Artist	Song
Robert Johnson	Sweet Home Chicago
from Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings (1996)
Charley Patton	Stone Pony Blues
from Charley Patton, Vol. 3 (1929-1934) (2005)
Tommy Johnson	Canned Heat Blues
from Tommy Johnson 1928 - 1929 (2005)
Robert Petway	Catfish Blues
from Best of Blues, Vol. 2 - Blues Standard: Catfish Blues / Rolling Stone (2007)
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup	Mean Old Frisco Blues
from Rock Me Mama - When the Sun Goes Down Series (2003)
T-Bone Walker	Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)
from The Complete Capitol/Black & White Recordings (2008)
Big Joe Williams	Little Leg Woman
from Big Joe Williams Vol. 1 1935 - 1941 (2005)
Muddy Waters	I Be's Troubled
from The Complete Plantation Recordings (1993)
Howlin' Wolf	Riding In the Moonlight (Audition Acetate)
from Moanin' At Midnight: The Memphis Recordings (2006)
Sunnyland Slim And His Pals	Across the Hall Blues
from Classic Sides 1947-1949 (CD A) (2006)
Baby Face Leroy Foster	Rollin' & Tumblin' Parts 1 & 2
from The Road to Robert Johnson and Beyond, CD D (2007)
St. Louis Jimmy Oden	Going Down Slow
from St. Louis Jimmy Oden Vol. 2 1944-1955 (2005)
Little Buddy Doyle	Grief Will Kill You
from Masters of Memphis Blues, CD D (2006)
Billy Eckstine	Prisoner of Love
from The Savoy Sessions: Billy Eckstine - Mister B. and the Band (1995)
Ella Fitzgerald	That's My Desire
from Ella: The Legendary Decca Recordings (1995)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys	Ida Red
from The King of Western Swing, CD D (2007)

Comment:

Even roots and influences need [i]their[/i] roots and influences, and Chess dug out theirs everywhere from the Apollo on down to the Opry. They say Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil to become the King of the Delta Blues Singers, but when you hear his "Sweet Home Chicago" (a city he never set foot in, by the way), you'll agree: Johnson got the better end of the deal. Like R.J., Muddy Waters came from Mississippi, and "I Be's Troubled," cut on his cabin's front porch, crackles like hog fat on a red-hot skillet. You wouldn't think a country boy like Bob Wills would have much to teach the Chess kings, but Chuck Berry always had a little C&W swing in his thing; the Texas Playboys' oompah-on-speed beat underpinning "Ida Red" motor-vates its way into Berry's "Maybelline." And the lush-life, big-band backing that cradles Ella Fitzgerald's uptown-polished pipes in "That's My Desire" echoes through Etta James' later sides. (Incidentally, Ella appeared live — not on Memorex— at Leonard Chess' club back in the day, though she never recorded for him.) From Little Buddy Doyle to Big Joe Williams, from Western swing to Delta blues, all the raw ingredients for Chess' soulful, slow-cooked stew are right here at your fingertips.

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