Harmonica ace Dennis Gruenling joins Nick-who has earned an astonishing 21 Blues Music Award nominations-and his well-oiled-machine of a band on this fiery new album. Chicago blues and old-school rock 'n' roll merge across "Crazy Mixed Up Baby," "Get Right Before You Get Left," "No Sense," "He Walked with Giants" (an homage to Barrelhouse Chuck), the title cut and more! Alligator.

2024 release. 11 striking new originals delivered with purpose and passion. From scorching-hot blues to a gospel-inspired rave-up to deep, slow burners, the songs tackle the gamut of human emotions, all sparked by Cannon's dynamic guitar work and commanding, cathartic singing.

STATESBORO BLUES: COLLECTED RECORDINGS 1927-1950

Vinyl LP pressing. 2024 release. Tinsley Ellis unplugs and channels his masterful guitar skills and soul-baring vocals into a bracing collection of solo acoustic tracks steeped in the traditions of Muddy Waters, Skip James, Son House, Robert Johnson and even Leo Kottke. Nine newly-written originals sit alongside reverent, yet spirited, versions of House's "Death Letter Blues," Willie Dixon's "Don't Go No Further" and Kottke's "Sailor's Grave On The Prairie."

Alligator debut from one of the blues' most talented unsung heroes, a deeply soulful vocalist, powerhouse harmonica player and gifted songwriter. The Hard Line shines with 12 striking original songs that draw from O'Leary's rich personal history. Engaging, sharp-edged observations on life and love are shot through with every-man wisdom and humor, and set to rollicking roadhouse R&B, hard Chicago blues and wrenching ballads. O'Leary's rough, riveting vocals and world-class harmonica playing set the pace throughout.

In a time when the regional flavor of the blues is being diluted, guitar-slinger Long John Hunter is Texas Blues with a big ol' "T". Fame has eluded this legend of the Tex-Mex roadhouses for way too long and Border Town Legend is wicked redemption. From the first bristling notes of "T-Bone Intentions," you know you're in for a hot time. This CD is a flat-out party. Propelled by a crackerjack outfit of brassy horns, Hunter fires up a spicy mix of jump blues, soulful laments, and joyous rave-ups. "Ole Red" is a stone-cold butt-shaker, "Arkansas" is smoky, seductive R&B at it's best, and no guitarist is left standing once the "Lone Star Shootout" has ended. Even more astonishing, all but one of these tracks are Hunter-penned originals. Make a run for Border Town Legend or die trying. -Genevieve Williams

Get Your Back Into It features 14 original songs inspired by the electrifying blues sounds of 1940s through 1960s, and performed with taste, sly humor and pure joy. From locomotive shuffles to deep, slow blues, Moss shines with a Willie Dixon-like ability to write and sing the blues' honest truth.

Double vinyl LP pressing. The king of blues labels turns 50! This anthology celebrates 50 years of classic, genre-defining recordings by a star-studded Who's Who of American blues and roots music artists past and present. Features tracks by Hound Dog Taylor, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, J.J. Grey & Mofro, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Tommy Castro, Marcia Ball, Albert Collins, Luther Allison, James Cotton, Toronzo Cannon and many more!

Alligator Records chestnut from 1974 from one of the unsung giants of Chicago blues, Fenton Robinson. An album so good it's been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Features the famous title cut, a blues standard later covered by Boz Scaggs, plus Texas Flood (covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan).

Lightnin' Hopkins - The Singles Collection Vol. 1 1946-53 - This substantial collection covering the early years of his recording career helps to explain and underline that view / Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins was one of the true blues greats, a singer, guitarist, songwriter and occasional pianist from Texas, who through a life as a long-time solo performer developed a highly distinctive style, playing rhythm, lead, bass and percussion, with a legendarily unstructured approach to the 12-bar format. Musicologist Mark McCormick said that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing it's ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act". Born in 1912, he did not get an opportunity to record until the post-war years, and then recorded prolifically for a variety of labels. Acrobat has addressed his output on 78s and 45s from 1946 to 1962 with two 3-CD sets of which this is the first. This 78-track collection comprises the A & B sides of just about all his releases during these years on the Aladdin, Modern, Gold Star and RPM labels. His RPM releases overlapped with his releases on the Sittin' In With label which begin in 1951 and start Vol. 2. It includes his hits in the US R&B charts with "Shotgun Blues", "T Model Blues" and "Tim Moore's Farm". It also includes records for Aladdin with pianist Wilson "Thunder" Smith. His New York Times obituary in 1982 said he was "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players", and this substantial collection covering the early years of his recording career helps to explain and underline that view.

