New Orleans became a blues town in the late 1940s, when the likes of Roy Brown, Smiley Lewis, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Guitar Slim, T-Bone Walker, Little Richard and Ray Charles made their way to Cosimo Matassa’s tiny studio to lay down a series of classic songs that defined rhythm & blues. The city had the best backing musicians, too, who took wild, jazz-inflected solos while laying down rhythm tracks that managed to be both loose and tight. Bluesmen like Papa Lightfoot, Boogie Bill Webb, Roosevelt Sykes and Elmore James kept their music righteous, along with Jesse Allen, Earl King, Pee Wee Crayton, Eddie Lang and Sammy Myers.Memorable songs collected here include ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’, ‘The Fat Man’, ‘Stack-A-Lee’, ‘The Things That I Used To Do’, ‘Let The Good Times Roll’, ‘Directly From My Heart’, ‘Mardi Gras In New Orleans’, ‘Dust My Blues’, ‘I Wonder Who’ and the original ‘See You Later Alligator’. Who said the blues has to be sad?
Disc 1
01 - Richard (Rabbit) Brown - James Alley 03:11
02 - Lillian Glinn - Where Have All The Black Men Gone 02:59
03 - Will Day - Central Avenue Blues 03:11
04 - Mary Butler - Electrocuted Blues 02:49
05 - Bo Chatman - Good Old Turnip Greens 03:10
06 - Dewey Segura - Far Away From Home Blues 03:22
07 - Blind Willie Johnson - God Moves On The Water 03:03
08 - Christina Gray - The Reverend Is My Man 02:54
09 - Amd Ardoin - Blues de Basille 03:07
10 - Bo Carter & Walter Jacobs - Time Is Tight Like That 03:13
11 - Amd Ardoin - Les Blues de la Prison 03:11
12 - The Mississippi Sheiks - Lean To One Woman 03:03
13 - Lawrence Walker - Alberta 03:05
14 - Harry Carter - These Jackson Women Will Not Treat You Right 03:33
15 - Little Brother Montgomery - Vicksburg Blues No 2 03:00
16 - Falcon Trio - Raise Your Window 02:53
17 - Bo Carter - Ride My Mule 02:54
18 - Walter Jacobs - Rats Been On My Cheese 02:47
19 - Oscar Woods - Evil Hearted Woman 03:08
20 - Robert Hill - You Gonna Look Like A Monkey When You Get Old 02:57
21 - Bo Carter - Bo Carter's Advice 03:15
22 - Chatman Brothers - If You Don't Want Me Please Don't Dog Me Around 03:18
23 - Robert Hill - Lumber-Yard Blues 02:37
24 - Tommy Griffin - Young Heifer Blues 03:26
25 - Little Brother Montgomery - Crescent City Blues 02:36
Disc 2
01 - Roy Brown - Good Rockin' Tonight 03:02
02 - Annie Laurie - Annie's Blues 02:50
03 - Smiley Lewis - Here Comes Smiley 02:36
04 - Chubby Hip Shakin' Newsom - New Orleans Lover Man 02:58
05 - Dave Bartholomew - Girt Town Blues 03:04
06 - Erline Harris - Never Missed My Baby 02:19
07 - James Blazer Boy Locks - New Orleans Women Blues 02:43
08 - Professor Longhair & His Shuffling Hungarians - Mardi Gras In New Orleans 02:27
09 - Tommy Ridgley - Shrewsbury Blues 03:06
10 - Jewel King - 3 x 7 = 21 02:38
11 - Fats Domino - The Fat Man 02:40
12 - Larry Darnell - Pack Your Rags And Go 02:22
13 - George Miller & His Mid-Driffs - Driffs - Bat-Lee Swing 02:52
14 - Archibald - Stack-A Lee Part 1 02:18
15 - Rodney Harris - Blow Your Top 02:33
16 - Alma Mondy - Street Walkin' Daddy 02:46
17 - Eddie Jones & His Playboys - New Arrival 02:36
18 - Ray Lewis - Jealous Blues 02:51
19 - Lloyd Price - Mailman Blues 02:14
20 - Blazer Boy - Joe's Kid Sister 02:55
21 - Papa Lightfoot - PL Blues 02:26
22 - Big Joe Turner - Crawdad Hole 02:39
23 - Boogie Bill Webb - Bad Dog 02:22
24 - Ray Johnson - I'll Never Let You Go 02:46
25 - Ray Charles - I Wonder Who 02:49
Disc 3
01 - Guitar Slim - The Things That I Used To Do 03:04
02 - Herbert Woo Woo Moore - Something's Wrong 02:16
03 - Fats Matthews - Goin' Down 02:42
04 - T-Bone Walker - Bone Walker - Pony Tail 02:21
05 - Sugar Boy & His Cane Cutters - Jock-A-Mo 02:29
06 - Willie Johnson - Say Baby 02:19
07 - Papa Lightfoot - Wine, Women & Whiskey 02:15
08 - Leonard Lee - When The Sun Goes Down 03:01
09 - Blanche Thomas - You Ain't So Much A Much 02:25
10 - Earl King - Eating And Sleeping 02:18
11 - Pee Wee Crayton - Runnin' Wild 02:31
12 - Billy Tate - Single Life 02:17
13 - Roosevelt Sykes - Sweet Old Chicago 02:26
14 - Boo Breeding - Country Woman 02:27
15 - Elmore James - Dust My Blues 03:13
16 - Little Richard - Directly From My Heart 02:23
17 - Big Boy Myles & The Shaw-Wees - Wees - Who's Been Foolin' You 01:54
18 - Bobby Charles - See You Later Alligator 02:53
19 - Shirley & Lee - Let The Good Times Roll 02:27
20 - Roy Brown - Let The Four Winds Blow 02:05
21 - Jesse Allen - Goodbye Blues 03:17
22 - Eddie Lang - Troubles, Troubles 03:02
23 - Ernie K-Doe - Doe - There's A Will There's A Way 02:36
24 - Ford Eaglin (Snooks Eaglin) - That Certain Door 03:19
25 - Sammy Myers - You Don't Have To Go 02:31
