Hopkins may have enjoyed unprecedented world-wide popularity as a blues and folk artist during the 1960s, but his best work was mostly recorded in the previous two decades. This Rhino selection, put together by James Austin, culls tracks recorded for labels such as Aladdin, Sittin' In With, Gold Star, Jax, Folkways and Bluesville, from 1946 to 1961. Specialists will want the complete Gold Star and Aladdin material in particular, but this is a fine sampling of Hopkins in a variety of settings most typical of his career. The 1946 "Katie May Blues" documents his early partnership with pianist Thunder Smith (hence the nickname "Lightnin'" for plain Sam Hopkins) and also shows why he felt the need to strike out on his own soon after. For most of his life Lightnin' preferred playing as a solo, and his uncanny, tersely moving guitar accompaniment for his stark, often cryptic vocals shows that this was a wise as well as economically ideal choice. The brooding "Automobile", from 1949, drives this point nicely home. In a well-balanced selection, two of the four 1961 tracks feature Sonny Terry. --Keith Shadwick