Best known for his lead guitar work with rock ‘n’ roll legend Jack Scott, Allen frequently lent his talents to sessions at the indomitable Fortune Records, home not only to R&B wild men like Andre Williams and Nathaniel Mayer, but hillbilly and rockabilly counterparts who attacked their own music with the same fervently unique vision.

Leave it to Woodward Records, who have compiled similar anthologies profiling the work of Motor City Pioneers Eddie Jackson, the York Brothers and Lonnie Barron, to unearth 19 never before heard tracks (along with Allen’s sole solo 45 release, issued during Scott’s hit-making prowess) that showcase him as a rockin’ virtuoso along the lines of Les Paul, Roy Lanham and Joe Maphis with a little Link Wray raunch on the side, running the gamut from the rawest in swaggering instrumentals to the wildest in echo-laden jazz. Anyone with a taste for adventurous guitar heroes like those just mentioned should pick up this fine tribute to an awe-inspiring player.