Groovin' The Blues : When Groove Was More Than Just A Habit (2016)

"RCA decided to leap into the flourishing blues and R&B marketplace in 1954 via the new imprint Groove. By February 1957, RCA folded the label. A lot of the Groove sides stayed in the vault, which is what makes Bear Family's two 2016 reissues - this blues collection, Groovin' the Blues, and its companion Rockin' the Groove - so welcome. Of the two compilations, Groovin' the Blues leans toward outright blues acts but Groove hardly existed in rural environs. They were a thoroughly modern record, which means this blues would swing and rock -- they'd groove, sometimes with the assistance of horns or jacked-up electric guitars, but always sounding like a rocking record machine at a juke joint. A fair chunk of these tracks didn't see release at the time, and hardly any of these can be called familiar. Their obscurity proves a benefit, though: everything here sounds vital, fresh, and alive, lightning in a bottle from a time that big, bold blues could possibly cross over onto the Billboard charts." (AllMusic)