Various Shake That Thing! - The Blues In Britain 1963 - 1973 (3-CD Box)

(Strawberry Records) 73 tracks, incl. booklet in slip lid box

This 3CD compilation focuses on all facets of blues in the UK during the genre's most popular era.

Key British artists cover the stylistic range of R&B, electric blues, country blues, folk blues, blues rock, jug band music, gospel, hokum and ragtime.

Pioneers such as Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Cyril Davies are represented as well as those who later became worldwide superstars: Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and many others.

The blues was part of the DNA of the new genres that developed in the UK, such as hard rock, psychedelia and folk rock, as evidenced by the inclusion of The Animals, Jethro Tull, Pentangle, The Incredible String Band, Humble Pie, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, Jellybread, Taste and Ten Years After in this set.

Alongside these more progressive acts, there are those who cherished the work of their blues heroes too much to change it in any way. These purists labored deep into the night to reproduce the feel and sound of those cherished, well-worn albums that had been so closely studied. They included Jo-Ann Kelly, her brother Dave, Ian A. Anderson, Roger Hubbard and Mike Cooper.