Label: Chess Records.
Release Date: June 17, 1997.
Releases: 1997 (Chess / MCA).
Recording Time: 140 minutes.
Release Info: Studio & Live.
Recording Date: October 10, 1951 - June 17, 1972.
Styles: Chicago Blues, Electric Chicago Blues, Piano Blues, Regional Blues, Acoustic Blues, Blues Revival, Early Pop/Rock, Early R&B, Jive, Jump Blues.
Back before the electric guitar became the primary focal instrument of the blues, two-fisted piano players dominated the genre, and record companies flocked to record them. Chess Records was no exception, and this two-disc, 45-track anthology shines the spotlight on four of the best who ever sat on the piano stool at the Chess studios. The first disc begins with 20 tracks from Eddie Boyd (eight of them previously unissued in the U.S.), full of introspective reflection and the darkest of moods. Kicking off with one of his big hits, "24 Hours," and the dourness of Boyd's work reaches epic proportions on tunes like "I Began to Sing the Blues," "Third Degree," and "Blues for Baby," the latter featuring stellar jazz guitar runs and chordal work from Robert Jr. Lockwood. Even on uptempo numbers like "Hard Time Getting Started," "Nothing But Trouble" and "Just a Fool," the somber nature of Boyd's delivery cuts through everything, underscoring the bouncier lilt of these tracks with a much darker cast. Finishing out the disc are four tracks from Otis Spann, comprising the A- and B-sides of his lone 1954 single for the label ("It Must Have Been The Devil" and the instrumental "Five Spot," both sides featuring a rare maverick uncredited appearance by B.B. King on a Chess record) and two sides from a 1956 session that stayed unreleased for several decades, both featuring shattering harp work from Walter Horton. The second disc collects 18 sides from Willie Mabon (three sides previously unreleased), including his big hits "I Don't Know," "I'm Mad," "Poison Ivy" and Willie Dixon's "The Seventh Son." Mabon was much more an R&B novelty entertainer than a hard bluesman (think Cripple Clarence Lofton as opposed to Big Maceo Merriweather), but his more down-home side comes up for air on "Willie's Blues," pitting solid piano work against Dixieland trumpet growls. The anthology finishes out with three tracks from Chess session stalwart Lafayette Leake, who backed everyone from Chuck Berry to Howlin' Wolf and yet remains Chess Records' true mystery man. Lafayette was most elusive when it came time to record under his own name, but a stray instrumental from 1957 ("Slow Leake") stands alongside two live tracks recorded in Montreux, Switzerland in 1972 as his meager frontman legacy for the label. Although there's no Sunnyland or Memphis Slim aboard (two other Chess piano greats equally worthy of a separate anthology), this is a fine collection that is most deserving of an encore. - Review by Cub Koda.
The extraordinary success of Chess Records was founded upon the groundbreaking guitar-charged tracks laid down by bluesmen Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Lockwood Jr., Sonny Boy Williamson, and Buddy Guy, plus rockers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, with the piano playing a supporting role in their ensembles. But this comprehensive two-CD offering reminds us of the many 88-key blues classics Chess released as well. Popular piano men Eddie Boyd and Willie Mabon are featured here with studio stalwarts Otis Spann and Lafayette Leake. Boyd leads off with slow stunners "24 Hours" and "Third Degree," which heavily influenced the 1960s British blues scene, and the surprisingly upbeat "Just a Fool". The stylish Mabon, more entertainer than bluesman, is represented by his big jump-blues hits "I Don't Know" and "I'm Mad," followed by four cuts from the masterly Spann and three superb instrumental tracks by the mysterious Leake. - Alan Greenberg.
