Various

It could be easily argued that there is no such thing as a "number one" blues album. However, as a proper indoctrination into the blues for the uninitiated, this isn't bad. In fact, it's a value-packed party record that mixes old with new in the hopes of cross-pollinating a rock audience to a blues-based one. Nothing too in-depth; nothing representing too big a jump to make, but something to curry interest in areas deserving of further investigation with some effort made to relate the beginnings of the blues to the more rock-oriented blues artists that followed in their largely unheralded footsteps. Little Milton to the Allmans; Elmore James to Luther Allison; Eric Clapton with Duane Allman to Otis Spann; Etta James to Buddy Guy; Albert King to B.B., this is a current collection of artists that remain vital and, in most cases, are still performing. This is not a history lesson with too much homework to do; it's simply a tasteful sampling of the blues in the context of "today" and with an ear to tomorrow.