Eddie Boyd - Five Long Years (1965)

Recorded by Eddie Boyd in London in October 1965, "Five Long Years" is an absolute classic and one of the essential documents of the 1960s blues boom.

This album is unique in that it captures a historic moment: the meeting of a Chicago scene veteran with the greatest musicians of his time in a European studio (Wessex Sound Studios). Eddie Boyd came to Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festival tour and, tired of racial discrimination and financial injustice in the United States, decided to record an album that later inspired him to permanently move to Europe.

The album's sound is dense, nocturnal, deep, and incredibly pumping. Unlike the original, rough 1952 single recording, the 1965 version sounds refined and mature. The entire session is imbued with the atmosphere of a cool Chicago club, transplanted into a London studio.