Very Best of The Blues

The Best of The Doors is a compilation album by The Doors released in 2000, and is different from the album of the same name released in 1973 and 1985. All three versions of this album feature a slightly different track listing and a different photograph of the band's late singer Jim Morrison as cover art. Unlike its eponymous predecessors, the 2000 release includes both "Break on Through (to the Other Side)" and "The End" in their uncensored form.

The phrase "very best of" in an album title usually indicates a highly selective collection of an artist's career highlights.

An overview of Teddy Bunn's recording activities during the 1930s reveals a skilled guitarist working shoulder to shoulder with many of the top jazz musicians of his generation, invariably bringing out the best in every participant, for as he himself frankly explained: "I have a very good ear and can usually sense what the cats are going to play a split second before they do it." Born in Freeport, Long Island, in 1909, Theodore Leroy "Teddy" Bunn grew up in a multi-instrumental family and gained his first professional experience accompanying a calypso singer. Bunn's recording debut took place on September 16, 1929. On that day he made records with Walter "Fats" Pichon and Henry "Red" Allen as well as Duke Ellington's Cotton Club Orchestra…

There's a certain relief that the 2002 double-disc set The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac doesn't even attempt to dabble in the early blues work of the Peter Green band, and treats the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as ground zero…

Pruning 16 tracks from Hopkins' extensive catalog for a best-of meant that some hard choices had to be made. The ones Rhino came up with won't satisfy everyone, but the label did take the correct road by sticking exclusively to the earliest part of his career, 1947-61. Perhaps the decision will offend some fans who feel that his 1960s and '70s work should be represented, but two things should be acknowledged. First, Hopkins, as is the case with most artists, did his most interesting recordings in the earlier part of his career. Second, as is the case with many blues artists, he did not vary his approach substantially throughout the decades. So what you have is a good assortment of his first 15 years on disc, taken from about ten labels, including both originals and covers, and placing the singer/guitarist in various instrumental contexts: with a full electric band (Sonny Terry is on a couple of 1961 cuts), as a solo guitarist, or accompanied by nothing more than a bass or additional guitarist. It's a good deal for those who want only one Hopkins disc, and for those who want a best-of that's more extensive, there's Rhino's own two-disc anthology, Mojo Hand.