The Right Stuff/EMI is mining its catalog to pay proper tribute to the blues with greatest-hits CD packages for six artists the label has dubbed "Blues Kingpins." The discs -- each due Aug. 5 -- will collect the best of Fats Domino, Ike Turner, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, and B.B. King.

The "Blues Kingpins" discs were produced by blues author/historian Bill Dahl, who also wrote liner notes for the series. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the discs will be donated to the Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting blues music and legacy worldwide.

The discs will include vintage recordings, including some tracks previously unavailable on CD or only available in the U.S. in their original pressings. All six volumes pull their material from EMI-owned labels including Imperial, Aladdin, Modern, RMP, and Sue Records. Some of the songs that have not yet been reissued in the U.S. include sides Hooker recorded with his Detroit road band, Hopkins' Modern/RPM sides, most of the Turner disc, and King's "Please Hurry Home."

"These priceless vintage performances deserve to be heard and cherished by a whole new generation of blues fans," Dahl said in a statement, "as well as by the aficionados who will hopefully be as delighted as I am to have them domestically available and handsomely presented. And hopefully they're only the first batch in the series!"