Limited purple colored vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release. On Exorcist, Birchwood delivers the most far-reaching, musically adventurous album of his career. Exorcist was recorded in Florida and produced by Grammy Award-winner Tom Hambridge, with each of the 13 vividly detailed songs written and arranged by Birchwood. The soul-baring tracks all hit with lasting rhymes and unexpected rhythms. Each twists it's own tale, ranging from the love-gone-wrong Horns Below Her Halo to the love-gone-terrifying Exorcist to the ripped-from-the-headlines escapades of FLorida Man and Swim At Your Own Risk to the autobiographical Underdog. According to Blues Music Magazine, "Selwyn Birchwood heralds a fresh, exciting new direction in the blues. Toe-tapping, hip-shaking, joyful and inviting... expansive and focused, exploratory and time-honored, but always original."

HOW MANY HEARTS HAVE YOU BROKEN: SINGLES 1939-54

Bessie Smith, "The Empress Of The Blues", a uniquely powerful, soulful and uncompromising blues singer, was an originator and a star. She became one of the highest-paid Black performers of her time, influencing fellow blues and jazz singers for generations to come and helping transform the record industry. After treading the vaudeville boards in the 1910's alongside Ma Rainey, Smith rose to the top and was picked up by a struggling Columbia Records. Her first single Down Hearted Blues sold nearly a million in 8 months, saving Columbia from bankruptcy. Pressed on 140g black vinyl, this 13-track LP features some of The Empress' best-loved songs from her tragically short career. From her very earliest sessions in 1923, through collaborations with Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson to later reflections on prohibition. A fitting tribute to one of the true heroes, not only of the blues, but musical history itself.

Sacramento, California's musically fearless, wildly entertaining and award-winning Rick Estrin & the Nightcats return with another superb collection of blues and roots music full of sharp-witted songs and brilliant musicianship. Celebrated throughout the blues world, the band has twice won the coveted Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year, and Estrin has won BMAs for Song of the Year, Traditional Male Blues Artist and Instrumentalist - Harmonica. The Hits Keep Coming is modern blues at it's most potent, with ten sparkling new originals ranging from from crisp, hooky retro-rock to intense, noir-ish blues, along with sublime interpretations of Muddy Water's "Diamonds At Your Feet" and Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows." The songwriting is whip-smart throughout, and the band's ensemble playing is infectious and jaw-dropping.

2021 release from world-renowned blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Chris Cain. The album was produced and recorded by Kid Andersen at San Jose's Greaseland Studio.

Vinyl LP pressing. Marion Little Walter Jacobs was possibly one of the most important blues artists of the post-war era. He not only revolutionised harmonica playing by using amplification to compete with the growling guitars of the Chicago blues movement, he changed the way the harp was perceived and opened up a new world of instrumentation. Walter purposely pushed his amplifiers beyond their intended technical limitations to explore and develop radical new timbres and sonic effects previously unheard from a harmonica or indeed, any other instrument. This natural distortion opened musicians ears to the possibilities of their own instruments and, in many ways, laid the foundations for the blues boom to come along in the sixties. Walter was the first, and to this point, only artist to have a No.1 hit with his self-penned, harp led instrumental Juke. He went on to have numerous R&B chart hits before succumbing to his wild, violent and hard drinking life-style. This LP features all Little Walter's biggest R&B chart hits from his debut No.1 Juke, to his last chart entry in 1959, the ironically titled Everything Gonna Be Alright.

Lil Green was one of leading female American blues and R&B singers and songwriters of the 1940s, with a sensuous and sinuous soprano voice, and a fine sense of phrasing and timing that made her one of the most distinctive blues song stylists of her day. Born in Mississippi, she was brought up with the music of the Delta, and performed in the juke joints there in her teens before heading to Chicago where she did all her recording. This 51-track 2-CD collection comprises just about all the A & B sides of her career releases on Bluebird, Victor, Aladdin and Atlantic labels. It includes her Top 10 R&B hit "Let's Be Friends" and her classic songs "Romance In The Dark" and "Why Don't You Do Right", with compositions from Big Bill Broonzy, Joe McCoy and other writers alongside her self-penned material and her versions of many well-known blues and jazz standards. It features performances with Champion Jack Dupree, Big Bill Broonzy, Ransom Knowling, Simeon Henry, Budd Johnson and other noted musicians from the Chicago scene. While not being an absolutely complete or definitive anthology, this collection offers a substantial proportion of here career recordings, and is a fine showcase for her highly individual style. This collection offers a substantial proportion of here career recordings

