Blues fanatics rejoice!  Earwig Music Company invites listeners to take a spin with a new 101-track, 4-CD collection of classic Chicago blues, R&B, and gospel recordings.  Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection, due to arrive on July 19, chronicles one of Chicago's finest indie blues labels.  Bea & Baby Records was founded by entrepreneur and music fanatic Narvel "Cadillac Baby" Eatmon.  From 1959-1989, the label and its subsidiaries (among them Key, Keyhole, Miss, and Ronald) championed Chicago's music scene with an impressive array of blues, gospel, soul, doo-wop, hip-hop, and even comedy recordings.

Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection is a lovingly compiled retrospective that tracks the evolution of the label, from its blues roots to its ventures into hip-hop in the late-'80s (demonstrated by previously unreleased recordings by up-and-coming performer 3D).  There are gospel and blues legends like James Cotton, Hound Dog Taylor, and the duo of Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon, but the compilation also sheds a light on lesser-known talents, such as Little Mac Simmons, Eddie Boyd, and Bobby Saxton, who cut Bea & Baby's best-seller, "Trying To Make A Living."  The set also features a range of doo-wop ensembles whose recordings remain hard-to-find on the secondary market -- groups like 11-year-old Faith Taylor and the Sweet Teens, Kirk Taylor and the Velvets, and even some mysterious uncredited recordings that were unearthed on session reels during the curation of the set.

Along the way, listeners can delight in rare gospel tracks by the likes of Eddie Dean & the Biblical Aires, The Gloryaires, The Norfolk Singers, The Pilgrim Harmonizers, and Rev. Samuel Patterson, as well as comedy recordings and even spoken word recordings by Cadillac Baby himself.

Accompanying Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection is an exhaustive 128-page book packed with archival photos and ephemera.  Jim O'Neal, a Blues Hall of Famer and co-founder of Living Blues Magazine contributes detailed liner notes, while music historian Robert Marovich covers the gospel material.  Blues expert Bill Dahl provides detailed track notes, while Michael Robert Frank - a dear friend of Cadillac Baby who purchased Bea & Baby in the '80s and now runs Earwig - completes the set with producer's notes.

In all, Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection promises the most comprehensive view of hard-to-find and recently unearthed classics from the oft-forgotten legends of Chicago's independent blues, soul, and gospel scenes and beyond.  And if 101 tracks on 4 CDs wasn't enough, every copy is set to include a download code fro 10 additional previously unreleased recordings by Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon!

The set arrives on July 19 from Earwig Music Company.  It can be purchased directly from the label.  So mark your calendars, place your pre-orders, and check out the track listing below!  While you're there, you can whet your appetite with two preview tracks:  Andre Williams' "Please Give Me a Chance" and Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon's "Cadillac Baby, Come Pick Me Up"!

Various Artists, Cadillac Baby's Bea & Baby Records: The Definitive Collection (Earwig Music Company, 2019) (Earwig Online Shop)

Disc 1:

1 Welcome To Cadillac Baby's Show Lounge - Cadillac Baby
2 I'm Commin' Home - Eddie Boyd
3 Thank You Baby - Eddie Boyd
4 Nit Wit - L.C. McKinley
5 Sharpest Man In Town - L.C. McKinley
6 Mad House Jump - The Daylighters
7 You're Breaking My Heart - The Daylighters
8 I Need Him To Love Me - 11 Year Old Faith Taylor & The Sweet Teens
9 I Love You Darling - 11 Year Old Faith Taylor & The Sweet Teens
10 Trying To Make A Living - Bobby Saxton
11 Dynamite - Earl Hooker
12 The Legend Of Cadillac Baby - Cadillac Baby
13 Blue Monday Blues - Eddie Boyd
14 The Blues Is Here To Stay -­ Eddie Boyd
15 Come Home! - Eddie Boyd
16 You Got To Reap! - Eddie Boyd
17 Times Are Getting Tougher - Little Mac
18 Don't Come Back - Little Mac
19 Little Lu-Lu Frog - T. Valentine
20 Teen-Age Jump - T. Valentine
21 How Detroit Junior Got Famous - Cadillac Baby
22 Money Tree - Detroit Junior
23 So Unhappy - Detroit Junior
24 Come On Home - Eddie Boyd & The Daylighters
25 Reap What You Sow - Eddie Boyd & The Daylighters

 Disc 2:

