Bullseye in the Bargain Bin

Sometimes the best quality music can be found in the most unlikely places, provided you know the songs and the artists, so combing the discount racks in your local music emporium can be rewarding. I stumbled on the "Blues" series of Jukebox Hits one day, amazed as I scanned the artists and cuts to have uncovered so much great music for so little - 4 CDS for under 10 bucks.
The trade-off is that the collection was mastered in Holland on some obscure label, so all you get is the names of the artists and the tunes but no info as to when and where or with whom.

Looking randomly at Volume 3 reveals two cuts by Ray Charles that aren't very good. You'd think that all the music made by a genius like Charles would be superior. It's obvious here that he had the feel of the blues but was still refining that distinctive sound that would earn his place in American music.

John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun" was supposedly made in 1947, apparently getting some airplay in Detroit. Although his deep growl of a voice is unmistakable, the music is simply one protracted, driving guitar riff, a signature sound that was picked up by both Canned Heat and Norman Greenbaum. Always imitated, never equalled, Hooker's presence is dark and ominous but authentic.

Bo Diddley may very well be one of America's most underrated guitar stylists, always willing to take chances with his box guitar, to drift from blues to jazz to psychedelic rock back to "gut bucket" R & B. "Doctor Jeckyll" is another good excuse for Bo to demonstrate to a newer audience that he holds the original Phd in rock.

"Everyday I Have The Blues" evokes the early Twentieth Century lone bluesman tickling the ivories. Lowell Fulsom delivers on this cut, hitting just the right mix of world-weariness and bouncy keyboards. The song has been covered by B.B. King and a few others.

Pianists Roosevelt Sykes and Memphis Slim are represented here with "Out on a Limb" and "Harlem Bound". Sykes' supposedly had big hands that allowed his fingers to stretch across and encompass more of the keyboard, while Slim's playing was smooth and melodious, "Harlem Bound" dealing with that favorite blues motif - the train- as well as a tongue-in-cheek imitation of the conductor calling off the stations as the train approached "One Hundred Twenty Fifth Street".

Jimmy Witherspoon contributes a jazzy version of "Kansas City", and the disc closes out with "Trouble Blues" , a lament over broken love from Charles Brown. I'll get back to more of these tunes eventually, but don't forget - just because its on sale doesn't mean its Iron Butterfly's second album or one of those so-called "Greatest Hits" collections where maybe two out of a dozen songs were actually hits. Keep your eyes open for greatness.