Pure Blues

1	Mean Old World / Duane Allman 3:51
2	Good Morning Little Schoolgirl / Jonny Lang 4:12
3	Shame, Shame, Shame / Kenny Wayne Shepherd 6:06
4	Flood Down in Texas / Stevie Ray Vaughan 10:24
5	Smoking Gun / Robert Cray 4:07
6	Just Won't Burn / Susan Tedeschi 4:44
7	Little Red Rooster / Luther Allison 4:11
8	Let Me Love You Baby / Buddy Guy 2:52
9	Statesboro Blues / The Allman Brothers Band 4:19
10	Spoonful / Howlin' Wolf 2:43
11	(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man / Muddy Waters 2:51
12	Have You Ever Loved a Woman / Freddie King 3:05
13	Hound Dog / Big Mama Thornton 2:50
14	Big Boss Man / Jimmy Reed 2:46
15	One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer / John Lee Hooker 3:00
16	Wang Dang Doddle / Koko Taylor 3:01
17	Born Under a Bad Sign / Albert King 2:46
18	Tell Mama / Etta James 2:21
19	Turn on Your Love Light / Bobby "Blue" Bland 2:38
20	The Thrill Is Gone / B.B. King 4:01

Barnes & Noble

Although it begins with “Mean Old World,” the lovely acoustic guitar duet between Eric Clayton and Duane Allman, Pure Blues concentrates on the electric aspects of the genre -- and what a job it does. Consider some of the selections: “The Thrill Is Gone (B. B. King), “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man”(Muddy Waters), “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” (Jonny Lang), “Born Under a Bad Sign” (Albert King), “Tell Mama” (Etta James), “Smoking Gun” (Robert Cray), “Spoonful” (Howlin’ Wolf), “Have You Ever Loved a Woman” (Freddy King), “Turn On Your Lovelight” (Bobby “Blue “ Bland), “Flood Down in Texas” (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble), and “Let Me Love You Baby” (Buddy Guy), among others. From Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker to Susan Tedeschi and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, this terrific collection presents a wide-ranging overview of the musical bedrock of contemporary American music. William Pearl

All Music Guide

The "pure" in the Pure series initially suggested the unadulterated, soothing dulcet tones of new age in the Pure Moods discs, but as the series took off, Universal Music realized they had a real marketable brand name here, so they decided to use it for different genres. The one thing that all the collections shared was that they were exceptional collections that summarized the genre remarkably well. Pure Blues, one of the latter-day installments, is actually one of the very best of the series, and it's one of the best general blues overviews available, especially for the rock fan that wants to dabble in the genre. This is because Universal's catalog runs deep and contains not just the Chess label, but also such labels as Duke, Peacock, Cadet, and ABC, plus they have the licensing muscle to pull in key tracks from other majors. That means Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Freddy King, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Bobby Blue Bland, B.B. King, Luther Allison, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray are all here, all represented by some of their finest songs. If there is any problem here, it's when the record tilts toward modern blues-rock, but while Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Susan Tedeschi don't quite fit alongside these blues titans, the selections from the Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan (a relatively rare live version of "Flood Down in Texas [Aka Texas Flood]" from an Atlantic album, Blues Explosion, from 1986), and a duet by Eric Clapton and Duane Allman on "Mean Old World" fit right in with the rest of the record. There's really nothing unexpected here, and if you have a large blues collection, there's not much reason to pick this up, but as a sampler, this is first-rate. Stephen Thomas Erlewine