The memory of Arbee Stidham (1917-1988) may have dimmed in recent years, but a half century ago he stood as one of America's major blues figures. The Arkansas-born, Chicago-based singer-guitarist hit the top of Billboard's "race" chart in 1948 with his RCA Victor recording of "My Heart Belongs to You" and recorded prolifically over the next two decades for a variety of labels. There was an inviting quality to Stidham's laid-back way with the blues, which Prestige/ Bluesville empathetically captured at this 1960 session by placing him in the company of two Chicagoans--jazz pianist John Young and blues drummer Armond "Jump" Jackson--plus saxophonist King Curtis and bassist Leonard Gaskin, both New York studio heavies. The long-overdue reissue of Tired of Wandering serves as a welcome reminder of what a fine bluesman Arbee Stidham was.

with King Curtis, Leonard Gaskin, Armond Jackson, John Wright