Producer Pete Welding made many recordings for Testament in the early and mid-'60s at the start of the blues revival, and this is a grab bag of 21 tracks he recorded in Chicago between 1962 and 1966. This isn't post-war Chicago blues as many listeners picture the form. Only four of the cuts have drums, and not all of them are electric; it's more like a document of country blues getting citified, rather than the full electric Chicago band sound. The actual music -- mixing performances by well-known figures like Robert Nighthawk and Big Walter Horton with unknowns like Wilbert Jenkins and John Lee Granderson -- is respectable, but won't excite many listeners other than hardcore devotees. Some nice moments on the way, though, like Maxwell Street Jimmy's fine variation of John Lee Hooker's "Dimples," and the roll and tumble sound of Johnny Young (the only musician here to use a drummer). The CD reissue adds five previously unreleased tracks. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi