I guess I have a thing where I love it when "non-traditional" instruments are used in new settings. Organs have been used in rock and roll music for decades, but mention the instrument to most people and they'll start hearing traditional hymns in church. Mention the mandolin and if people can place it at all they'll likely place it in the bluegrass tradition. There's nothing wrong with this. Some types of music do seem to lend themselves to certain instruments.

I never in a million years would have thought a mandolin could or would be part of a Chicago blues record until Gerry Hundt released Since Way Back last year. That record was a real eye-opener for me. First, it was a fuckin' fantastic record in its own rite. I still listen to that record and no one I've loaned it to has said anything but great things about it. In addition to being a great record, I learned a little bit about the tradition of mandolin in blues. It's not a commonly used instrument but it's not unheard of, either.

Two weeks ago Nick Moss & The Flip Tops played Huntsville and during the show Gerry Hundt covered Johnny Young's "Money Takin' Woman." It was a great performance of the song and it reminded me I'd yet to really go investigate the mandolin tradition for myself. I liked "Money Takin' Woman" and I like Hundt and he likes Young so I decided that would be a good place to start.

As with many great blues artists who are no long with us, Johnny Young's discography is a bit of a mess. He recorded with a handful of labels over the years, many of which are now defunct and that makes tracking down his recordings a bit of an adventure. Some albums were never released on CD while others are out of print, meaning if you are lucky you might find an old copy on vinyl. Maybe.

I can't imagine why in this day and age someone would be bothered, but someone at Sony decided to gather Johnny Young's sessions for Blue Horizon and have them remixed, remastered, and released on CD. I'm sure that person has since been fired because this is not how things are done in the Land of Corporate Stupid, but I owe them a big thanks.

The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions is really Young's 1969 Fat Mandolin record, expanded with some alternate takes and some material recorded during those sessions that was never released. The Bible says a man is known by the company he keeps. That is particularly true in the music world. There are some great musicians who aren't widely known but are respected by artists with more acclaim. For Fat Mandolin, he was backed by longtime Muddy Waters sidekick Otis Spann on piano, Paul Oscher on harmonica, Sammy Lawhorn on bass and second guitar, and S.P. Leary on drums. That's a hell of a band! On other records, Young was backed by Spann and harp geniuses James "Superharp" Cotton and Big Walter Horton. You may not know Young and you may not have heard a lot of blues mandolin records, but these heavyweights worked with Young throughout his career and that says a lot.