As I listened to "THE BEST OF JAMES VAN BUREN'S BLUES", by JAMES VAN BUREN I was about halfway through the first cut when I thought to myself "this is real deal blues here, this man is experienced." So I immediately started reading the linear notes and the literature that was enclosed with the CD, and sure enough my instinct was correct. JAMES VAN BUREN is indeed a seasoned veteran. As it turns out, this is his ninth CD and he has shared the stage with EDDIE "CLEANHEAD" VINSON, T-BONE WALKER, BIG JOE TURNER & LOU RAWLS. You've got to be good to keep company like that.

This CD, being a best of, contains songs that were recorded over many years. That translates into lots of musicians - lots of real good musicians. Joining JAMES VAN BUREN, who wrote all the songs and sang all of the vocals were: SAMMY MAYFIELD, HORACE BUTLER, CALVIN KEYS and TONY EDWARDS on guitars; BILLY RICH, DWIGHT KILIAN, M. SIMON and N. WRIGHT on bass; JOE KEEL, DOUG ROCHE and E. GUNNISON on keyboards; PAUL ROMAINE, BRUNO CARR, S. HOLLOWAY and S. RIVERA on drums; BILLY TOLLES, H. BROWN, K. OXMAN, L. DRAYTON and F. WESLEY on horns; K. DAVIES, W. HARSTON and S. SHINTA on background vocals.

In addition to some of the great guitar solos, the great piano solos, the excellent horn work, the magnificent rhythm and the smoothly delivered vocals on this CD, I couldn't help being blown away by the lyrics. This CD contains some of the very best written blues songs I have ever heard.

On the opening track, "THREE HANDED WOMAN", JAMES sings about a women who is 'right handed', 'left handed' and 'underhanded' and JOE KEEL plays some real nice piano. On the next cut, he explains that his doctor told him that he has "A VIRUS CALLED THE BLUES" and that can't be treated with narcotics and antibiotics. HORACE BUTLER plays some serious blues guitar on this track.

There is another track completely written about a club in Denver, where JAMES is a regular performer. The club is called the Elchapultapec Lounge and the song is titled "THE ELCHAPULTAPEC SHUFFLE". He even mentions the owners name and tells the listener to "mention that JAMES VAN BUREN sent you".

On "IT WAS A DREAM" JAMES dreams of hitting the horses and hitting the numbers but then wakes up and can't find any money. He dreamed that he got married and had ten children but woke to find that none of the children looked like his. On this cut the super guitar work is performed by CALVIN KEYS. And, On "MEAN HUSBAND BLUES" James complains that his woman's husband is a mean, mean man who does not cooperate.

"WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE BLUES", is a song in which JAMES claims to have met the blues in person. It happened when his woman moved out and the blues moved in claiming to take care of him.

Song after song on this CD I kept finding the lyrics to be more and more interesting, entertaining, humorous, and yet, all quite true. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of listening to "THE BEST OF JAMES VAN BURENS BLUES"