• Track Listing

Slim Harpo’s sound was at once deeply rooted and strikingly new when he entered the realm of blues recording in ’57. The Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, CCR (where do you think Fogerty got that tremoloed guitar sound?)…they and countless others borrowed the songs and sound of this swamp-blues king—and yet, really, little is known about his life. When he died at age 46, Slim left a recorded legacy that few could match, and that legacy gets its brightest spotlight yet in this big set from Bear Family. Discs one and two contain all his Excello 45s and album cuts, and discs three and four bring you all the recordings unissued in his lifetime plus every alternate take of his issued songs. Disc five is a live 1961 recording, one of the first to capture this distinctive, hugely influential bluesman in his prime. Those live tracks include his breakthrough classic "I’m a King Bee" and hit "Rainin’ in My Heart" plus "Big Boss Man," "Last Night," "I’ll Take Care of You," "Little Liza Jane," "I Don’t Play" and more. The Excello classics: "I’m a King Bee" and his forever-covered "Baby Scratch My Back," his hits "Tip On In," "Rainin’ in My Heart" and "Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu," his recordings of "Rock Me Baby," "Baby Please Come Home," "Strange Love," "Buzz Me Babe" and more. The alternate takes: "I’m a King Bee," "I Got Love if You Want It," "Wonderin’ and Worryin’," "Rainin’ in My Heart," "Buzzin’," "Baby Scratch My Back," "One More Day," "That’s Alright"…in all, you get 142 tracks from a man that gleefully brought rock ’n’ roll and country into his blues, creating a sound that will never die. Includes a 104-page hardcover book and previously unreleased recordings! Bear Family.