Chicago / The Blues / Today! Vol. 1

Any hope of ever catching up on this blog is disappearing in the mist. I got to the end of the M section and decided to double back and cover all the records I had bought in recent months that fell earlier in the alphabet, and then thought I was up to D in that effort, and then a C was added . . . and maybe the idea of getting through everything alphabetically was unrealistic?

This one is brand spanking new. I was at Forever Changes last week, browsing through his robust blues section, and this jumped into my hands and I kinda gasped.

Actually, I think I squealed with excitement. I didn’t know there were re-releases of this fantastic collection, and Shawn said he hadn’t pointed it out to me because he thought I had it already (I only had Vol. 2). I couldn’t get this on the turntable fast enough.

And I’m super-pleased with it. A tremendous 1966 collection of tracks of Junior Wells (and Buddy Guy!), J.B. Hutto and Otis Spann, in a sparkling pressing from Craft Records. This beauty, its follow-up, and a separate Otis Spann record that I bought the same day haven’t left my turntable all week.