This release is a little confusing, coming out as it does more than a year after the release of MCA-Chess'
Little Walter rarities collection
Blues with a Feeling, and two years after the double-CD anthology set that contains most of the best parts of this collection. Still, for those who can't afford either of those pricey sets, this disc, coupled with the two best-of volumes, and the other
Walter compilations, fills in some holes that are well worth filling. Made up of songs cut between 1953 and 1959 -- none of which had ever appeared on LP before the original 1974 release of this collection -- the selection features
Walter in his prime, playing alongside
Robert Lockwood, Jr. and
Louis Myers or
Luther Tucker on guitar (with
Muddy Waters present on slide on one indispensable track, "Rock Bottom"), mostly
Willie Dixon on bass, and
Fred Below on the drums, with
Lafayette Leake or
Otis Spann on piano. His harp work was never than first rate during the era covered by this collection, and there are some top flight instrumentals featured, but the material (check out "Crazy Legs," with its dazzling interplay between
Walter on harp and
Louis and
Dave Myers on guitars) here also features some of
Walter's best singing, including the romantic "One More Chance with You," the quietly raunchy "Temperature," and "Confessin' the Blues." The sound, as is usual on these MCA-Chess reissues, is superb, although certain tracks, such as "I Got to Go," seem slightly compressed. [A Japanese version released in 2004 includes bonus tracks.] ~ Bruce Eder