Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings - The Centennial Collection

I"m very surprised to find that I hadn't reviewed this one before. Of course, everyone knows that Johnson remains the king of the Delta Blues, even decades after his passing. He has influenced every guitar player to come after him - whether directly or indirectly. His songs have been covered by musicians of every genre and his legacy will continue for years to come (to say the least).

This 2-CD centennial collection (put out in 2011, 100 years after Robert's birth) is a wonderful package of every known recording, all remastered with amazing sound, including a couple snippets that have never been released before, and an extensive, high quality booklet with an incredible amount of information and a family tree of his music.

Like I said, this is everything, so you get "Dust My Broom", "Sweet Home Chicago","They're Red Hot", "Terraplane Blues", "Cross Road Blues", "Four Until Late", "Preachin' Blues" ("borrowed" from Son House and the version that Gun Club used on their debut), "Me and the Devil Blues", "Hell Hound on My Trail" and tons more, including alternative versions of some of these which are remarkably different - sometimes even in different tunings.

This is truly an essential purchase and it is sold at a very reasonable price, so there is no excuse for anyone not to own this!