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By now, it’s been pretty well established that lots of folks—black, white, male, female—have the essential spirit that the blues requires, but it’s also clear that not everyone does. Still, if this compilation is anything to go by, it does help your blues credentials considerably to spend some time in Chicago. All of the artists featured here have the Windy City in common (with one exception: Richard Newell, born in Hamilton, Ontario). These players turned blues from rural to urban music: tough, hard-driving and, most importantly, amplified. Their efforts in turn inspired generations of white musicians on bosh sides of the Atlantic. — Mac Randall