Recommended Recordings – Compilations
As part of Our Recommendations and Recommended Recordings, here are some Recommended Compilations and Box Sets. Please note that this list is a work in progress and we will be adding more titles over time:
- Broadcasting The Blues: Black Blues In The Segregation Era, a 3 CD set compiled by blues historian Paul Oliver
- Rude Dudes, a 2 CD set of classic early blues recordings about sex, selected by former Rolling Stones bass player Bill Wyman
Fat Possum Records
- The George Mitchell Collection Volumes 1-45 – a 7 CD set on Fat Possum Records containing selected recordings of many blues musicians recorded by blues historian and researcher George Mitchell
- Legends of Country Blues – contains the complete early recordings of Booker “Bukka” White, Son House and Skip James, along with the complete recordings of Tommy Johnson and Ishmon Bracey.
- Masters of Memphis Blues – 4 CD box set with the complete early recordings (1928-1935) of Furry Lewis and Robert Wilkins along with other selected recordings by early Memphis bluesmen.
- Mississippi Blues Rare Cuts 1926-1941 – When The Levee Breaks – among other tracks, this contains the four Mississippi Jook Band recordings mentioned on the Mississippi Blues Trail marker for Roots Of Rock And Roll in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
- Paramount Masters – a 4CD Box Set collection of 100 Paramount Records sides on JSP Records
- Sonny Boy Williamson – Cool, Cool Blues – actually a compilation of all Trumpet Records releases 1951-1954 which also contains all the Sonny Boy Williamson recordings made by Trumpet Records.
Proper Records
Cosimo Matassa’s recordings studios in New Orleans recorded some of the best R&B that came out of New Orleans between 1945 and 1966, including the Fats Domino recordings for Imperial Records and the Little Richard recordings for Specialty Records.
The Cosimo Matassa Story and the Cosimo Matassa Story Vol. 2 on Proper Records are both 4 CD sets containing an excellent overview of Cosimo Matassa’s studio recordings.
Although Cosimo Matassa’s studios are no longer in business, the buildings where they were located are still standing at 838 North Rampart Street and 523-525 Governor Nicholles Street in New Orleans.
Sun Records
- Sun Records – The Ultimate Blues Collection – a 3 CD set, 75 tracks
- Sonny Boy Williamson – Cool, Cool Blues – actually a compilation of all Trumpet Records releases 1951-1954 which also contains all the Sonny Boy Williamson recordings made by Trumpet Records.
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