Blind Boy Fuller, born in 1904 in North Carolina, was one of the noted bluesmen of the Piedmont school of blues, alongside the likes of Blind Blake, Josh White and Buddy Moss. A as a songwriter, singer and guitarist with a formidable fingerpicking style he occupies a significant niche in the history of blues during the late 1930s and into the 40/, prior to his untimely demise in 1941, His songs had honesty and integrity, reflecting his poor background, but also with a hokum humour redolent with double entendres. This 51-track 20CD collection comprises selected sides from the releases across his career on the Vocalion and Okeh labels, with tracks taken from as many of his sessions as possible in order to provide as representative an overview of his recorded output as we could, with notable titles featured including Rag Mama Rag, Get Your Ya Yas Out (borrowed by the Rolling Stones for an album title), Lost Lover Blues abd Step It Up And Go. It includes recordings with some of his noted collaborators, including harmonica luminary Sonny Terry, guitarist Brownie McGhee and washboard player Bull City Red (aka George Washington. His music is listenable and entertaining, and this collection is an enlightening showcase for a noted bluesman.

Vinyl LP pressing. Etta James' approach to both singing and life was one akin to riot and rebellion that included violence, drug addiction, armed robbery and highly impulsive behaviour. She sang with unrivalled emotion and a pain that can leave the stoniest listener in emotional turmoil. The ferocity of her voice reflected her traumatic life... a neglected child, a teen drug addict, a woman constantly entering into bad relationships and an artist raging against an industry and a society that had routinely discriminated against her. Over a career spanning more than half a century Etta 'Peaches' James has become a true blues icon. Widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential female blues and R&B singers of the post-war era, she has been cited by critics, peers, younger artists whom she influenced, industry insiders and consumer aficionados, as one of most versatile and expressive blues singers. Effortlessly bridging the divides between pure blues, rhythm and blues, rock n' roll, sophisticated pop and jazz with an intensity and passion rarely matched. From Bonnie Raitt to Beyonce, Tina Turner to Adele, Etta James stands alone in her far reaching influence. This LP shines a light on her early career, showcasing some of her greatest and earthiest recordings. From her first single as a delinquent teenager The Wallflower, through to the distinctly Motown influenced Next Door To The Blues we hear just why Etta James is the true embodiment of blues.

FULL TILT is simply the rawest, truest, most electrifying blues being made today. Wielding his slide like a switchblade, Ed stokes the up-tempo tracks to a white-hot intnensity and the tough, slow blues even hotter. A touch of barrelhouse piano and raucous horns adds to the fun and the Blues Imperials, throttle wide-open, match Ed step for step and push him to the best performance of his career.

Following in the footsteps of our 20th, 25th, 30th and 35th Anniversary Collections, which have scanned a combined 400,000 units, comes this budget-priced double CD release celebrating the 40th anniversary of the worlds premier blues label. Featuring 38 songs (over 157 minutes of music) showcasing 40 years of career-defining recordings by a star-studded Who's Who of American blues and roots artists past and present.

Alligator Records rightfully won raves for this series, arguably the greatest modern blues collections out there. Volume four features Detroit Junior ("Some Nerve," "I Got Money"), Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson ("Somebody Have Mercy," "Look What You Done"), Big Leon Brooks ("Country Boy," "My Life Ain't the Same"), Andrew Brown ("Two Years"), Queen Sylvia Embry ("Going Upstairs")...19 tracks, many maddeningly hard to find! Alligator.

ALL THE HITS AND MORE 1923-1940

Alligator's Grammy-winning, best-selling title of all time (which has sold over 285,000 units), remastered on 180-gram vinyl with the added bonus track "Something to Remember You By". Universally recognized as one of the greatest blues albums of all time. A celebrated studio "cutting contest" between three legendary blues guitarists. Albert and Johnny are sadly no longer with us, but Robert Cray continues to record and tour, and is one of the best-selling blues artists in history with over 2.3 million career units scanned.

Alligator's Grammy Award winning, best-selling title of all time, remastered on CD with the added bonus track -Something to Remember You By. Universally recognized as one of the greatest blues albums of all time. A celebrated studio "cutting contest" between three legendary blues guitarists. Albert and Johnny are sadly no longer with us, but Robert Cray continues to record and tour, and is one of the best-selling blues artists in history with over 2.3 million career units scanned.