Between 1929 and 1934, Charley Patton pretty much created the Delta blues, and on this comprehensive collection you can hear it happen. Patton's raw, stark sound could be feral and feverish, as on the driving "Mississippi Boweavil Blues" and the furious, stomping "High Water Everywhere (Pts. 1 & 2)", or lonesome and haunted, like on the strangely scary "Rattlesnake Blues". But whatever mood he was in from moment to moment, this album makes it clear that Patton was one of the most potent voices in blues history.