Downhome Blues Sessions 5: Back in the Alley/ Var - The Downhome Blues Sessions, Vol. 5: Back In The Alley 1949-1954

2008 release, the latest installment in the Modern Down Home series with a package that upholds and often surpasses the standards set by the first four volumes. This one concentrates on artists from the Bay Area of California and offers some of the most unvarnished and basic down home recordings of the whole series. None of these tracks or takes are currently available on Ace CDs (in fact, very few have been issued prior to this release). Jimmy McCracklin and Lowell Fulsom are the most familiar names but the other artists are very collectable with their original singles and 78s almost impossible to find and no less noteworthy musically. A high class offering in every respect, and one that that will spur fresh interest in the previous volumes. Ace Records. 2008.