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New West Records brings some late-summer Texas heat this week, courtesy of a new vinyl box set celebrating the legendary Austin club Antone’s.

Antone’s 50th Allstars: 50 Years of the Blues will feature four 140-gram, translucent color LPs and a 7″ single containing three special albums tracing Antone’s history on record. The Last Real Texas Blues Album (pressed on purple vinyl) offers new studio recordings from acts with deep roots in the Austin scene, from Jimmie Vaughan, Bobby Rush and The Fabulous Thunderbirds to Doyle Bramhall II, ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons and Big Bill Morganfield, the son of blues icon Muddy Waters. (This is the only album in the box that will also be available separately, on double vinyl and CD.) Tell Me One More Time (on blue vinyl) offers a dozen tracks from Antone’s storied record label, including recordings from Doug Sahm, Pinetop Perkins and others. The red vinyl We Went Live in ’75 showcases rare recordings from the club from Jimmy Rogers, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins and a then-unknown Gary Clark Jr. Finally, a red, white and green single-sided 7″ includes a take on Howlin’ Wolf’s Willie Dixon-penned dd”Three Hundred Pounds of Joy” by Los Lobos. Rounding out the set are two books: a perfect-bound set of liner notes from historian Joe Nick Patoski, and an expanded, hardcover version of Picture the Blues, a 200-page book assembled by Clifford Antone’s sister Susan featuring countless rare photos from the club.

With Austin, Texas well known as one of the best American cities for live music, it’s Clifford Antone who helped solidify its reputation. Born to a Syrian and Lebanese-American family (his uncle Jalal was a restauranteur specializing in po’ boy sandwiches), Clifford dropped out of college and, at the age of 25, opened Antone’s on Sixth Street, enticing his favorite blues musicians around the country to play there. Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Pinetop Perkins, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and many more would show up to the stage at Antone’s – but it wasn’t just visitors. A new wave of blues musicians further put Austin on the map, most notably the guitar-playing Vaughan brothers, Jimmie (playing with The Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Stevie Ray (frontman of the power trio Double Trouble and the most significant blues revivalist of the ’80s). Decades later, the club (which had also expanded into a label and record store) would become a proving ground for Gary Clark Jr., a future Grammy winner who’s fused blues with R&B and hip-hop. A blues evangelist who could not be deterred by a stint in jail on federal drug charges, Antone remained a luminary of the scene up to his sudden passing in 2006.

Antone’s 50th Allstars looks to be a must-own for any blues enthusiast. The box and breakout titles will be physically and digitally available this Friday, August 22 and can be pre-ordered below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Antone’s 50th Allstars: 50 Years of the Blues (New West, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

LP 1-2: The Last Real Texas Blues Album

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Side A

1. Going Down – Bobby Rush & Jimmie Vaughan
2. Reconsider Baby – Benny Turner feat. Derek O’Brien
3. Flip, Flop and Fly – Jivin’ Gene feat. Charlie Sexton
4. You’ll Lose a Good Thing – Kam Franklin
5. If You Change Your Mind – Lil’ Ed Williams

Side B

1. Talkin’ ‘Bout My Friends – Kim Wilson & the Fabulous Thunderbirds
2. Those Lonely, Lonely Nights – McKinley James
3. The Sky is Crying – Lurrie Bell feat. Joe Sublett
4. Lead Me On – Ruthie Foster

Side C

1. Bad Boy – Doyle Bramhall II
2. Just Like a Bird Without a Feather – Big Bill Morganfield
3. Honest I Do – John Primer
4. Lookin’ Good – Eve Monsees feat. Lurrie Bell and very special guest Billy Gibbons
5. The Things That I Used to Do – Lynn August feat. Marcia Ball

Side D

1. Willie the Wimp – C.J. Chenier
2. You Got Me Where You Want Me – Sue Foley
3. If (I Could Be with You) – Kam Franklin
4. Message from Miss Lavelle – Lavelle White feat. Derek O’Brien & Marcia Ball

Red/White/Green 7″: Three Hundred Pounds of Joy – Los Lobos

LP 3: Tell Me One More Time – The Best of Antone’s Records

Side A

1. Sugar Coated Love – Lou Ann Barton
2. I’m So Glad – Snooky Pryor
3. It Hurts Me, Too – Angela Strehli
4. No Special Rider – Lazy Lester
5. You’re Gonna Make Me Cry – Lavelle White
6. I Won’t Cry – Doug Sahm

Side B

1. A Fool in Love – Marcia Ball, Lou Ann Barton & Angela Strehli
2. Too Sorry – Doyle Bramhall
3. Gone Blind – Sue Foley
4. Hear from My Daddy – Barbara Lynn
5. Don’t Touch Me – Kim Wilson
6. Going Down Slow – Pinetop Perkins

Track A1 from Read My Lips – Antone’s ANT0009, 1989
Track A2 from Mind Your Own Business – Antone’s/Discovery 74708, 1996
Track A3 from Soul Shake – Antone’s ANT0006, 1987
Track A4 from Blues Stop Knockin’ – Antone’s ANT0051, 2001
Track A5 from Miss Lavelle – Antone’s ANT0031, 1994
Track A6 from Juke Box Music – Antone’s ANT0008, 1989
Track B1 from Dreams Come True – Antone’s ANT0014, 1990
Track B2 from Bird Nest on the Ground – Antone’s ANT0027, 1994
Track B3 from Big City Blues – Antone’s ANT0037, 1995
Track B4 from Hot Night Tonight – Antone’s ANT0047, 2000
Track B5 from Tigerman – Antone’s ANT0023, 1993
Track B6 from Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie – Antone’s ANT0020, 1992

LP 4: We Went Live in ’75

Side A

1. Chicken Shack/Sugar Bear Intro – Pinetop Perkins
2. Walking by Myself – Jimmy Rogers
3. Built Up from the Ground – Sunnyland Slim
4. Double Trouble – Otis Rush
5. Bigtown Playboy – Eddie Taylor
6. Look on Yonders Wall – Buddy Guy

Side B

1. What It Takes to Get a Good Woman – Angela Strehli
2. Cold, Cold Feeling – Albert Collins
3. Catfish Blues – Gary Clark Jr.
4. Midnight Creeper – James Cotton

All tracks recorded live at Antone’s, Austin, TX

Track A1 recorded live in July 1995. Released on Live At Antone’s Vol. 1 – Antone’s ANT 0045, 2000
Tracks A3, A4, A6 and B2 recorded live in July 1985. Released on Tenth Anniversary Anthology Vol. 1 – Antone’s ANT 0004, 1986
Track A5 released on Still Not Ready for Eddie – Antone’s ANT 0005, 1987
Track B1 recorded live in June 1995. Released on Antone’s 20th Anniversary – Antone’s 74703, 1996
Track B3 recorded live on 9/24/2004
Track B4 recorded live in July 1987. Released on Recorded Live At Antone’s Night Club – Antone’s ANT 0007, 1988