Various Artists, Blues Guitar Women

Blues Guitar Women, as you might imagine from the title, is a collection of songs all performed by female guitar players and compiled by a fellow female guitarista, Sue Foley. Now, I don’t know if it’s just me, but blues tends to break down into extremes — if a song isn’t interesting, it can be extremely irritating, and this is true regardless of gender. So it’s nice to see a set that’s actually good, and even better to see a good one that features only females. The package includes two CDs, split between between “traditional” and “contemporary” blues. The divisions between traditional and contemporary seem somewhat arbitrary, but the performances help you ignore that fact.

Regardless of the category, the discs encompass a variety of styles — rock, gospel, instrumentals, country/delta blues, and even some Arabic-sounding music. Most of the women on the CDs are relatively unknown, but there are a few to draw in the more casual listeners, like Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Debbie Davies, Rory Block, and Memphis Minnie (what would a female blues guitar comp be without Memphis Minnie?). But there are as many good performances here from the unknowns as the more established artists.

The set starts with a great, rocking blues by the Lara Price Band called “Can’t Quit The Blues,” which features great guitar work as well. It follows up with an amusing original by Debbie Davies called “Taking It All To Vegas,” my favorite of the bunch, if only because it’s the first blues I’ve ever heard about Wall Street. Sue Foley contributes a great, beautiful Middle Eastern-flavored instrumental appropriately called “Mediterranean Breakfast.” Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt go beyond themselves on the soulful “It’s a Blessing,” and Alice Stuart contributes an imaginative and amusing take on Skip James’s “Rather Be the Devil” — a Joni Mitchell-esque folk version that makes you almost forget the original (which is saying a lot).

There are some good traditional performances here, too. Etta Baker’s “One Dime Blues” is a pretty ragtime instrumental that never outstays its welcome. Rory Block contributes a typically beautiful version of “Fixin’ to Die” — she deserves to be on anyone’s list of top blues guitar players, male or female — and on “Going Down This Road,” Alicia May Hinton pays homage to Mississippi John Hurt. The set wraps up with four women who no doubt inspired a lot of the people on this album: Mattie Delaney, Elvie Thomas, Geeshie Wiley, and Memphis Minnie, all of whom are represented here by some rip-roaring songs.

There are a few missteps on the record. “Baghdad Blues,” by Beverley “Guitar” Watkins, is a well-meaning but nonetheless heavy-handed song about the price of war. Ellen McIlwaine’s version of “Dead End Street” attempts a version more stark than that of Son House, but it falls flat. An instrumental by Ana Popovic called “Navajo Moon” hopes to be pastoral Jimi Hendrix but comes across more like any-phase Eric Johnson. Joanna Connor’s “Living on the Road” isn’t bad ’til she hits the chorus, where she makes it unredeemable without the use of a HAZMAT suit.

Still, any collection of 29 songs is going to be hit or miss for anyone. What’s pleasing to see is that there are so many current blues musicians finding interesting styles to play, and the added fact that they’re all female is even more pleasing. It’s gratifying whether you’re a woman or not.