Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: The Best of the Blues

Overview

A massive media campaign comprising seven documentary films broadcast on public television and released as a DVD box set, plus accompanying soundtrack albums, a 13-part radio series, a companion book, 12 individual artist compilations, and a five-CD box set, The Blues, executive produced by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, threatened to be even more all-pervasive than Ken Burns' Jazz project, after which it was clearly patterned. And you might say it all boiled down to this single-disc distillation, which draws upon the vaults of major labels Universal and Sony. Even if all of that other material didn't make it clear, the absurdity of reducing the blues to a one-hour, 17-track album would be obvious anyway. But the way one judges this disc may depend upon whether it is trying to be "the best of the blues" or "the best of 'The Blues.'" It hasn't much hope of being the former, but as a one-CD sampler of the five-CD set, it does just fine. At the very least, it contains many indisputably classic blues performances by some of the indisputably major blues artists. Purists may object reasonably that it covers a very wide range, from the rural blues of Robert Johnson to the Southern rock of the Allman Brothers Band and the -- what can one call it? -- designer blues of Keb' Mo'. But that is in keeping with the series of films on which the five-CD set and this highlights disc are based. If the album doesn't really work as a collection, despite the individual talents and performances included, that may suggest that "the blues" has long-since become an umbrella term covering many different musical styles, not all of which work well together. And that only demonstrates its pervasive influence. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	03/25/2008
Label:	Sony Music Distribution
UPC:	5099751263623
Rank:	73929

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble   Primary Artist
Bessie Smith   Primary Artist,Vocals
B.B. King   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
The Jimi Hendrix Experience   Primary Artist
Bonnie Raitt   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Eric Clapton   Primary Artist,Guitar
Cassandra Wilson   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers   Primary Artist
Howlin' Wolf   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
Los Lobos   Primary Artist
Keb' Mo'   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Skip James   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Shemekia Copeland   Primary Artist,Vocals
Muddy Waters   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Susan Tedeschi   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
The Allman Brothers Band   Primary Artist
Son House   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Ray Charles   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
Etta James   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Lee Hooker   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Robert Cray   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Robert Johnson   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Janis Joplin   Primary Artist,Vocals
John McVie   Bass
Ivan Neville   Organ
Jody Williams   Guitar
Conrad Lozano   Bass
Herb Lovelle   Drums
Earl Phillips   Drums
Jaimoe   Drums
Mitch Mitchell   Drums
Richard Kermode   Organ
Ben Cauley   Trumpet
Don Wilkerson   Sax (Tenor)
Charlie Dixon   Banjo
Otis Spann   Piano
Butch Trucks   Drums
David "Fathead" Newman   Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Jack Hale   Trombone
Fletcher Henderson   Piano
Cesar Rosas   Guitar
Floyd Newman   Saxophone
Gene Miller   Trumpet
Dr. John   Piano
Joe "Fox" Smith   Cornet
David Hood   Bass
Hughie Flint   Drums
John Mayall   Organ,Vocals
Johnny Lee Schell   Guitar,Vocals
Dickey Betts   Guitar
Louie Perez   Guitar
Hugh McCracken   Guitar
Jimmy Johnson   Guitar
Jeff Haynes   Percussion
Jimmy Harrison   Trombone
Jimi Hendrix   Guitar,Vocals
Lonnie Castille   Drums
Cornelius "Snookey" Flowers   Sax (Baritone)
Noel Redding   Bass
Cougar Estrada   Percussion
Buster Bailey   Clarinet
Gerald Jemmott   Bass
Andrew Love   Sax (Tenor)
Steve Berlin   Sax (Baritone)
Tom West   Organ
Tommy Shannon   Bass
Al Wilson   Harmonica
Danny Kortchmar   Guitar
Maury Baker   Drums
Brad Campbell   Bass
Berry Oakley   Bass
Kevin Breit   Guitar
Jimmy Rogers   Guitar
Chris Layton   Drums
Coleman Hawkins   Clarinet
James "Hutch" Hutchinson   Bass,Vocals
Fred Below   Drums
Gregg Allman   Vocals,Piano (Electric)
Victor Bisetti   Percussion
Charles Chalmers   Saxophone
Duane Allman   Slide Guitar
David Hidalgo   Guitar,Vocals
Little Walter   Harmonica
Hubert Sumlin   Guitar
Jim Horn   Sax (Baritone)
Jeff Scott Young   Organ (Hammond),Vocals,Keyboards
William Peebles   Drums
Roosevelt Sheffield   Bass
Sam Andrews   Guitar
Marvin Sewall   Guitar
Roger Dawkins   Drums
Dewey Oldham   Organ,Piano
Steve Jordan   Drums
Ricky Fataar   Drums
Calvin "Fuzz" Jones   Bass
Aaron Varnell   Saxophone
Albert Lowe   Guitar
Willie Dixon Band   Bass
Willie Weeks   Bass
Jim Lamond   Bass
Pete Thomas   Drums,Percussion
Terry Clements   Sax (Tenor)
Carl Banks   Organ
Riley Webb   Trumpet
Joe Bridgewater   Trumpet
Paul "Harry" Harris   Keyboards
Luis Gasca   Trumpet
Tom Hambridge   Drums

