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Checker was the other main label of Phil and Leonard Chess, a sister label that ran concurrently with Chess after its launch in 1952. One Day's 2014 compilation Blues from the Checker Vaults offers precisely what it promises: 40 songs originally released on Checker, all spread over two discs. Apart from Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" and maybe Little Walter's "Mean Old World," very few of these songs get recycled much on other compilations but that doesn't mean this skimps on great music. Lowell Fulson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore James, Otis Spann, and J.B. Lenoir all show up, along with some lesser-known but high-quality sides, making this a first-rate budget blues comp. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
