Not much else needs to be said about one of the Delta Blues founding fathers. His emmotional voice, poignant lyrics and "action-packed" guitar playing style sets him up in the lofty realm as one of Blues' all-time greats. His influence on other great artists is well documented. This CD has a set of remastered material that covers his entire career. So if you get only one, make sure this is it. Most Delta Blues fans will track down all his work though, making this album a bit unnecessary, though the remastering on this disc sounds good to my ears.
Gotta love the R. Crumb art too!

Eddie 'Son' House was one of the most intense and commanding of the early Mississippi Delta bluesmen, and he was also one of the greatest. This 'best of' collection wonderfully captures glimpses of the three major periods of House's career: his debut 1930 Paramount session, his early 1940s field recordings made by Alan Lomax and his rediscovery in the 1960s. With informative notes by Mark Humphrey and Robert Crumb's distinctive cover artwork, the set is a loving tribute to one of the genre's greatest and most powerful voices.

Like the "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" volume dedicated to Son House, this CD includes songs from House's entire career. That's a big plus, and this is great music, but I would still recommend the "Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues" album, which has a stronger track list.

This CD includes several of Son House's most legendary songs, including the superb early-40s Library of Congress version of "Walking Blues", the a capella spiritual "John The Revelator", and the awesome "Death Letter". But it misses out on key tracks like "Levee Camp Moan", "Preachin' Blues", and the slide guitar-fest "Pearline", and even though no Son House-collection can merit less than four stars, this is not one of the best.