Chicago/The Blues/Today!

VINYL FORMAT. This series accurately portrayed a vast cross section of the Chicago blues scene as one could hear it on any given night in the mid-'60s. Rather than record full albums, each artist simply came in for a union-approved session of four to six songs, with each volume featuring three different groupings. With these recordings, blues suddenly gained respectability as something much more vital and vibrant than just a poor cousin of jazz. This new packaging puts all three volumes together, but with no bonus tracks, as no extras were recorded for these sessions. A plus in the new packaging, is that it features a nice booklet with detailed, updated notes from Samuel Charters, a nice appreciation from Ed Ward, and absolutely eye-boggling session photos taken by Charters' wife, Ann.