The Singles Collection Vol. 2 1951-62

Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins was one of the true blues greats, a singer, guitarist, songwriter and occasional pianist from Texas, who through a life as a long-time solo performer developed a highly distinctive style, playing rhythm, lead, bass and percussion, with a legendarily unstructured approach to the 12-bar format. Musicologist Mark McCormick said that Hopkins is “the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act”. Born in 1912, he did not get an opportunity to record until the post-war years, and then recorded prolifically for a variety of labels. Acrobat has addressed his output on 78s and 45s from 1946 to 1962 with two 3-CD sets of which this is the second. This 71-track collection comprises the A & B sides of just about all his releases during these years on the Sittin’ In With, Decca, Herald, Chart, Bluesville and Prestige labels. His Sittin’ In With releases overlapped with his releases on the RPM label which go through to 1953 and are at the end od Vol. 1. It includes his hits in the US R&B charts with “Coffee Blues” and “Give Me Central 209”. His New York Times obituary in 1982 said he was “one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players”, and this substantial collection covering the early years of his recording career helps to explain and underline that view.