Tag: Chess Records
-

Various Artists, The Best of Chess Blues, 1987 on Chess / MCA
Great 2xLP 80s compilation of the post-war blues that made Chess such a critical label, issued by MCA who acquired the rights to the Chess catalog in the mid-eighties. My copy—via Mel’s Record Shop in Amesbury MA—is a 1987 pressing by MCA Records’ plant in Gloversville, NY.
-

Sonny Boy Williamson, The Real Folk Blues, 1966 on Chess
This album was first released in the UK in 1965 as In Memorium, (Williamson died in May of 1965). In the US it was retitled to The Real Folk Blues and released in 1966. Later reissues have appeared with either title in different regions. This is one of my favorite blues albums of all time…
-

Irma Thomas, Down at Muscle Shoals, 1984 on Chess
Thomas recorded for Chess in the late sixties, and made this recording at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals in 1967, but the album was not released until 1984 (in Japan). It’s very hard to find in the Japanese vinyl, though it was reissued on CD in 1991. There are no credits for musicians, though…
-

Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Sam Lay, and Buddy Miles – Fathers and Sons, 1969 on Chess
Vinyl Me Please just credits the LP to Muddy Waters, but the back cover really credits everyone in the all star band. It was Waters’s biggest seller. One LP is studio recordings from Chicago (Ter Mar Studios), the other LP is a live recording from the Super Cosmic Joy-Scout Jamboree. This Vinyl Me Please reissue…
-

Muddy Waters, McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters, 1971 on Chess Records.
2xLP collection of songs from 1948 to 1964 – hugely influential post-war era Chicago blues. Liner notes by Pete Welding. There are a ton of Muddy Waters compilations including a dozen plus just on Chess records, but I was really happy to find this one in good condition. My copy via a vinyl fair at…
