Chess Records Acoustic Sounds

Studio recreation of an electrifying 1961 setlist from Carnegie Hall. This album includes the enduring classic, “Bright Lights, Big City,” which was included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Released in partnership with... 

Recorded live at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1960, At Newport 1960 captures Muddy Waters in electrifying form. Backed by Otis Spann (piano), Pat Hare (guitar), Andrew Stevens (bass), Francis Clay (drums), and James Cotton (harmonica), Waters performs music... 

I Was Walkin’ Through The Woods gathers Buddy Guy’s early recordings for Chess Records - all recorded in the early 1960s. This collection spotlights the searing guitar work that demonstrates why Guy was one of the most talented of Chicago’s new generation of... 

In the mid 1960s, Chess Records released a series of The Real Folk Blues albums that compiled singles from the careers of some of its greatest artists. John Lee Hooker’s The Real Folk Blues differed from many of the other compilations as it featured newly-recorded sessions... 

Muddy, Brass & The Blues marks a turning point in Muddy Waters’ career. Despite the cover depicting Waters with a guitar, it is his talents as an R&B singer that shine through on this record. He explores a new sound that pairs the classic elements of the blues... 

Fondly referred to as “The Rockin’ Chair Album” due to the depiction of a rocking chair on its cover, Howlin’ Wolf by Howlin’ Wolf is rockin’ in more ways than one. This record captures the true sound of the electric blues with a compilation of singles previously released... 

A prominent member of Chess’ house band who elevated the recordings of Muddy Waters, Little Walter came into his own as a frontman with a unique, amplified approach to the harmonica - arguably doing for the blues harp what Chuck Berry or Jimi Hendrix did for... 

Assembled less than a year after his passing, The Real Folk Blues is an essential overview of Sonny Boy Williamson II’s brief but incendiary career as a frontman for the Chess family of labels. Having contributed notable harmonica solos to works by Howlin’ Wolf... 

The man born Chester Arthur Bennett idolized folk and country singers, but his unmistakable delivery was too powerful for a blue yodel. “I couldn’t do no yodelin’,” he said, “so I turned to howlin’.” Howlin’ Wolf’s voice, combined with his blistering guitar...