Earl Hooker was the “blues guitarists’ guitarist,” the most respected six-string wizard in Chicago blues musicians’circles during the 1950s and ’60s. A cousin of John Lee Hooker and a protégé of slide guitar master RobertNighthawk, Hooker was an endlessly inventive axeman who would likely have been a star had his modest vocalabilities matched his instrumental prowess and had he not suffered from chronic tuberculosis (which would lead to hisdeath at the tender age of 41).

This collector's cd presents most of Hooker's finest efforts. It compiles 30 remastered tracks, including those sensational and hard-to-find sides he recorded for a varietyof labels between 1952 and 1963(such as Argo, King, Chief, Age and U.S.A. Records).

EARL HOOKER, electric guitar(and lead vocals on track 4), plus:

Junior Wells (vocals & harmonica), Jackie Brenston, Lillian Offitt (vocals)A.C. Reed (vocals & tenor sax), Julian Beasley (alto sax), Earnest Johnson (bass),Lafayette Leake, Pinetop Perkins (piano), Johnny “Big Moose” Walker (organ& piano), Bobby Little (drums), among others.

Recorded in Chicago, between 1952 and 1963.

• 1. Blue Guitar
• 2. Blues In D Natural
• 3. Rockin' Wild
• 4. Win the Dance
• 5. Rockin' With the Kid
• 6. Universal Rock [With Junior Wells]
• 7. Galloping Horses a Lazy Mule [With Junior Wells]
• 8. Calling All Blues [With Junior Wells]
• 9. Off the Hook
• 10. Frog Hop
• 11. Swear To Tell the Truth
• 12. Apache War Dance
• 13. This Little Voice
• 14. Nothing But Good [With Reggie Boyd]
• 15. The Bright Sound
• 16. That Man
• 17. Oh, Mama
• 18. You'd Better Be Sure
• 19. That Ain't Right
• 20. I Wanna Be Free
• 21. These Cotton Pickin' Blues
• 22. Crying Blues
• 23. I Stay Mad
• 24. Lotta Lovin'
• 25. Race Track
• 26. The Leading Brand
• 27. Want You To Rock Me [With Jackie Brenston]
• 28. Little By Little [With Junior Wells & Willie Dixon]
• 29. Don't You Ever Forget It
• 30. How Long Can This Go On