An Anthology Of 20th Century Blues (Various Artists)

The Acrobat catalogue contains a wealth of blues collections by artists from across the spectrum of the genre, and this fantastic-value 100-track 4-CD set comprises recordings selected from just about every artist represented in the catalogue, and offering a rich cross-section of the finest blues of the 20th century. Inevitably it draws on every strand of the blues and just about every regional variation, from country blues from the Delta, to electric blues from Chicago, post-war California blues, New Orleans blues, Piedmont blues, New York Blues and more. The genre's most influential luminaries and it's biggest stars are all here - B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Bill Bill Broonzy, Charley Patton, Howlin' Wolf, Bessie Smith, Lightnin' Hopkins, Ma Rainey, and dozens more. Presented more or less in chronological order, it offers an extraordinary feast of music which provides not only a window on the development of the music of the African-American population of the USA, who provide the vast majority of the recordings here, but an anecdotal social commentary on their lives and observations which are the subject of many of the songs. It's a collection which anyone with the remotest interest in the blues will undoubtedly enjoy.