Little Milton – Greatest Hits – Chess/MCA CHD-9386  

This 1997 16-cut collection culling Milton’s best tracks from the period 1961-1969 is part of The Chess 50^th Anniversary Collection, and there is a great deal here to relish. Early in his career, Milton tried on differing styles when he laid down tracks for labels like Bobbin and Sun, but with the powerhouse Chess Records imprint he found his ideal form.  During the Chess years, Milton achieved a delicious silky meld of R&B, a soulful credence, and a blues sensibility.  Hits aplenty flowed from his efforts, including cuts such as “If Walls Could Talk,” “We’re Gonna Make It,” “Who’s Cheating Who,” and the timeless “Grits Ain’t Groceries (All Around The World).” 

Milton’s voice on this collection conjures the honeyed Bobby “Blue” Bland smoothness, yet, again, his blues roots wear just enough of the refinement away to produce a pleasing end product.  Milton’s guitar work is sleek and moving, and he is aided by fellow guitarists Phil Upchurch and Cash McCall on his endeavors.  Especially delectable across this collection are the various assembled horn sections, ones amassed and charts written by Gene Barge and Oliver Sain.  Sound quality across the landscape of these tracks is crisp, clear, and ideally mixed.

After Milton’s Chess years he briefly stopped at Stax Records, a journey that went nowhere, until at the end of the 1970s he found an 18-year home at Malaco Records where his career was revived and some of his best musical substance was released.

However, these Chess sides are integral to a full understanding of the Little Milton path to greatness, and their uniform quality makes them indispensable.

Essential to any blues collection!