Technical Credits

Andy McKaie   Compilation Producer,Producer
Bert DeCoteaux   String Arrangements,Horn Arrangements
Susan Tedeschi   Composer
Bill Foster   Composer
Bill Szymczyk   Producer
John Hammond, Sr.   Producer
Bonnie Raitt   Producer
Alex Gibney   A&R
Chas Chandler   Producer
J.B. Lenoir   Composer
Frank Driggs   Producer
Jo Trent   Composer
Pat Lawrence   Executive Producer
Vartan   Art Direction
Peter DeRose   Composer
Ellington Jordan   Composer
Gabriel Mekler   Producer
Gavin Lurssen   Mastering
John Harris   Assistant Engineer
Deadric Malone   Composer
John Jackson   Project Manager
Robert Barnett   Project Consultant
John Porter   Producer
Jerry Rappaport   A&R
Jeffrey Peisch   Series Producer
Martin Scorsese   Liner Notes,Executive Producer
Niko Bolas   Mixing
Jimi Hendrix   Composer
Marshall Sehorn   Composer
Rick Hall   Producer
Mike Vernon   Producer
Michele Horie   Project Coordinator
Skip James   Composer
Steve Berlin   Group Member
Steven Berkowitz   A&R
Tommy Shannon   Group Member
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble   Producer
Stevie Ray Vaughan   Composer,Group Member
Harry Richman   Composer
Dana Smart   Associate Producer
Darren Salmieri   A&R
Son House   Composer
Ray Charles   Composer
Chris Layton   Group Member
John Lee Hooker   Composer
Robert Johnson   Composer
Roy Hawkins   Composer
Elmore James   Composer
Janis Joplin   Composer
Don Law   Producer
Pat Thrall   Engineer
Ute Friesleben   Production Coordination
Rhonda Shields   Project Manager
Ellen Nygaard   Icon
Salimah El Amin   Photo Research
Jo Hay   Design
Steve Durkee   Engineer
Max Feldman   Engineer
Adam Owett   Art Direction
Ryan Null   Photo Research
Dan Luskin   Photo Research
Richard Hutton   Video Producer
Jeff Jones   A&R,Executive Producer
Margaret Bodde   Video Producer
Steve Jordan   Producer,Remix Producer
Kevin R. Moore   Composer
Public Domain   Composer
Otis Rush   Composer
Adam Starr   Production Coordination
Tom Dowd   Producer
Willie Dixon   Composer
David Swope   Mixing Assistant
Patti Matheny   A&R
Margery Greenspan   Design
Ulrich Felsburg   Executive Producer
Geary Chansley   Photo Research
Mark A. Humphrey   Liner Notes
Howard Fritzson   Art Direction
Rick Darnell   Composer
Jody Patton   Executive Producer
Christopher Austopchuk   Art Direction
Tom Hambridge   Producer