26 songs from
Dixon
's 1948-1950 sessions for
Modern
are compiled here, mostly taken from singles that appeared on
between 1949 and 1951, but also including seven previously unissued tracks. These were
's first recordings, but his style was already in place, both on uptempo jump blues and ballads, sounding like fellow Los Angeles-based pianist
Charles Brown
on the slower tunes. This would rate a little below the compilations of his later 1950s sides for
Specialty
and
Capitol
, as those include his best and best-known recordings, such as
"Hey Bartender,"
"Wine, Wine, Wine,"
"Call Operator 210,"
"Tired, Broke and Busted."
This remains quality transitional West Coast blues, from that time when jazz and blues were intersecting to shape R&B, a movement that had
artists such as
at the forefront.
session musicians such as saxophonist
Maxwell Davis
and guitarists
Tiny Webb
Chuck Norris
were sympathetic and sometimes exciting accompanists for
on his
dates. As is the case with compilations of
R&B from this period, though, the songs do sometimes get too close to each other in arrangement and mood when they're grouped together en masse. This includes his first R&B hit (and biggest for
), the slow
"Dallas Blues,"
although the peppier jump blues are definitely more interesting. ~ Richie Unterberger