Credits: Bill Anderson - bass; Harold Ashby - sax (alto); Joseph Bell - bass; Fred Below - drums; Steve Boswell - drums; Eddie Boyd - composer, performer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Chester Burnett - composer; Geary Chansley - photography, photo research; Leonard Chess - producer; Phil Chess - producer; Fred Clark - sax (tenor); Oliver Coleman - drums; Lee Cooper - guitar; Ernest Cotton - sax (tenor); Steve Cropper - composer; Little sax Crowder - sax (tenor); Roquel Davis - composer; Willie Dixon - bass, composer, producer, vocals; Willie Dixon Band - bass, producer, vocals; Alfred Elkins - bass; Charles Ferguson - sax (tenor); Mike Fink - design; Ray Flerlage - photography; Eddie Floyd - composer; Andrew Gardner - sax (alto); Big Walter Horton - harmonica; Howlin' Wolf - composer; Ellis Hunter - guitar; B.B. King - guitar; Paul King - trumpet; Erick Labson - digital remastering; Milt Larkin - trombone; Lafayette Leake - composer, performer, piano, primary artist; Jerry Leiber - composer; Robert Lockwood, Jr. - guitar; Mel London - composer; Jeff Lowenthal - inlay photography, photography; Willie Mabon - composer, performer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Andy McKaie - compilation producer, producer; Odie Payne, Jr. - drums; George "Harmonica" Smith - harmonica; Don Snowden - compilation producer, Liner Notes, producer; Otis Spann - composer, performer, piano, primary artist, vocals; Billy Stepney - drums; Mike Stoller - composer; Ted Sturgis - bass; Alonzo Tucker - composer; Vartan - art direction; Percy Walker - drums; Harry Warren - composer; Muddy Waters - guitar.
Tracks, Disc 1: 1) 24 Hours - Eddie Boyd; 2) Got Lonesome Here - Eddie Boyd; 3) I Got The Blues - Eddie Boyd; 4) I Began To Sing The Blues - Eddie Boyd; 5) Rosa Lee Swing - Eddie Boyd; 6) Blues For Baby - Eddie Boyd; 7) Hard Time Gettin' Started - Eddie Boyd; 8) Third Degree - Eddie Boyd; 9) Just A Fool - Eddie Boyd; 10) Rattin' And Running Around - Eddie Boyd; 11) Hush Baby, Don't You Cry - Eddie Boyd; 12) Instrumental (Take 2) - Eddie Boyd; 13) Picture In The Frame - Eddie Boyd; 14) Nothing But Trouble - Eddie Boyd; 15) Got Me Seein' Double - Eddie Boyd; 16) What's The Matter Baby? - Eddie Boyd; 17) Life Gets To Be A Burden - Eddie Boyd; 18) Hotel Blues - Eddie Boyd; 19) Come On Home - Eddie Boyd; 20) Five Long Years - Eddie Boyd; 21) It Must Have Been The Devil - Otis Spann; 22) Five Spot - Otis Spann; 23) I'm Leaving You - Otis Spann; 24) I'm In Love With You Baby - Otis Spann.
Tracks, Disc 2: 1) I Don't Know - Willie Mabon; 2) Worry Blues - Willie Mabon; 3) I'm Mad - Willie Mabon; 4) Got To Have It - Willie Mabon; 5) Monday Woman - Willie Mabon; 6) I Got To Go - Willie Mabon; 7) Life Could Be Miserable - Willie Mabon; 8) Late Again - Willie Mabon; 9) Willie's Blues - Willie Mabon; 10) Say Man - Willie Mabon; 11) Poison Ivy - Willie Mabon; 12) Wow! I Feel So Good - Willie Mabon; 13) The Seventh Son - Willie Mabon; 14) Lucinda - Willie Mabon; 15) Someday You Will Have To Pay - Willie Mabon; 16) He Lied - Willie Mabon; 17) Knock On Wood - Willie Mabon; 18) I Love My Baby - Willie Mabon; 19) Slow Leake - Lafayette Leake; 20) Wrinkles (Live) - Lafayette Leake; 21) Swiss Boogie (Live) - Lafayette Leake.