Offering a wide range of sounds in a small, inexpensive, novice-friendly package, the harmonica played a key role in the development of the blues, a sound that continues to resonate in the modern blues world. The compilation Mississippi Saxophone: The Great Blues Harmonica Players reviews this history, covering artists who helped define the harmonica blues sound as well as those who continue its legacy. Taking a dual-minded approach, the collection focuses on artists known for their techniques -- Big Walter Horton's colorful solos, Sonny Boy Williamson II's warble-like hand effects, Little Walter's punchy amplified sounds -- while traveling from the title state (Charlie Musselwhite) to Chicago (James Cotton) and across the pond to the U.K.
CD1
01. Sonny Boy Williamson I - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (3:01)
02. Sonny Boy Williamson I - Shake The Boogie (2:48)
03. Sonny Terry - Whoopin' The Blues (2:45)
04. Sonny Terry - Telephone Blues (3:27)
05. Big Walter Horton - Easy (3:00)
06. Big Walter Horton - Walking By Myself (2:06)
07. Little Walter - Juke (2:47)
08. Little Walter - My Babe (2:41)
09. Junior Wells feat. Elmore James - Hoodoo Man (3:09)
10. Junior Wells feat. Elmore James - Junior's Wail (2:57)
11. Howlin' Wolf - Sitting On Top Of The World (2:34)
12. Howlin' Wolf - I've Been Abused (2:18)
13. Jimmy Reed - Honest I Do (2:41)
14. Jimmy Reed - Caress Me Baby (2:48)
15. Sonny Boy Williamson II - Fattening Frogs For Snakes (2:22)
16. Sonny Boy Williamson II - Nine Below Zero (3:30)
17. Slim Harpo - One More Day (2:27)
18. Slim Harpo - Buzz Me Baby (2:18)
19. Paul Butterfield - Got My Mojo Working (3:11)
20. Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson & Canned Heat - I'd Rather Be The Devil (5:12)
CD2
01. Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson & Canned Heat - I Wish You Would (4:18)
02. James Cotton - Creeper Creeps Again (5:21)
03. James Cotton - Rocket 88 (2:34)
04. Jerry Portnoy & Muddy Waters - Garbage Man (5:15)
05. Jerry Portnoy & Muddy Waters - Jerry Portnoy's Boogie (3:27)
06. Billy Boy Arnold & The Groundhogs - Dirty Mother F. (6:30)
07. Billy Boy Arnold & The Groundhogs - Riding The El (2:49)
08. John Mayall - Why Worry (3:07)
09. John Mayall - Roadshow (4:16)
10. King Biscuit Boy - Step Back Baby (2:15)
11. King Biscuit Boy - Done Everything I Can (3:08)
12. Charlie Musselwhite & John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - I Got A Rich Man's Woman (4:31)
13. Bruce Ewan & Big Gilson - Blue And Lonesome (4:39)
14. Bruce Ewan & Big Gilson - Judgment Day (3:20)
15. Kim Wilson & Big Jack Johnson - Humming Blues (3:59)
16. Kim Wilson & Marie Knight - Death Don't Have No Mercy (6:10)
17. Kellie Rucker - Love And War (2:46)
18. Kellie Rucker - Mississippi Rain (4:06)
19. Giles Robson - Twenty Gallons Of Muddy Water (4:05)
20. Giles Robson - Keep On Diggin' (2:49)
