The Alligator Records 25th Anniversary Collection

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Producers include: Port Barlow, Jim Bateman, Fred Brietberg, Scott Dirks, Jon Foose, Bob Greenlee, Kevin Hill, Larry Hoffman, Ice Cube Slim, Bruce Iglauer, Vasti Jackson, Criss Johnson, Andy Kaslow, Mark Kazanoff, Karl Emil Knudsen, Richard McLeese, Allison Miner, Kevin Morrow, Eddy Offord, Tary Owens, Wesley Race, Dick Shurman, James Solberg, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Wilson, Brian Young. Compilation producers: Bruce Iglauer, Bob DePugh, David Forte. Engineers include: Tom Anderson, David Axelbaum, Rick Bailey, Port Barlow, Bryan Bassett, Stu Black, Fred Breitberg, William Clarke, David Farrell, Sam Fishkin, Julian Herzfeld, Warren King, Gene Lawson, Sam Lehmer, Bill McElroy, Andrew McIntire, Steve Mendell, Justin Niebank, Glenn Nishida, Eddy Offord, Bob Ozowski, Peter Reiniger, Ivar Rosenberg, Bill Thompson, John Villani, Jim Watts, Mark Williams, Brian Young. Recorded between 1963 and 1995. Includes liner notes by Bob Iglauer. This is a specially priced, two-CDs-for-the-price-of-one photo-cube set, loaded with great stuff from Charlie Musselwhite, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Johnny Winter, Billy Boy Arnold, Lonnie Mack, and a host of others who have trotted their wares on the label over the years. Besides giving the novice one great introduction to the label (as the music runs from traditional to modern), the big bonus here is a treasure trove of previously unissued tracks from Roy Buchanan (a chaotic version of Link Wray's "Jack the Ripper"); Floyd Dixon (a recut of his Blues Brothers-approved hit "Hey Bartender"); Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland in a marvelous outtake from the Showdown! album ("Something to Remember You By"); and the band that started it all, Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers, with a crazed version of Elmore James' "Look on Yonder's Wall," as sloppy as it is cool. Very good stuff and at these prices, a bargain and then some. ~ Cub Koda

Q (8/96, p.142) - 3 Stars - Good - "...a strong 2-CD set which contains all the joy, all the pain, all the triumph of modern blues, be it electric or acoustic, city or country, purist or diluted by rock....a sweet sampler of America's finest contemporary blues label." Mojo (Publisher) (6/96, p.124) - "...[this collection] can hardly be beaten: every player in the story is here, from old Hound Dog to the razor-sharp new blues of Michael Hill's Blues Mob, by way of Johnny Winter, Professor Longhair et al..."

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