Lightnin' Sam Hopkins stands alone. The master of spontaneous musical combustion, Hopkins magnificent guitar idiosyncrasies and deeply expressive vocals qualify him as on the most arresting and irresistible practitioners in all of the blues.

These 30 tracks, comprising the original Lightnin' & the Blues LP and additional songs he cut for Herald Records in April 1954, qualify as the ultimate showcase for Hopkins' prodigious blues power. Lightnin' didn't just sing the blues, he embodied them; his mesmerizing electric guitar doesn t just walk and talk it howls, growls and testifies, coiling up and striking out with stinging precision.