This release is a little confusing, coming out as it does more than a
year after the release of MCA-Chess's Little Walter rarities collection
Blues With A Feeling, and two years after the double CD anthology set
that contains most of the best parts of this collection. Still, for those
who can't afford either of those pricey sets, this disc, coupled with
the two best-of volumes, and the other Walter compilations, fills in some
holes that are well worth filling. Made up of songs cut between 1953 and
1959 -- none of which had ever appeared on LP before the original 1974
release of this collection -- the selection features Walter in his prime,
playing alongside Robert Lockwood Jr. and Louis Myers or Luther Tucker
on guitar (with Muddy Waters present, on slide, on one indispensable track,
"Rock Bottom"), mostly Willie Dixon on bass, and Fred Below
on the drums, with Lafayette Leake or Otis Spann on piano. His harp work
was never than first rate during the era covered by this collection, and
there are some top flight instrumentals featured, but the material (check
out "Crazy Legs," with its dazzling interplay between Walter
on harp and Louis and Dave Myers on guitars) here also features some of
Walter's best singing, including the romantic "One More Chance with
You," the quietly raunchy "Temperature," and "Confessin'
the Blues." The sound, as is usual on these MCA-Chess reissues, is
superb, although certain tracks, such as "I Got to Go," seem
slightly compressed.
(by Bruce Eder, All
Music Guide)
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