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BLUES
VA - Relaxation Blues (A Butterboy Compilation) (4 x CDs)
Relaxation Blues gathers four discs of music shaped by tone, touch, and the emotional weight carried in unhurried phrases. Across eighty tracks and nearly a century of recordings, the set reveals a quieter lineage of the blues, one where expression is measured, space is intentional, and the listener is invited into the room rather than pushed back from it.
CD1: Early Evening Ease lays the foundation. These are the warm lights‑on performances: Charles Brown’s velvet phrasing, Percy Mayfield’s late‑night poise, Memphis Slim’s steady left hand, and the early electric glow of Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Earl Hooker. The tempos are relaxed, the tones clean, the emotions direct. Even when the Chicago players lean into intensity, the fire is contained, shaped, and deeply human. It’s the sound of the day settling, the first exhale after the door closes behind you.
CD2: Late Night Glow widens the frame. Instrumentals drift like smoke, “Albatross,” “Samba Pa Ti,” “Cloudy Day”, while the modern players bring a reflective edge that never breaks the mood. The blues becomes expansive here, stretching into soul, jazz, and spacious guitar landscapes. The room feels larger, the lights dimmer, the emotional palette deeper.
CD3: Midnight Atmosphere moves inward. This is the most intimate disc: SRV’s “Lenny,” Kelly Joe Phelps’ dusty fingerpicking, Jeff Beck’s sculpted phrasing, Otis Taylor’s hypnotic pulse. The playing is close‑mic’d, tactile, almost private. It’s music built on touch — the kind that rewards quiet rooms and late hours.
CD4: Deep Night Drift brings the journey home. Snowy White, Gary Moore, Robin Trower, and Roy Buchanan offer long, expressive lines that feel like conversations held after midnight. The tempos ease, the tones soften, and the set lands in a place of calm resolve. It’s the final glow before silence, a slow fade into the blue hour.
These four discs form a space the listener can return to again and again, not for spectacle, but for presence. Relaxation Blues gathers performances where feeling is carried in the grain of a voice, the bend of a note, the hush between phrases. It’s a collection that rewards stillness, deepens with familiarity, and lingers long after the last track fades. In these hours of music, the blues becomes a companion for the quieter parts of life, steady, honest, and endlessly human. (B)
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Track lists
CD1
01 Charles Brown - Driftin' Blues 3:11 1945
02 Percy Mayfield - Please Send Me Someone to Love 2:54 1950
03 Lowell Fulson - Reconsider Baby 3:10 1955
04 Son Seals - Sitting at My Window 4:30 1973
05 Otis Rush - Double Trouble - 1958 2:41 1959
06 Jimmy Reed - Baby, What You Want Me to Do 2:25 1960
07 Lightnin' Hopkins - Mojo Hand 3:00 1962
08 B.B. "Blues Boy" King & His Orchestra - Sweet Little Angel 3:14 1957
09 Slim Harpo - Rainin' in My Heart 2:35 1961
10 Freddie King - Same Old Blues 3:58 1971
11 Earl Hooker - Blue Guitar 2:37 1962
12 Memphis Slim - Mother Earth 2:42 1951
13 Buddy Guy - Stone Crazy 7:14 1962
14 Magic Sam - All Your Love 2:55 1957
15 Albert King - I'll Play The Blues for You (Part 1) 3:42 1972
16 T-Bone Walker - Call it Stormy Monday (But Tuesday is Just as Bad) 3:00 1947
17 Elmore James - It Hurts Me Too 3:05 1957
18 Big Walter Horton - Little Boy Blue 3:12 1953
19 Roosevelt Sykes - Driving Wheel 3:06 1936
20 John Lee Hooker - Dimples 4:39 1956
CD2
01 Fleetwood Mac - Albatross 3:12 1968
02 Peter Green - Slabo Day 5:12 1979
03 Robben Ford - 08 - Golden Slumbers 4:56 1970
04 Santana - Samba Pa Ti 4:47 1970
05 Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas 2:53 1985
06 Chain - Blues With A Feeling 4:47 1971
07 Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Driftin' Blues 8:09 1967
08 Lonnie Mack - Why 4:35 1963
09 Dave Hole - Yours for A Song 5:16 1992
10 J. J. Cale - Cloudy Day 5:24 1974
11 Derek & The Dominos - Have You Ever Loved A Woman? 6:54 1970
12 Roomful of Blues - Duke`s Blues 4:21 1979
13 Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets with Sam Myers - Changin' Neighborhoods 6:56 1988
14 Duke Robillard - Who'll Stop The Rain 4:07 1994
15 Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters - Blues for Otis Rush 9:52 1988
16 Roy Buchanan - John's Blues 5:06 1969
17 Chris Rea & Vargas Blues Band - Do you believe in love 5:17 2013
18 Mick Kolassa - Baby's Got Another Lover 7:23 2014
19 Chris Rea - Immigration Blues 5:08 1991
20 Ronnie Earl - Blues for Shawn 6:29 1993
CD3
01 Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Lenny 4:57 1983
02 Robert Cray - Right Next Door 4:20 1986
03 Keb' Mo' - Am I Wrong 2:21 1994
04 Smoke Wagon Blues Band - Set Me Free 5:03 2013
05 Kelly Joe Phelps - Rat River 3:34 1997
06 Livin' Blues - Black Night 7:26 1969
07 Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite - Nothing at All 3:37 2013
08 Peter Green - In The Skies 3:47 1979
09 Walter Trout Band - Say Goodbye to The Blues 7:54 1990
10 Eric Clapton - Floating Bridge 6:33 2004
11 Gary Moore - Midnight Blues 5:45 1990
12 Otis Taylor - Blue Rain in Africa 4:14 2001
13 Tab Benoit - Nice and Warm 7:41 1992
14 Magic Slim & The Teardrops - Why Does A Woman Treat A Man So Bad? 3:36 1980
15 Totta Naslund - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues 6:32 1975
16 Amos Garrett; Doug Sahm; Gene Taylor; Gene Taylor Band - Teardrops on Your Letter 4:05 1980
