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Something Strange Is Goin' on in My House - Ted TaylorI Can't Get Next to You - Al GreenBig Leg Woman (With a Short Short Mini Skirt) - Israel TolbertGet Your Lie Straight - Bill CodayDon't Make Me Pay for His Mistakes - Z.Z. HillNickel and a Nail, A - O.V. WrightChicken Heads - Bobby RushEverybody Knows About My Good Thing, Pt. 1 - Little Johnny TaylorDrowning in the Sea of Love - Joe SimonJoey - Little BeaverThat's What Love Will Make You Do - Little MiltonBreaking Up Somebody's Home - Ann PeeblesI'll Play the Blues for You - Albert KingMan Sized Job - Denise LaSalleYour Turn to Cry - Bettye LaVetteIt's Hard Going Up (But Twice as Hard Coming Down) - Little SonnyTo Know You Is to Love You - B.B. KingCheaper to Keep Her - Johnnie TaylorLet's Straighten It Out - LatimoreI Wouldn't Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me) - Bobby "Blue" BlandTake Me to the River - Syl JohnsonTurning Point - Tyrone DavisAin't That a Bitch - Johnny "Guitar" Watson(You Are My) Learnin' Tree - Artie WhiteThrill Is Gone, The - B.B. KingMemory Pain - Johnny WinterGoing Down - Freddie KingHomework - J. Geils BandRight Place, Wrong Time - Otis RushGive Me Back My Wig - Hound Dog TaylorStoop Down Baby - Chick WillisShould've Learnt My Lesson - Rory GallagherAfter Hours - Roy BuchananYour Love Is Like a Cancer - Son SealsStealin' Watermelons - Elvin Bishop GroupLuther's Blues - Luther AllisonBoogie Thing - James Cotton Blues BandGrange, La - ZZ TopSomebody Loan Me a Dime - Fenton RobinsonTrain I Ride, The - Junior WellsBefore You Accuse Me - Delbert McClintonRunaway - Bonnie RaittHey Bartender - Koko TaylorDuke's Blues - Roomful of BluesBad Dream - Eddy ClearwaterRock This House - Hollywood Fats BandBrick - Albert CollinsDown Home Blues - Z.Z. HillClaim Jumper - Johnny CopelandDollar Got the Blues - Clarence "Gatemouth" BrownBad to the Bone - George Thorogood & the DestroyersPride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double TroubleDon't Take Advantage of Me - Lonnie BrooksTuff Enuff - The Fabulous ThunderbirdsSmoking Gun - Robert CrayCold Is the Night - Joe Louis WalkerDamn Right, I've Got the Blues - Buddy GuyYour Love Is Real - Robert WardRed Beans - Snooks EaglinAll Night Long - Junior Kimbrough & the Soul Blues BoysOld Black Mattie - R.L. BurnsideRobert Nighthawk Stomp - Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters (live)Bad Love - Luther AllisonBackup Man - Arthur AdamsCheck My Pulse - Nick Moss & the Flip TopsTrack List
Something Strange Is Goin' on in My House - Ted TaylorI Can't Get Next to You - Al GreenBig Leg Woman (With a Short Short Mini Skirt) - Israel TolbertGet Your Lie Straight - Bill CodayDon't Make Me Pay for His Mistakes - Z.Z. HillNickel and a Nail, A - O.V. WrightChicken Heads - Bobby RushEverybody Knows About My Good Thing, Pt. 1 - Little Johnny TaylorDrowning in the Sea of Love - Joe SimonJoey - Little BeaverThat's What Love Will Make You Do - Little MiltonBreaking Up Somebody's Home - Ann PeeblesI'll Play the Blues for You - Albert KingMan Sized Job - Denise LaSalleYour Turn to Cry - Bettye LaVetteIt's Hard Going Up (But Twice as Hard Coming Down) - Little SonnyTo Know You Is to Love You - B.B. KingCheaper to Keep Her - Johnnie TaylorLet's Straighten It Out - LatimoreI Wouldn't Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me) - Bobby "Blue" BlandTake Me to the River - Syl JohnsonTurning Point - Tyrone DavisAin't That a Bitch - Johnny "Guitar" Watson(You Are My) Learnin' Tree - Artie WhiteThrill Is Gone, The - B.B. KingMemory Pain - Johnny WinterGoing Down - Freddie KingHomework - J. Geils BandRight Place, Wrong Time - Otis RushGive Me Back My Wig - Hound Dog TaylorStoop Down Baby - Chick WillisShould've Learnt My Lesson - Rory GallagherAfter Hours - Roy BuchananYour Love Is Like a Cancer - Son SealsStealin' Watermelons - Elvin Bishop GroupLuther's Blues - Luther AllisonBoogie Thing - James Cotton Blues BandGrange, La - ZZ TopSomebody Loan Me a Dime - Fenton RobinsonTrain I Ride, The - Junior WellsBefore You Accuse Me - Delbert McClintonRunaway - Bonnie RaittHey Bartender - Koko TaylorDuke's Blues - Roomful of BluesBad Dream - Eddy ClearwaterRock This House - Hollywood Fats BandBrick - Albert CollinsDown Home Blues - Z.Z. HillClaim Jumper - Johnny CopelandDollar Got the Blues - Clarence "Gatemouth" BrownBad to the Bone - George Thorogood & the DestroyersPride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double TroubleDon't Take Advantage of Me - Lonnie BrooksTuff Enuff - The Fabulous ThunderbirdsSmoking Gun - Robert CrayCold Is the Night - Joe Louis WalkerDamn Right, I've Got the Blues - Buddy GuyYour Love Is Real - Robert WardRed Beans - Snooks EaglinAll Night Long - Junior Kimbrough & the Soul Blues BoysOld Black Mattie - R.L. BurnsideRobert Nighthawk Stomp - Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters (live)Bad Love - Luther AllisonBackup Man - Arthur AdamsCheck My Pulse - Nick Moss & the Flip TopsAlbum Notes
Liner Note Author: Bill Dahl.
Illustrators: R.A. Andreas; Detlev Hoegen; Victor Pearlin.
Photographers: R.A. Andreas; Detlev Hoegen; Victor Pearlin.
In some ways, the fourth installment of Bear Family's four-volume Plug It In! Turn It Up! Electric Blues - The Definitive Collection is the most important -- not because this was the most innovative period for electric blues but rather the years of 1970-2005 are generally considered to be when the genre was rather dormant. Certain acts had hits now and then, but the blues weren't ruling the R&B charts and rock & roll starts to shed its blues influence during the '70s, so its presence doesn't seem as immediate. Nevertheless, this fourth volume proves that electric blues not only has a rich legacy but that it is one that continues into the modern era, both by old hands (Buddy Guy pops up with his 1991 "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues") and new (Robert Cray's "Smoking Gun," which actually crossed over into the Top 40). Most of the major names of soul-blues and mainstream blues are here -- B.B. King, Al Green, Z.Z. Hill, O.V. Wright, Bobby Rush, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Albert King -- and this also traces the rise of Alligator Records (Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig" still sounds nasty all these years later), grapples with such rock bands as the J. Geils Band and ZZ Top, and makes a case for the influence of Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. While it doesn't necessarily make a case for the next generation -- some of the newer tracks toward the end of the set are by old guys like R.L. Burnside -- this fourth volume does prove that electric blues remained vital well into the new millennium. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
