VA - Sonny Boy Williamson - The Classic Sides 1951-1954 [4CD Bos Set] (2006)
4CD | EAC-Rip | FLAC-tracks +cue +log +Booklet/SCANS | 20 Feb. 2006 | 665 Mb
Genre: Blues | RAR 3% Rec. | Label: JSP Records | Hotfile, Fileserve
Despite the name on the box set, this is a Trumpet Records rather than a Sonny Boy Williamson compilation. Most of the songs are by artists other than Sonny, and most of those don't even feature him as guest harp player. It is a great compilation of Sonny's tracks for that label, including alternate takes, but it's more than that. It's the story of Sonny's Trumpet Records. He was the label's star, and this box set charts artists - friends and accompanists - that orbited him then, including B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (Elvis Presley's favourite), Elmore James and Little Milton. Trumpet was the first label to record Sonny, and here the songs that he'd reprise for Chess might be more primitive, but it's their vitality that makes them better (compare "Eyesight To The Blind" on Trumpet with "Born Blind" on Chess).