Well, I suppose to some he was. A star that is. But for some reason, Robert Lee McCoy (AKA "Nighthawk") never made it to the really big leagues. Sure, he didn't have Willie Dixon to supply him with catchy, instantly memorable songs like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf did, but he had the voice and the skill, and his recorded output is generally of very high quality.
Perhaps the main reason is that Nighthawk didn't really care all that much about recording. Even so, United Records in Chicago (where else?) did manage to record him on two occations (July 1951 and October 1952), and the cuts on this fine album was the results. Nighthawk plays some mean slide guitar and even a few single-string leads, and sounds very much like a man who could have given Muddy Waters a run for his money.
The sound is amazingly good - full, clear and rich. Highlights include the slow, ominous "Crying Won't Help You", the jazzy "The Moon Is Rising" and "You Missed A Good Man", and the traditional Bricks In My Pillow", but there are really no weak tracks on this album. Robert Nighthawk's brand of blues is somewhere in between Elmore James and early amplified Muddy Waters, and this CD, along with the fabulous "Live on Maxwell Street", would serve as a fine introduction to this underrated, but influential and hugely talented, bluesman.