The Very Best of King/Federal/Deluxe, Vol. 2

The Very Best of King/Federal/Deluxe, Vol. 2 collects 25 tracks from the vaults of those labels, highlighting jump blues, electric blues, R&B, and doo wop. Recorded in the late '40s to mid-'50s, this package features hit performances from Little Willie John, Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, Wynonie Harris, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Roy Brown, and Billy Ward & the Dominoes, alongside rarities by Todd Rhodes, Dorothy Ellis, and the Valtones. For the most part the sound quality is decent, but a few of the tracks ("Blues for the Red Boy," "I Want a Bowlegged Woman," "Moaning Blues") are particularly muddy, especially for a full-price CD compilation.