Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records started 2025 off with a bang releasing two definitive blues recordings from Mississippi John Hurt and Lonnie Johnson with Elmer Snowden. Both are stellar pressings that sound much cleaner and more dynamic than any of the used copies in my collection. The collaboration between the two companies is paying off and we can’t recommend these iconic vinyl reissues strongly enough.
Both labels have announced a fresh batch of reissues for two highly influential guitarists: 1968’s This Is Buddy Guy!, which marked the debut live album from the celebrated artist, and Mr. Scrapper’s Blues, the 1962 comeback album from seminal pre-war axeman Scrapper Blackwell.
Set for release on May 16 and available for pre-order today, both LPs will be issued on vinyl in partnership with audiophile leader Acoustic Sounds and feature all-analog mastering by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Matthew Lutthans (The Mastering Lab).
The albums are pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressings (QRP) with faithfully reproduced tip-on jackets. Rounding out each title is an insightful obi strip with new notes by GRAMMY-winning producer, writer and musician Scott Billington. Additionally, the remastered albums are available in hi-res and standard digital audio today.
Since launching in early 2024, Bluesville Records has celebrated America’s bedrock music genre, as well as the trailblazing musicians who contributed to its rich traditions, through handpicked titles—all culled from the catalogs of such legendary labels as Stax, Prestige, Vee-Jay, Vanguard, Rounder and Riverside.
Buddy Guy — This Is Buddy Guy!
An eight-time GRAMMY winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Buddy Guy (b. 1936) has long been counted among the greatest guitarists of all time. A key figure in the Chicago blues scene, whose work as a singer, songwriter and guitarist always straddled the line of blues and rock’n’roll, Guy has influenced multiple generations of musicians (Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer, to name a few) during his seven-decade-long career.
After relocating to Chicago in the late ’50s, the self-taught, Louisiana-born artist found his footing in the industry, releasing a pair of solo albums, as well as a handful of projects with harmonica player Junior Wells in the ’60s. Those lucky enough to catch Guy in concert, however, were privy to the full breadth of his talents—from his awe-inspiring extended guitar solos to his soulful vocals. Vanguard Recordsrecognized this and sought to capture the power of his electrifying performances with 1968’s This Is Buddy Guy!.
Recorded live at the New Orleans House—an intimate venue in Berkeley, CA—the album puts listeners in the front row, as Guy performs original compositions (including his languid “I Had a Dream Last Night” and the funky “24 Hours of the Day”) with well-chosen covers, such as Little Willie John’s “Fever” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood.” Accompanied by a tight-knit band—including saxophonists A.C. Reed and Bobby Fields plus bassist Jack Meyers—Guy is truly at the peak of his prowess.
Scrapper Blackwell — Mr. Scrapper’s Blues
While lesser known than many of his contemporaries, singer, songwriter and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell (1903–1962) was a supremely talented musician of the early 20th century who carved his own path in the blues scene. With a revolutionary style that treaded between jazz and blues, Blackwell was known for his articulate single-note picking on the acoustic guitar—a technique that would inform the electric Chicago blues sound in the following decades.
Born Francis Hillman Blackwell, the self-taught, Indiana-raised musician (who earned the nickname “Scrapper” for his fiery nature) began performing as a teenager. In the mid-1920s, he established a musical partnership with pianist Leroy Carr. The duo quickly gained a following—touring across the US and releasing over 100 sides, including “How Long, How Long Blues” (the biggest blues hit of 1928), plus other soon-to-be-standards like “Mean Mistreater Mama” and “Blues Before Sunrise.”
This era also found Blackwell exploring a solo career and recording songs like “Kokomo Blues,” which would later inspire Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago.” After Carr’s untimely death in 1935, however, Blackwell withdrew completely from music.
Flash forward to the late ’50s, with the rise of the folk-blues revival, when Blackwell was encouraged to return to the spotlight. In 1961, he recorded a full-length album for Prestige Records’ Bluesville imprint.
The intimate solo session, captured in Indianapolis, finds Blackwell on guitar and vocals, as he performs some of his best-known repertoire, including the above-mentioned “Blues Before Sunrise,” the instrumental “‘A’ Blues,” the up-tempo “Little Boy Blues” and “Little Girl Blues,”which features the artist on piano.
Tragically, just as Blackwell was primed for a successful second act, his life was taken from him during a random mugging, not long before the album’s release. In the coming years, however, his recordings would influence an array of rockers, bluesmen and folk artists.
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- Craft Recordings and Bluesville Records Announce Jimmy Reed and Reverend Gary Davis Vinyl Reissues
- Bluesville Records and Craft Recordings Kick off 2025 with Lonnie Johnson and Mississippi John Hurt Vinyl Reissues
- Craft Recordings Honors The Blues With the Launch of Bluesville Records
