HOW BLUE CAN WE GET ?/VOLUME I : WHITE - VOLUME II : BLACK PR 45/46 (-70) UK

Bought my first copy of this early seventies. Don't remember my feelings about it then still in the midst of it all, but from a concerned blues collector's perspective today it's gotta be one of the best samplers of the period. 2 LP:s with twentyfive cuts from seventeen black and/or white acts. All original mixes - five mono, the rest true stereo - with audio close to or identical with the originals. Sleeve has info on original albums, exactly who plays what on each track and producer credits for most of them. There's also a booklet with further Blue Horizon discographies, info and album pics. No odd 45 cuts, but those can be found on the separate "Oldies But Goodies" sampler (see earlier post) also mentioned in the booklet. You do get rarities anyway as Blue Horizon issued quite a few at the time non-selling albums and most of the originals can be both hard and dear to find. In hindsight maybe not a good idea to separate white and black in two volumes since some of the tracks overlaps such boundaries anyway. They could at least put the black as volume one since it's more than obvious which kind was first and who was insprired or just copying. Playing it through as I'm writing and for now it feels wrong chosing any special favorites. Interesting for me getting closer to artists like Furry Lewis, George Smith, Bukka White and Top Topham, picked from albums I've never encountered in r/l and I always appreciate Fleetwood Mac in any shape. But it all fits so good together I rather just listen and enjoy without pondering too much about names or shades. Also issued in Holland with same tracking and similar cover design. Premiere UK had labels as shown here and matt fold/out cover with an eight page booklet. (SÄM*) (BLÖH*)