budget priced 4 cd box set the majority of well known migrating bluesmen made their recording debut after their move to a city muddy was first captured on tape in rural mississippi in 1941 and '42 by alan lomax. 13 of those 'field' recordings open this 97 track set, allowing the listener to then hear how muddy progressed once he had settled in chicago, where he recorded briefly for columbia in 1946 the balance of disc 1 before being signed by the chess brothers in 1947. it was as a chess recording artist that he soon became top dog on the burgeoning chicago blues scene. discs 2 4 of this set cover all of his important recording up to end 1955, including the 12 r&b chart hits that put him at the forefront of that era's chicago bluesmen.