Chess Blues Guitar Two Decades of Killer Fretwork, 1949-1969 (1998)

Disc 1

01 - Robert Nighthawk - Anna Lee
02 - Jimmy Rogers - That's All Right
03 - Johnny Shines - So Glad I Found You
04 - Joe Hill Louis - When I Am Gone
05 - John Lee Hooker - Walkin' The Boogie
06 - Blue Smitty - Date Bait
07 - Morris Pejoe - Tired Of Crying Over You
08 - Muddy Waters - Sad, Sad Day
09 - John Brim - It Was A Dream
10 - Danny Overbea - Forty Cups Of Coffee
11 - Eddie Boyd - Just A Fool
12 - Muddy Waters - Loving Man
13 - Howlin Wolf - I've Got A Woman
14 - Lowell Fulson - Reconsider Baby
15 - J.B. Lenoir - Give Me One More Shot
16 - Lowell Fulson - Rollin' Blues
17 - Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love
18 - Earl Hooker - Guitar Rumba
19 - Jody Williams - What Kind Of Gal Is That
20 - Earl Hooker - Frog Hop
21 - Jody Williams - Lucky Lou
22 - Lafayette Thomas - Old Memories
23 - Chuck Berry - Guitar Boogie

Disc 2

01 - Muddy Waters - Walking Thru The PArk
02 - Eddie Burns - Treat Me Like I Treat You
03 - Lafayette Thomas - Claim On You
04 - Jimmy Rogers - Rock This House
05 - Otis Rush - I'm Satisfied
06 - Chuck Berry - I Still Got The Blues
07 - Buddy Guy - Broken Hearted Blues
08 - Elmore James - Talk To Me Baby (I Can't Hold Out)
09 - Bo Diddley - My Baby
10 - Albert King - Won't Be Hanging Around
11 - Bo Diddley - I Can Tell
12 - Howlin' Wolf - Hidden Charms
13 - Buddy Guy - Buddy's Boogie
14 - Little Milton - What kind Of Love Is This
15 - Robert Nighthawk - Someday
16 - Howlin Wolf - Killing Floor
17 - Buddy Guy - Leave My Girl Alone
18 - Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown - Cross My Heart
19 - Hound Dog Taylor - Watch Out
20 - Lonnie Brooks - One Sunny Day
21 - Little Milton - I Can't Quit You Baby
22 - Johnny Littlejohn - She's Too Much

This 45-song, two-disc collection is subtitled "two decades of killer fretwork," and never was a set so aptly described. Chess Records was the home to seemingly every hot guitar player in the Chicago area, and many of them make their appearance here. Besides the usual label guitar hotshots (Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, Earl Hooker, Otis Rush, Robert Nighthawk, Little Milton), space is given to sideman work from legends like Hubert Sumlin and Robert Jr. Lockwood and great one-offs by lesser-known artists like Jody Williams, Danny Overbea, Eddie Burns, Joe Hill Louis, Morris Pejoe, Lafayette Thomas and others. It seems as if everyone recorded for Chess at one time or another, also explaining the inclusion of tracks by John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Lonnie Brooks, Hound Dog Taylor and Elmore James. If electric blues guitar's your thing, then look no further than this fine two-disc compilation...