Blues LPs part 8

I'm completing this series on blues LPs with some photos of albums by some of the blues greats and some compilations. The first photo features one by Katie Webster, who I remember seeing at The Venue in New Cross in the early nineties. The rest are all by the great Muddy Waters and includes one on the Python label, of which only 99 copies were made. There are also quite a few on Pye International and Chess.

The next group starts with an LP by Washboard Sam with Big Bill Broonzy and Memphis Slim, and two by Chuck Willis, whose R and B hits included 'C C Rider' and 'What Am I Living For' but who died aged just 32.There are three by by exciting R and B performer Barrance Whitfield, who is equally at home performing at rock and roll and blues shows. The remaining LPs are by Josh White, who was possibly the first blues artist to cut through in the UK, and include two ten inch London LPs and two on the Bounty label. Josh was an early advocate for black rights and was sadly caught up in the McCarthy era anti communist witch hunt.

Photo number three includes one more LP by Josh White and two by Delta blues guitarist Bukka White. There's also one by Artie 'Blues Boy' White, which he signed for me when he appeared, alongside Travis Haddix, in a village hall near Peterborough in 2007. There are also four albums by blues harmonica player Junior Wells, who i saw several times playing alongside Buddy Guy. Also one by Leo Buddy Welch - another signed LP which I bought from him on the street in Clarksdale in 2015. Although born in 1932 his recording career didn't begin until 2014, three years before his death. There's also one by Jimmy Witherspoon, one by Delta bluesman Big Joe Williams with Sonny Boy Williamson and one by jazz singer Joe Williams with the Count Basie band.

The next montage includes one more by Big Joe Williams and one by Otis Williams, former member of doowop group the Charms, with the Midnight Cowboys. There's one by Sonny Boy Williamson and half a dozen by Jimmy Witherspoon, including albums with Wilbur de Paris, Ben Webster and Brother Jack McDuff. The final LP is by Billy Wright who was a big influence on Little Richard.

Photo number five begins with three LPs by early boogie woogie pianist Jimmy Yancey, including one with his wife. We then move on to blues compilations and I have been fairly selective here, just picking those of most interest. This selection includes several compilations of recordings from the Duke/Peacock and Veejay labels, including 'The Duke and the Peacock', which came out in the UK on Island. Also included are two LPs of Texas blues on Arhoolie, and two double LPs on Blue Horizon.

The next group includes several compilations on the Chess, Pye International and Golden Guinea labels and two classic Stateside LPs from the early sixties featuring Excello artists.

Finally here is another selection which includes one from Blues at Newport 1964 and one of several featuring artists who came over to Europe on the folk blues tours of the mid sixties - my first introduction to live blues. There are also three examples of urban blues and rural blues compilations on Liberty/Imperial, 'Dirt Blues' on Minit and a couple in the Southern Folk Heritage series released on London Atlantic.