1 My Baby Is Coming Home - Hound Dog Taylor
2 Take Five - Hound Dog Taylor
3 You Mistreated Me - St. Louis Mac
4 Broken Heart - St. Louis Mac
5 It's So Hard - Phil Sampson
6 Sampson - Singing Sam featuring Phil Sampson
7 My Story - Singing Sam
8 Calvin's Reserve - Singing Sam
9 Worried About My Baby - Sunnyland Slim
10 Drinkin' and Clownin' - Sunnyland Slim
11 All The Way - Eddie Boyd
12 Where You Belong - Eddie Boyd
13 Cadillac Baby Gets Into The Record Business - Cadillac Baby
14 Please Baby - Lee Jackson
15 Juanita - Lee Jackson
16 Please Give Me A Chance - Andre Williams
17 I Still Love You - Andre Williams
18 I'm Your Fool - Little Mac
19 Let Hootenanny Blues (Out Of Jail) - Little Mac
20 One More Mile - James Cotton
21 There Must Be A Panic On - James Cotton
22 Your Love - Kirk Taylor and The Velvets
23 This World - Kirk Taylor and The Velvets
24 Joe's House Rent Party Part 1 - Tall Paul Hankins & The Hudson Bros.
25 Joe's House Rent Party Part 2 - Tall Paul Hankins & The Hudson Bros.
26 It's You I'm Going To Miss - Willie Hudson / Tall Paul Hankins on organ
27 Red Lips - Willie Hudson

Disc 3:

1 The Christmas Song - Lee Jackson/The Cadillac Baby Specials
2 Santa Came Home Drunk - Clyde Lasley/The Cadillac Baby Specials
3 One More Chance - The Chances/Darla-Moira-Sharonne
4 It Takes More Than Love Alone - The Chances/Darla-Moira-Sharonne
5 Mother-In-Law Blues - Little Mack & The Hipps
6 Woman, Help Me - Little Mack & The Hipps
7 The Sky Is Crying - Little Mack Simmons
8 I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man - Little Mack Simmons
9 Trouble No More - Little Mack Simmons
10 I'm Tore Down - Little Mack Simmons
11 I Love My Man - Arelean Brown
12 Hello Baby - Arelean Brown
13House Rock - Sunnyland Slim
14 She Got That Jive - Sunnyland Slim
15 Little Girl - Sunnyland Slim
16 Too Late To Pray - Sunnyland Slim
17 I Done You Wrong - Sunnyland Slim
18 My Baby's Gone - Homesick James
19 My Kind Of Woman - Homesick James
20 Homesick Sunnyland Special - Homesick James
21 Lost In the Jungle - Andrew "Blue Blood" McMahon
22 Special Agent - Andrew "Blue Blood" McMahon
23 Worried All the Time - Andrew "Blue Blood" McMahon
24 Potato Diggin' Man - Andrew "Blue Blood" McMahon

Disc 4:

1 Somebody Changed the Lock - Willie Williams
2 38 Woman Blues - Willie Williams
3 Raise Your Window Baby - Unknown Blues Band and Vocalist
4 Jump This Morning - Unknown Blues Band and Vocalist
5 7402 - 3D
6 Here We Go Chi-town - 3D
7 Just in Case That You Got a Case - POSSIBLY Clyde Lasley
8 I Bet I Don't Die Tired - Unknown Actors
9 The Preacher, a Deacon and a Razor - Unknown Actors
10 Cadillac Baby Passed So Fast - Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon
11 Worry My Mind - Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon
12 Spirit Don't Leave Me - Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon
13 Lay My Burdon Down - Sleepy John Estes & Hammie Nixon
14 I Did A Lot Of Spiritual Records- Cadillac Baby
15 Search Me Lord -The Gloryaires
16 Now Lord Don't Drive Me Away - The Gloryaires
17 Holy Place - Eddie Dean & The Biblical Aires
18 God Has Prepared - Eddie Dean & The Biblical Aires
19 He's A God - The Norfolk Singers
20 Testimonial - The Norfolk Singers
21 Witness There Too - The Pilgrim Harmonizers
22 Over The Hill - The Pilgrim Harmonizers
23 Climbing High Mountains - Rev. Samuel Patterson
24 Judgment Day - Rev. Samuel Patterson
25 Blues Is My Soul - Cadillac Baby

Plus a download code for 10 additional previously unreleased tracks by Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon