35X35 – Alligator Records – ALCD 120/21

This compilation has one track from each of the 35 years of Alligator Records, set up in 1971 by the then 23-year-old blues fan, Bruce Iglaur. The first signing was Hound Dog Taylor who, appropriately, kicks off the compilation with She’s Gone (well, it wouldn’t be the blues if she’d come back, would it?). There’s barely a dud on the two discs, with contributions from Professor Longhair , Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Charlie Musselwhite, C J Chenier and The Holmes Brothers, among others.

Some are worth it for the names alone: Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials, Little Charlie and The Nightcats and Guitar Shorty but there’s no explanation of why they’re all apparently challenged in the physical stature department. It’s the women who stand out, though: Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, Koko Taylor, Katie Webster, and Shemekia Copeland. The latter's 1998 recording of Salt In My Wounds, made when she was only 18, makes me think Joss Stone might as well retire now.

You can buy 35X35 direct from
Alligator Records which would be a good thing to do.