Legends of the Delta Blues VEST13038DVD $23.98

This video presents the unalloyed power of these Delta legends as they performed in the 1960s and 1970s. Son House is both philosopher and a man possessed; Johnny Shines, by turns subtle and intense, brings as much to Robert Johnson's example as he takes from it; Bukka White extols women and rambling freights in his stream-of-consciousness growl; a meditative John Lee Hooker reflects, I'll Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive. This is music which has mesmerized everyone from a young Muddy Waters to today's blues-based rockers. Its earthy vitality remains fresh in rare performances rife with slide guitars, driving rhythms and songs as searing as a hellhound's bay across the Delta darkness.

Legends of Traditional Fingerstyle Guitar VEST13004DVD $24.98

Traditional fingerstyle guitar is particular to its time and place, drawing heavily upon local cuture, but allowing for personal expression and innovation. Each of the artists presented here is a master of fingerstyle guitar, whether two- or three-finger picking. With rare exceptions, most were born around the turn of the century, or in its early years.

John Lee Hooker Rare Performances 1960-84 VEST13035DVD $24.98

John Lee Hooker is one of the foremost blues performers of the postwar period. He is in actuality a Mississippi country bluesman and his music has always been firmly grounded in the traditional blues of his native state. He has remained true to its fundamental principles throughout a professional career of more than five decades. Whether playing solo in 1960 or with the Muddy Waters Band in the same year, or with his touring bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, John Lee Hooker's genius for writing and performing magnificent, intense and emotionally potent blues can be seen in all its glory in this one hour video collection of rare performances.

Lightnin' Hopkins "Rare Performances" 1960-1979 VEST13022DVD $24.98

Lightnin’ Hopkins is generally considered the last true giant to have appeared on the acoustic blues scene.This video bears out that reputation, though even in the earliest cuts he is clearly happier when his acoustic guitar is plugged into an amp and can give him some extra sustain. Showing him in 1960, ’67, ’70 and ’79, and mixing live concert footage with quiet filming sessions for the University of Washington, the video tracks Hopkins through the glory days of his “discovery” by a young audience.

Lightnin' Hopkins/Sykes, Roosevelt YAZOO513DVD $24.98

Video showcasing performances by Sam( Lightnin') Hopkins and Roosevelt Sykes on the second part of the video.

Muddy Waters Got My Mojo Working: Rare Performances YAZOO521DVD $24.98

These rare performances -- all electric -- capture Muddy as the embers of his career glowed anew. By 1968, the folk blues had waned and the sound he popularized in the mid-1950s was returning to the fore. Over the next decade, Muddy secured his place as the godfather of rock and roll. The slide guitar technique he plays on these versions of Country Boy, Honey Bee, and Long Distance Call is at once contemporary and as pure as when he learned it as a dusty child in the delta fifty years earlier. In Got My Mojo Working, Muddy works the vocals from his cavernous chest into his mouth and then shakes the words from his jowls and cheeks. His singing is as glorious as his playing.