Mojo Hand: Anthology
"The blues ... is a feeling, that makes you feel very bad." Truer words were never spoken, and these begin a spoken rhyme that opens this excellent anthology. Blues may make you feel bad, but blues music, this blues music in particular, will make you feel very good indeed. It's not an exhaustive collection, but then, an exhaustive collection of Hopkins's multidecade career would require a wheelbarrow to carry around. Meanwhile, this two-disc set is a good place to begin, sampling from several periods in Hopkins's career. You can hear his influence on blues, soul, and rock on these CDs, from the early country blues recordings to some later songs that are almost rock & roll in themselves. There's so much good stuff here, it's hard to know where to begin. Just get it.--Genevieve Williams