The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of and The Return Of The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

 

I've had these comps on my wish list for a while now and my wonderful wife was good enough to get both of them for me for Xmas. Compiled by Yazoo Records, they epitomize some of the rarest performances put on vinyl that collectors fought over, sold and traded for the past five decades or so.

Funnily enough, the enclosed booklets (a brief one in the first volume and a much more expansive one in the sequel) are devoted to the collectors, not to the music, which gives them a unique perspective and shows the hard work that went into the preservation of this music - often walking door-to-door in run down neighborhoods simply asking if the homeowners had any old records that they were willing to part with. This, of course, is fodder for a number of entertaining anecdotes!

Each volume has 46 cuts over 2-CDs of rare and classic blues, country, hillbilly, folk, and ethnic tunes, some of which were unissued, "including 2 never heard before selections by Son House"! Of course, if you are already interested in this type of music - basically Americana from the 20's and the 30's - then you probably have some of these numbers on other compilations, but there is so much here that you will not regret getting these, as well.

Super recommended!