Winner of three 2003 Grammy awards.

"If I made records for my own pleasure, I would only record Charley Patton songs." - Bob Dylan

Historical revisionism has writ large the name of Robert Johnson in blues annals while according Charley Patton a comparative footnote. One of the founders of Mississippi Delta blues, Patton (1891-1934) was already the long-reigning kingpin of Delta bluesmen when Johnson was still in short pants. Take a listen and hear why many consider Patton the best there ever was.

Possessor of a driving, percussive guitar style, a gravel-encrusted holler, often improvisatory lyrics, complex rhythmic dynamics, an unequalled 'talking' bottleneck and a deep reservoir of melodic hooks, Patton conjured up songstuffs that gave vent to both a restless artistic temperament and a palpable, lingering rage. Hear why John Fahey posits him as a pilgrim of the ominous, one of the earliest progenitors of Fire Music, powered by something wholly other which Patton himself did not understand. And, though less romantic than the oft-trod portrait of Patton as an ego-ruled sociopath, David Evans' painstaking new research into Patton's personality reveals why folks like Bukka White and Pops Staples considered Patton a "great man."

A 7-CD primer on Mississippi Delta blues with Charley Patton as the central, generative figure, this set features 5 CDs with all issued and unissued recordings by Patton and sessionmates Son House, Willie Brown, Louise Johnson, Henry 'Son' Sims, Bertha Lee, Delta Big Four, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Edith North Johnson, and even talent scout HC Speir; a 6th CD of artists in Charley's "orbit" like Ma Rainey, Howlin' Wolf, Poor Boy Lofton, Kid Bailey, Walter Rhodes, Rube Lacy, Blind Joe Reynolds (newly discovered track!), Tommy Johnson and Pops Staples; and a 7th CD of interviews with Patton associates Staples, Wolf, Speir and Patton protégé Booker Miller. All tracks are fully remastered and pitch-corrected from the best possible sources, resulting in the definitive versions of this material.

Spin: "Lavish. Akin to a perfect museum exhibition."

Amazon.com: "5/5 stars..Easily one of the most beautiful collections of recorded music ever assembled."

"Recording of the Issue. Simply the best blues box set ever released, maybe even the best box set in any genre." - The Absolute Sound