Not Now

Hooker John Lee: Anthology [3 CD]

180 gram vinyl.

Listening to the tracks here made Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Peter Green, Jimmy Page and untold others decide that music would be their life. When his first long player came out in 1961, Robert Johnson had already been dead for 23 years. Little was known of his life, save for the handful of recordings released during his lifetime, and consequently the legend has too often overshadowed the powerful, haunting music Robert Johnson made. Remarkably, for half a century there wasn't even a photograph of him.

James Etta: Very best of... (Coloured) [Gatefold / 2 Vinyl LP]

Ma Rainey: Ma Rainey's black bottom 1924-29 [Digipack / 2 CD]

Best of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues [Digipack / 2 CD]

Many artists who began in the fifties are claimed to be amongst the most influential on those who followed them, and there can be little doubt that Odetta is predominant in the folk music field. Her case is made clearly by two music legends: Bob Dylan told Playboy: "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta. I heard a record of hers, Odetta Sings Ballads & Blues in a record store... Right then and there I went out and traded my electric guitar and amplifier for an acoustic guitar, a flat-top Gibson. That album was something vital and personal. I learned all the songs on that record." Joan Baez put it more succinctly in a 1983 Rolling Stone interview, "Odetta was a goddess. Her passion moved me. I learned everything she sang."