CDs
John Lee Hooker - Legendary Modern Recordings contains some great early recordings. Since he recorded so many songs so many different times, it's hard to refer to any Hooker song as "an original," but this collection is pretty great!
Jody Williams In Session - Just bought this as I try to learn how to play some of his licks and instrumentals. He is one of the most unsung and underrated Chicago blues guitarists. This CD showcases his playing with a wide variety of artists - including Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters.
Gatemouth Brown Boogie Uproar - the ultimate collection of early Gatemouth Brown guitar playing!
Little Walter - this is a collection of his sides for Chess/Checker during the 1950s - his best stuff. Every song features some sort of creative backing guitar work by the Myers Brothers, Robert Jr. Lockwood, and others.
Buddy Guy - This 2-CD collection includes most of his epic Chess recordings - which, IMO, still represent his best guitar playing.
BB King - The Birth of A King: Just bought this to do my homework for the first part of a three-part Udemy Series I'm putting together. It includes his 1947-1953 recordings.
Goree Carter - a friend gave me these two CDs - a great way to get into another unheralded early electric blues guitarist.
Pee Wee Crayton - Modern Legacy Volumes I & II include, in my opinion, the best Pee Wee Crayton tunes - lots of instrumentals.
Freddy King - Blues Guitar Hero Volume 2 is a great CD! It includes some of Freddy's standard tunes + a number of more obscure songs and alternate takes of several instrumentals.
Freddy King - Just Pickin' is a compilation of Freddy's two great instrumental albums that includes almost all of his great guitar instrumental hits. I have this on vinyl too - found it on E-Bay for $10!
Jimmy Rogers "Chicago Bound" is a solid collection of his early Chess recordings - my favorites.
Howlin' Wolf - The Chess Box is another epic CD collection of the Wolf's greatest sides. Cuts include both Willie Johnson and Hubert Sumlin on guitar!
This is a fantastic compilation of blues songs recorded at Sun Records. The first part of it is all instrumentals by Earl Hooker - including "The Drive" and "Blue Guitar."
This may be the ultimate Muddy Waters CD set - a multi disc compilation of his greatest early sides.
A friend of mine put this on a blank CD for me a number of years ago. I had most of the tunes on a cassette tape years before - introducing me to the wonderful guitar of Guitar Gable. There might be better options today!
I sold my vinyl collection of these tunes, but found them all later on this CD collection of Wolf's Sun recordings - with Willie Johnson on guitar!
Great Sonny Boy II collections featuring all kinds of guitar from Robert Jr. Lockwood, Luther Tucker, and others. 2 CDs!
This is a GREAT Freddy King compilation! It does not have all of his instrumentals, but it does include some + his best vocal cuts from the early sixties. 2-CDs!
This is a great 2-CD set for anyone looking to get into Jimmy Reed. It's got most of his best songs on it plus some rarities.