Robert Nighthawk, also known during the early years of his career by the name of Robert Lee McCoy, as well as other pseudonyms like Ramblin' Bob and Peetie's Boy, was a blues slide guitarist, singer and songwriter whose influence far outweighs the recognition and visibility his recordings have enjoyed in subsequent decades. Born in Arkansas, he was an itinerant musician, working in Memphis and St. Louis, before doing his first recordings for Bluebird in 1937 in Chicago, and continued his rambling lifestyle during what was a fitful recording career over the next fifteen years. Having recorded initially for Bluebird with Sonny Boy Williamson I (the original "Sonny Boy") as Robert Lee McCoy and Ramblin' Bob, he recorded in 1940 for Decca under the name Peetie's Boy, and during the late '40s for Aristocrat and it's later guise as Chess under the name Robert Nighthawk, taking the name from the best-known title from his first sessions "Prowlin' Nighthawk". His final recordings during this era were in 1951 and '52 for the United and States labels. He was rediscovered during the '60s and enjoyed a brief revival before his death in 1967. This great-value 48-track 2-CD set comprises the main body of his significant recorded output under his own names, with noted performers like Speckled Red, Willie Dixon, Ernest Lane, Pinetop Smith and Ransom Knowling featured on his sessions, and is a showcase for the intense bottleneck style he developed as he made the transition from acoustic to electric guitar which charted the way for the likes of Elmore James and others, for whom he was a significant influence.

Track List:

Disc: 1

1. Prowling Night Hawk
2. Lonesome World
3. Don't Mistreat Your Woman
4. Sweet Pepper Mama
5. G-Man
6. Tough Luck
7. Mean Black Cat
8. I Have Spent My Bonus
9. Mamie Lee
10. Take It Easy Baby
11. Brickyard
12. My Friends Have Forsaken Me
13. C.N.A
14. She's Got What It Takes
15. Big Apple Blues
16. Ol' Mose
17. Every Day and Night
18. Next Door Neighbour
19. Good Gambling
20. You're All I've Got to Live for
21. Freight Train Blues
22. Gonna Keep It for My Daddy
23. Mama Don't Allow Me to Stay Out All Night Long
24. Friars Point Blues

Disc: 2

1. Never Leave Me
2. My Sweet Lovin' Woman
3. Down the Line
4. Handsome Lover
5. She Knows How to Love a Man
6. Annie Lee Blues - the Nighthawks
7. Black Angel Blues - the Nighthawks
8. Return Mail Blues
9. Sugar Papa
10. Six Three O - the Nighthawks
11. Jackson Town Gal - the Nighthawks
12. Good News
13. Prison Bound
14. Kansas City Blues
15. Crying Won't Help You
16. Feel So Bad
17. Take It Easy Baby
18. Nighthawk Boogie
19. The Moon Is Rising
20. Maggie Campbell
21. Seventy Four
22. Bricks in My Pillow
23. Us Boogie
24. You Missed a Good Man