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There's a quote you might be hearing a great deal in this "Year of the Blues" (2003) . "The blues are the roots, " said the legendary songwriter Willie Dixon. "Everything else is the fruits. " Proving Dixon's point -- once again -- is this compact collection, which brings together some of the classic blues artists with their rock 'n' rolling progeny. And even a handful of finely chosen selections from the early blues figures is enough to point out how the blues form became the model for later R&B and pop music. The open emotionality of such giants as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Bessie Smith can also be clearly heard in blues-loving rockers like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Bonnie Raitt. A slew of recent artists that reflect a strong blues influence -- Keb' Mo', Cassandra Wilson, and Susan Tedeschi among them -- make telling appearances as well. Although it just whets the appetite for more blues and blues-rock, you can't go wrong with killer cuts including "The Thrill Is Gone, " "Red House, " "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man, " and "I'd Rather Go Blind" -- each a high point of American vernacular music.



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