The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966, Volume 1; The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966, Volume 2

Unearthed some 40 years after the fact, this has to be one of the finest blues collections ever assembled on video or DVD. Thanks to a couple of young promoters who brought the musicians to Europe--where they were treated with a good deal more respect and dignity than in America--we're blessed here with an extraordinary lineup of bluesmen and women on the 18-cut first volume of The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966: Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Sippie Wallace…the list goes on. Their concert performances (several in stagy but effective down-home settings) before a rather formal but appreciative German audience have them playing in some cool combinations (T-Bone Walker backing Memphis Slim, Otis Rush with Junior Wells). Aud: C, P.Three songs by Howlin' Wolf are the highlight of the 18 tracks on The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966, Volume 2, which also features Lightnin' Hopkins, Willie Dixon, Sonny Terry, and Big Mama Thornton. Wolf was still in his prime in '64, perhaps equaled only by Muddy Waters. “Did you ever been in the groove?” he asks at one point. “Well, I'm gonna put you way down in the woods.” That he does, and blues fans will be only too happy to tag along. Both volumes feature superb monaural sound and black-and-white video. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)