This has been out for eleven + years with no review, so I thought I'd chime in.The early phase of Hooker's career is just highight after highlight - this is one of the peaks. This is Hooker either alone, or with a second guitar, and finds him at his savage best. Deep Blues does not get any deeper Now, there are many collections of Hooker from the period, and frankly, you can't go wrong with anything pre-1955. He label jumped more than even Lightning Hopkins, leaving us with many, many amazing (and consistent) recordings from this era. These recordings have, to my ear, an edge: they are all deep, savage and unique expressions of Hooker's music. Should you feel the Atco, Modern, Gotham, Savoy (I did say he label jumped) or Specialty are better, I won't argue:, but if you really like those: GET THIS NOW!!! You can never have too much great music, and this is as good as it gets! Sample any, but maybe start with Slim's Stomp.