The RPM Blues Story

RPM was a subsidiary of Modern Records, one of the major blues and R&B labels of the '50s. One Day's 2014 compilation The RPM Blues Story focuses on the imprint's best blues sides, with everything recorded in the late '40s and '50s. Lots of big names -- B.B. King, Lowell Fulson, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Slim, Johnny "Guitar" Watson -- are present on this collection, all doing raw, vital work that is matched nicely by the lesser-known names here. It all results in an excellent (and affordable) primer on one of the best R&B/blues labels of its time. AMG