Jody Vassallo

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Some of the releases in MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series have been downright baffling, essentially just cutting a few tracks from an already-existing hits package. Jody Watley's installment is one of those – aside from the 1998 non-LP single "Off the Hook," which is only available here, every song on this compilation can be found on 1996's Greatest Hits, which also features four songs not present here (and is still in print). Granted, if you buy The Millennium Collection, you know you'll be getting the original single mixes (i.e., the ones that received radio airplay), whereas Greatest Hits did feature a few remixes, including one of the Top Ten hit "Some Kind of Lover" (which some fans may want in the original version).

The boastful title is no exaggeration; this is a welcome return for the classic Chicago blues sideman, who, primarily because of the misfortune of his music being exploited by other musicians, took a self-imposed retirement for nearly 30 years. It's especially rewarding since Williams – whose work you hear on early Howlin' Wolf, Otis Spann, Bo Diddley, Billy Boy Arnold (who guests here) sides – hadn't played a lick during that time, keeping his guitar stashed under his bed. He sounds like he never put the instrument away on this album, the first cohesive disc under his own name ever. Aided by comparative youngsters Tinsley Ellis, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Rusty Zinn, along with a 21-year-old Sean Costello, Williams holds the spotlight like the pro his is. Though well into his sixties when this was recorded in 2001, he sounds remarkably vibrant, completely confident, and totally in his element.