Recording information: 1947 - 1997.

This two-CD set is both an entertaining sampler of this richly varied American art form and an informative micro-history. It contains works by some of the blues' most celebrated pioneers--including Big Mama Thornton's original version of Elvis Presley's later hit "Hound Dog," the Chicago blues of Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man," and Albert King's haunting "Born Under a Bad Sign"--as well as by its most ardent latter-day practitioners, such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jonny Lang. "Mean Old World," Clapton's rarely heard acoustic duet with Duane Allman, is a special highlight, but for down-and-dirty blues nothing beats John Lee Hooker's inimitable "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."