood Hart, he raised the flag of acoustic guitar blues in the mid-1990s. Collection includes: Between Midnight And Day (1995); Fish Ain't Bitin' (1997); Greens from the Garden (1999); Vü-Dü Menž (2000) with Henry Butler; Downhome Sophisticate (2002); Mississippi to Mali (2003); Daily Bread (2005); Zion Crossroads (2007); blu.black (2009); Fulton Blues (2012).

Powerhouse blues and R&B singer, the original "Hound Dog" belter, and one of the most important female architects of rock & roll. Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton only notched one national hit in her lifetime, but it was a true monster. "Hound Dog" held down the top slot on Billboard's R&B charts for seven long weeks in 1953. Alas, Elvis Presley's rocking 1956 cover was even bigger, effectively obscuring Thornton's chief claim to immortality. That's a damned shame, because Thornton's menacing growl was indeed something special. The hefty belter first opened her pipes in church but soon embraced the blues. She toured with Sammy Green's Hot Harlem Revue during the 1940s. Thornton was ensconced on the Houston circuit when Peacock Records boss Don Robey signed her in 1951. She debuted on Peacock with "Partnership Blues" that year, backed by trumpeter Joe Scott's band.

John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his career. He was known for his deep, calm bass-baritone voice, the distinctive sound of his Tennessee Three backing band characterized by train-like chugging guitar rhythms, a rebelliousness coupled with an increasingly somber and humble demeanor, free prison concerts, and a trademark all-black stage wardrobe which earned him the nickname "The Man in Black".

'Dust My Broom' or 'Live at Topanga Corral' is a 1970 live album by Canned Heat. The album is taken from a 1969 concert at the Kaleidoscope in Hollywood, California and not at the Topanga Corral as the title suggests. Canned Heat was under contract to Liberty Records at the time and Liberty did not want to do a live album, so manager Skip Taylor told Liberty that the album had been recorded in 1966 & 1967 at the Topanga Corral and released the record with Wand Records to avoid legal complications. The record has been bootlegged and reissued countless times, and is also known as 'Live at the Kaleidoscope'.

Fuelled by Coco Montoya's searing but economical string-slashing, drummer Joe Yuele, and bassist Rick Cortes, John Mayall has managed to keep a stable core of Bluesbreakers together in recent years. Mayall rarely does the same album twice, and Wake Up Call finds him returning to a basic, physical sound after 1990's more progressive/highly produced A Sense of Place. The harp whiz has rarely flirted with the pop charts over the decades, a track record that will likely handicap the title track - a potential hit featuring guest vocalist Mavis Staples and some take-charge riffing from former mate Mick Taylor. For pure guitar joy though, Montoya turns the trick all on his own with barnburners "Loaded Dice" and "Nature's Disappearing".

Bobby Rush was a journeyman blues singer, most famous for the novelty hit "Chicken Heads." On this album, however, he took his decades of his experience and his close study of Howlin' Wolf and made an urban blues album for his times, incorporating touches of Philadelphia soul, street-corner harmonies, and the rhythms of the pulpit. He tackled modern injustice ("Evil Is") alongside Seventies sexual mores ("I Can't Find My Keys"); Rush Hour was the first album in a sequence of ever-stranger "folk-funk" explorations. What We Said Then: "Rush Hour is so weird that it's a wonder George Clinton didn't think of it first. . .What emerges is outrageous and stunning. . .In a time when most black pop music sounds machine crafted, this record is more than an anomaly. Rush Hour is a tribute to resilience–a sign that the lessons Howlin' Wolf and his peers learned and taught have been neither lost nor forgotten. You're going to need something like this to get you through the Eighties".

My Secret Life is an album by Eric Burdon released in 2004. It was his first solo album release, which contains new titles, in nearly 16 years. It was his comeback album. It features many different musical directions such as jazz, blues, soul, rock, ska, rhythm and blues, folk, boogie, world and pop. Burdon said in an interview that every song is different. Musicians on this album includes Red Young, Martin Gerschwitz, Terry Wilson and Jon Cleary. Besides presenting the song composed in partnership with the Brazilian rocker Marcelo Nova "Black & White World" Eric Burdon shed to the English and re-recorded two songs of Marcelo Nova: "A Garota da Motocicleta" turned "Motorcycle Girl" while "Coração Satânico" became "Devil's Slide".

