The husband-and-wife team of Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken founded Vee-Jay Records (using their first initials to create the label name) in Gary, IN, in 1953 and it quickly became one of the most successful black-owned labels in the U.S. -- they were, by the way, the first American label to take a chance on the Beatles. From the start, Vee-Jay cut a lot of R&B-oriented blues material, relying heavily on local Midwest talent, and as this two-disc 50-track set recorded between 1953 and 1965 makes obvious, Carter and Bracken knew exactly what they were doing. Mixing the familiar with the lesser known, this collection is a true revelation (Jimmy Reed aside, one doesn't usually think of Vee-Jay as a blues label), and includes standout tracks like Big Joe Williams' wonderfully ragged "Baby Left Town," Floyd Jones' "Ain't Times Hard," Jimmy Reed's swampy and laconic two-part "Going by the River," Rosco Gordon's crisp "Just a Little Bit," and Billy Boy Arnold's spare and powerful "Prisoner's Pleas," among others. Blues collectors should love this set, since some of the tracks are exceedingly rare and, at the very least, these aren't the same old tracks one sees time and time again on standard Chicago blues compilations. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide