This flamboyant guitarist came along after blues was falling from favor with black audiences but before whites were picking up on the music in large numbers, and this limbo left him stranded for several years. But when he came to Alligator late in the '70s, he more than made up for lost time. This was his explosive debut for the label, and to this day it still carries the unmistakable energy and innovation of a man breaking free. His "cool," ringing guitar — minor keys, capo, dramatic dynamics and all — generates tremendous excitement, whether he's squeezing off vicious little fills, jamming extended solos or holding notes until they threaten to burn through his hands. Tracks like the taunting "When the Welfare Turns Its Back on You," the playful "Master Charge" and the epic "Conversation with Collins" became calling cards, worked and reworked until liver cancer ended his life at age 61 in 1993. True, he was never much of a vocalist — his pre-Alligator career was devoted mostly to instrumentals — but when you can make a guitar sing like he does, that's forgivable. And these horn charts are pretty smart, too.