"For non-completists, getting handle on Allison has previously been difficult as a concise, single-disc collection compiled with an eye towards his influence on British music has been lacking until now ... I'm Not Talkin' collects 24 tracks from 1957 to 1971, over which Allison recorded for four labels: Prestige, Columbia, Epic and Atlantic. His favoured means of getting the music across was as a pianist in a trio but, in the early Seventies, he also played an electric piano and worked with a filled-out band. Such a sweep suggests I'm Not Talkin' could be a disparate experience and not hang together. In the event, it's a unified listen. It also has good, enthusiastic liner notes"

"His songs like Parchman Farm, Young Man Blues and Everybody Cryin' Mercy got covered by The Who, Georgie Fame (who completely adopted Mose's vocal style), Van Morrison, John Mayall, The Clash, The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt, and his music influenced many more from the Stones to Hendrix, Tom Waits and beyond. Even his covers of blues classics by others, like Sonny Boy Williamson's Eyesight To The Blind or Willie Dixon's Seventh Son and I Love The Life I Live - all included here - became the iconic versions beyond the originals ... Excellently compiled and with extensive notes by Dean Rudland, and great remastered sound by Duncan Cowell, this is a fabulous testament to those early years and, if you're new to him, as fine a belated introduction to his work as you could ask for"