Shepherd's "Backroads" travels to top of blues chart

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Kenny Wayne Shepherd came in at No. 1 on the Top Blues Albums chart for 2007 with "10 Days Out: Blues From the Backroads."

The Reprise/Warner Bros. record is part of a CD/DVD package that documents a road trip Shepherd took in an effort to play with a number of aging blues legends before they passed away. His timing was fortunate; in the two years between the trip and the album's release, six of the musicians who play on the disc have died.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble come in at No. 2 with "The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Vol. 1" (Legacy/Epic/Sony Music). The No. 3 spot goes to the soundtrack to the film "Black Snake Moan" (New West); while the movie may not have been critically acclaimed, the soundtrack seems to have resonated with blues fans.

Best-of sets also did well in 2007, with Etta James' "The Definitive Collection" (Hip-O/Chronicles/UMe) and B.B. King's "The Ultimate Collection" (Geffen/Chronicles/UMe) coming in at Nos. 6 and 11 on the Top Blues Albums chart, respectively. King and James also came in at Nos. 6 and 7 on the Top Blues Artists recap.

James Hunter's "People Gonna Talk" (Go/Rounder), which came out in March 2006, continues to sell well, landing at No. 10 on the albums chart this year. Likewise, the Derek Trucks Band's "Songlines" (Columbia/Sony Music), which also came out last year after a four-year break, came in at No. 5.

On the Top Blues Artists chart, Hunter is No. 9, and the Derek Trucks Band is No. 5.

Reprise was at No. 1 on the Top Blues Imprint chart, thanks to the success of the Shepherd record. It was followed by Epic at No. 2 and New West at No. 3.

On the Top Blues Label chart, Sony took the top spot, followed by Warner Bros. and New West.

Reuters/Billboard