From Visible Ink Press offers the latest addition to the MusicHound series called MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide by Leland Rucker. This is a "must have" reference and album buying guide for anybody with an interest in America's quintessential music, the Blues. Over 600 blues artists and their records are critiqued with a one-to-five-bone rating system and a woof! awarded to the real dog albums. The Hound also suggests what albums to buy, what albums to buy next and what out-of-print albums to search for. Interesting is the way the book outlines and connects the various people whom first influenced these artists and in turn which artists influenced the next generation later on.

The Hound has a list of resources including blues publications, Web pages, music festivals and radio stations. There is a guide to five-bone albums and worthwhile compilation albums. The four indexes for easy cross-referencing are: Category Index that lists all the many subgroups with which blues music and blues artists are classified; Roots Index lists major popular artists and their respective influences; Producer Index lists the producers of many blues records; while the Band Member Index shows the musicians who play in blues groups. Managing editor Rucker of Blues Access Magazine and supervising editor Gary Graff got 42 different music journalists, critics and deejays to contribute to this over 500 page tome.

The MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide sells for $24.95. For more about it you can contact Visible Ink Press at 835 Penobscot Bldg., 645 Griswold Street, Detroit, MI 48226. Call them at 800-776-6265 or WEB at: www.gale.com