For the early stuff, Proper Records has a 4CD box set overview with a 40 page booklet: Various Artists 'Broke, Black & Blue: An Anthology of Blues Classics and Rarities' Properbox 7. As the blurb says: 'From barrel house to boogie, from vaudeville to the delta, the enclosed 100 tracks depict the first 20 years of recorded blues history. From cast iron classics to the rarest of the rare tracks, here are some blues you need'. It is not as good as their excellent western swing box set ('Doughboys, Playboys and Cowboys'), but there are some great recordings, particularly on the first 3 discs. However, the final CD in the set is rather disappointing, with far too many Johnny Temple pieces for my liking. If you can get it cheap, it's well worth having.

Peter T., what are the details of the Columbia/Legacy 4CD set to which you refer? I have the wonderful 1992 4CD box set: Various Artists: 'Roots N'Blues - The Retrospective 1925-1950' Columbia/Legacy C4K 47911. However, it can't be the same as the set you are talking about - it covers both white and black traditions and its first CD ends with Daniels-Deason Sacred Harp Singers. I thought the Roots N' Blues series had ground to a halt, so I would be very interested to know the details of your set.

--Stewie.