From the beginning, the harmonica has been an integral part of blues music. The blues is a uniquely American art form that got its start from the collision of African and European cultures in the American South. And the harmonica has a natural genius for the blues, with its ease of producing the moaning, wailing sounds often associated with this style of music.

At the time these tracks were cut, 1967 and 1968, R.L. Burnside was working on a plantation in Coldwater, MS, cutting silage. Folklorist George Mitchell was on a mission to record unknown blues singers down South. Mitchell heard about Burnside and paid him a visit, asking if he could record him. That night Mitchell returned to Burnside's place with a case of beer and some whiskey. Ten months later, Burnside had his first release. While these 14 tracks didn't jump start Burnside's career, they are stark, organic, and timeless, just Burnside and his acoustic guitar running down mainly traditional material that he arranged. This is an absolute treasure for Burnside aficionados and casual blues listeners alike.

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band will be releasing their first ever live concert video this winter. 'Straight To You: Live' will be released on 27th November via Provogue. It will be released on DVD+CD, Blu-Ray+CD, 2LP red transparent vinyl and digitally.

Andy Watts - SUPERGROOVE was co-produced by Kenny Neal for his new Booga Music label. It features Andy's signature guitar work and his great band - including bass, drums, keyboards, trumpet, trombone, saxophones and occasional guest harmonica. For vocalists, the album features special guests Joe Louis Walker and Eliza Neals, plus explosive soul singer Roy Young, Danny Shoshan and Gadi Altman.Half of the songs are Andy Watts originals, while the others dig into classics by Freddie King and longtime influence Peter Green, plus compositions by Joe Louis Walker, Coastin' Hank, and others.

Comfort to the Soul is Ana Popović's second studio album, released on October 7, 2003 on Ruf. The album was recorded in Memphis and produced by Jim Gaines. The album consists of five songs by Popović and six covers, showcasing not just the well-known blues artists (Howlin' Wolf), but lesser known performers (Susan Marshall), and even rock songs that work well in the blues environment (Steely Dan's "Night by Night"). Popović introduced some jazz elements into Comfort to the Soul, and the album won a jazz award in France, 'Jazz a Juan-Revelation 2004'. She surrounded herself with seasoned musicians who have backed other blues luminaries, such as Reese Wynans who had played with Stevie Ray Vaughan as part of Double Trouble, as a statement that she was a blues player to be reckoned with.

Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters is the second solo album by Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame. Paul Rodgers has one of the most distinctive voices in rock music. His has played in Free, Bad Company and The Firm (with Jimmy Page) and worldwide record sales in excess of 125 million copies. Seeing Muddy Waters live in London was to be a defining moment in his life and ultimately lead to this tribute album. Originally released in 1993 on the Victory label, and nominated for a Grammy Award that year, Muddy Water Blues contains stunning versions of 13 tracks made famous by Muddy Waters. With a basic band of Rodgers on vocals, Jason Bonham on drums, Pino Palladino on bass and Ian Hatton on rhythm guitar, each track is embellished with a guest lead guitarist. The line up reads like a who's who of rock blues guitarist including: Buddy Guy, Trevor Rabin, Brian Setzer, Jeff Beck, Steve Miller, David Gilmour, Slash, Gary Moore, Brian May, Neal Schon and Richie Sambora. The album is produced by Billy Sherwood.

A whopping three CDs, and 56 songs, from Hooker's early sessions that were unreleased at the time, although they were available for a while in the early 1970s on some United Artists LPs. Like his more widely known material of the period, it mostly features Hooker unaccompanied, though he's aided by piano and second guitarists on a few tracks. Some of these are alternates of songs that were released in different versions, or embryonic renditions of compositions that evolved into somewhat different shapes. Especially interesting are early versions of his big hit "I'm in the Mood for Love." It's too much at once, though, and too unvarying in approach, for anyone but Hooker specialists.