T-Bone Walker- The Essential T-Bone Walker Collection

This double disc set is well titled, as it contains most of T-Bone’s greatest recordings from his glory years. Disc One comes from his Capitol and Black & White period, and includes his best-known song, “Call It Stormy Monday,” along with his other classics, backed by the cream of the Los Angeles players. Disc Two is the best of his Imperial sides, the sides that B. B. King has said were the recordings that were his greatest inspiration, mostly backed by the warm horn charts of Maxwell Davis, who later performed the same function for B. B. The remastering is awesome; this stuff has never sounded cleaner. You can hear every instrument, not easy on recordings from the late 40s-early 50s. The liner notes are literate and informative, and of generous length. Great photos inside too!

Tracklist:

1. Mean Old World
2. I Got a Break Baby
3. Bobby Sox Baby
4. I’m Gonna Find My Baby
5. It’s a Low Down Dirty Deal
6. T-Bone Jumps Again
7. Call It Stormy Monday
8. She’s My Old Time Used to Be
9. Midnight Blues 1
10. Long Skirt Baby Blues 1
11. I’m Waiting for You Call 1
12. Hypin’ Woman Blues 1
13. Description Blues 1
14. T-Bone Shuffle 1
15. Prison Blues 1
16. I Want a Little Girl 1
17. I’m Still in Love with You 1
18. West Side Baby 1
19. Strollin’ with Bone 2
20. Glamour Girl 2
21. You Don’t Love Me 2
22. The Hustle Is on 2
23. Life Is Too Short 2
24. Alimony Blues 2
25. You Don’t Understand 2
26. I Get So Weary 2
27. Tell Me What’s the Reason 2
28. Cold Cold Feeling 2
29. News for My Baby 3
30. Street Walking Woman 3
31. Here in the Dark 3
32. Blue Mood 3
33. Party Girl 3
34. Love Is Just a Gamble 3
35. High Society 3
36. In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)