17 Harvey Mandel - Midnight Sun 6:19 1968
18 Jeff Beck - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 5:28 1976
19 Eric Johnson - Song for George 1:46 1990
20 Mick Taylor - Spanish A Minor 12:13 1979
CD4
01 Snowy White - Bird of Paradise 4:55 1983
02 Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues 6:09 1990
03 Robin Trower - Bridge of Sighs 5:01 1974
04 Boz Scaggs - Loan Me A Dime 12:29 1969
05 Joe Bonamassa - Blues Deluxe 7:20 2003
06 John Lee Hooker - Driftin’ Blues 3:34 1960
07 Arlen Roth - Villanova Junction Blues 4:34 1976
08 Fenton Robinson - Directly From My Heart to You 4:21 1967
09 Johnny Winter - Cheap Tequila 4:09 1973
10 Jeff Beck - Where Were You 3:17 1989
11 Otis Rush - Reap What You Sow 4:55 1956
12 Seasick Steve - Swamp Dog 4:46 2008
13 Jesse 'ed' Davis - Red Dirt Boogie, Brother 3:43 1972
14 Pinetop Perkins - Blues After Hours 5:00 1992
15 Shuggie Otis - 1215 Slow Goonbash Blues 9:27 1974
16 Eddie C. Campbell - King of The Jungle 4:01 1977
17 Bonnie Raitt - I Feel The Same 4:38 1972
18 Albert Collins - Cold Cold Feeling 5:09 1965
19 Skip Mcdonald - Hammerhead 4:36 2004
20 Roy Buchanan - After Hours 6:15 1974
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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Good compilation. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, LOFC.
DeleteKind of you to say.
Cheers.
Got so relaxed (and excited) - if that's possible - listening to this that I almost forgot to say Big Thanks
ReplyDelete(As soon as I saw the name Percy Mayfield I knew this would be an especially good mix)
Hi baz,
DeleteThat is exactly the sweet spot this set aims for, that slow‑unwind feeling with a little spark running underneath. Percy Mayfield in the lineup is always a sign the mood is about to deepen in all the right ways.
Cheers.
Very good choice BB!
ReplyDeleteI like the thematic distinctions depending on the time and how the choice of songs fits each one.
Many thanks!
Hi John,
DeleteReally glad those time‑based themes stood out for you. This set leans heavily on mood shifts across the day, and when the songs fall into place like that it feels natural, almost like the music is pacing itself. Thanks for noticing the care that went into it.
Cheers.
Those long conversations after midnight, stretching into the early hours of the morning: what a poignant and inspiring image, BB! And regarding CD 4: I once crossed the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, though on a hot and crowded afternoon – I wish it had been at that late hour ... Thanks a lot & Best, TC
ReplyDeleteHi TC,
DeleteThere is something about those late‑night hours when talk drifts and the world feels quieter, as if the music and the moment are sharing the same breath. Thanks for the image and the kindness.
Cheers.
Thanks BB. I think I will burn some cd's and play this in my car. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteHi lemonflag,
DeleteThat sounds like the perfect plan. These tracks open up beautifully when you’re on the move. Hope the drive feels a little smoother with this playing through.
Cheers.
Thanks, this looks like a great set for laid-back listening.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Mike M
Hi Mike,
DeleteYou’ve got the right idea. Hope it brings a bit of calm whenever you put it on.
Cheers.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote about feeling like spending a day belly to belly with a good woman and a bottle of whisky, rain beating down on a tin roof. This surely would have been that day's perfect soundtrack. As always BB, old friends and new discoveries - thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi twinsoulz,
DeleteYou’ve painted a scene worthy of its own liner notes. That Thompson image carries the same slow burn these tracks lean into, the kind of day where the world shrinks to a room, a roof, a heartbeat, and whatever music is brave enough to sit in the quiet with you. Thanks for bringing such a vivid thought to the table, and for riding along with both the familiar faces and the surprises.
Cheers.
Ahh! Just what the doctor ordered. Couple or three weeks ago I watched a doc about the history of the Chicago blues. Covered the migration from the 40's when the street singers were hanging out on Maxwell street, the rise of the clubs on the southside in the 50's, to affluent northside kids like Mike Bloomfield and his pal Paul Butterfield hanging out on the southside and playing with the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Otis Rush, etc etc. While this isn't all Chicago blues I've had the blues on the playlist almost every night since. Thanks for including Someone Loan Me A Dime with Duane Allman's monster guitar solo. Duane still is my all time favorite. Peter Green a close second. I almost cried.
ReplyDeleteThank you, RichardR,
DeleteWhat a beautiful thread you’ve woven there. That Chicago story never loses its pull, from the grit of Maxwell Street to those southside rooms where the amps buzzed and the air felt charged.
And yes, the Boz Scaggs version of “Loan Me a Dime” hits like a memory you weren’t expecting. Duane’s solo has that mix of ache and fire that only he could summon the kind that makes the room go still for a moment.
Really glad this set found you at the perfect time.
Cheers.
Very good, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Emilio.
DeleteAppreciated.
I hope you continue to get enjoyment from this set.
Cheers.