Blues Music
 

Okay I'm really into Blues rock...ya know bands like The Almans, Mountain, etc. And I love blues influenced guitarists like David Gilmour among others but lately I've been thinking I want to try out some ACTUAL blues music ya know? Especially blues guitarists. I like electric guitar but I'm not totally opposed to acoustic either. I was thinkin I could check out of course BB King and Muddy Waters...maybe Pink Anderson given his connection with Pink Floyd's name...I of course would have to check out Robert Johnson..is his music mainly acoustic or does he have electric as well? Well I'm looking for suggestions for people I should check out...preferably blues guitarists/singers but if you just wanna recommend a good blues singer too of course I won't object. I just wanna broaden my knowledge of music some by listening to some of the guys who started it all. Especially blues guitarists cause I'd like to learn to play some day ya know? I'm also not totally opposed to a white guy doing it if he's doing it right...I have Clapton and Robin Trower in my collection for example...I don't wanna be missing out on anything and I really feel like I am. Gilmour is my favorite guitarist of people I've heard...mainly because of the raw emotion of his playing...for all I know I may find someone in blues thats even better especially since it revolves so much on emotions and playing them. I guess I'll stop there

Gimme yer recomendations! :thumbsup:

edit: Don't just list artists, or songs but albums as well..that e'll make em a lot easier to check out. Thanx

Asta!!

ps: Also I've heard some really great Jazz guitarists as well...feel free to list them too. I know one a you guys is really into Jazz & Blues...think it's Paddyjoe or Booray..or somebody..can't remember.

Stevie Ray Vaughn - Start with Little Wing and go to Vodoo Child
Aerosmith - Most of the Honkin' on Bobo cd is true blues..
John Lee Hooker - Catfish Blues
Muddy Waters -- Got my Mojo Workin'
Little Feat - Live at Lupo's CD has some great stuff on it
Bruce Springsteen - the MTV Unplugged cd has a real bluesy edge to it - -especially Thunder Road - that song blows the studio version out of the water.

if'n you want jazz -- look for John Coltrane or Theloneous Monk they're a both really nice introduction to jazz (Jazz can be a little ADD, it's kind of all over the place -- and is definitely an aquired taste)

Robert Johnson died in 1938 or so ... the electric guitar was just being introduced so I doubt that there are any recordings of him playing electric.

since you're just getting into blues, i suggest working your way backwards. your ears probably won't appreciate stuff that hardcore bluesies do, but in time you can warm yourself up to that. check out:

The Black Keys - The Big Come Up, Thickfreakness, Rubber Factory
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood, Couldn't Stand The Weather, In Step
John Mayall And The Blues Breakers - With Eric Clapton (from '66 - it's rediculous)
Roy Buchanan - Livestock
Indigenous - Live at Pachyderm Studios
Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign
Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Ledbetter Heights

and if you haven't heard them already:

Jimi Hendrix - Blues
The Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East

Great guys keep the reccomendations comin folks. I already know about The Black Keys they're definitely a great band. I love how much sound comes from just 2 guys and I love the guys voice. I'm a bit of an old soul when it comes to my musical tastes so don't hesitate to show me this hardcore bluesy stuff you speak of. I'm very eclectic. I've been meaning to get my hands on some Stevie Ray Vaughn. I had a couple of friends in an old town I lived in who were crazy about him. One kid I knew could play all the notes on his guitar..super talented. He Malef if ya like Stevie check out Los Lonely Boys...they're HIGHLY influenced by him...also by Santana :thumbsup: I'm gonna start checkin out some of these CD's in the meantime keep em comin!

Asta!! :thumbsup:

Buddy Guy - I Was Walking Through the Woods
Magic Sam - West Side Soul
Lowell Fulson - Chess Collection (rare)
John Lee Hooker - Don't Look Back
Junior Wells - At Buddy Guys Legends (he plays harp, not guitar)

For acoustic:
Mississippi John Hurt - Complete Okey Recordings
Robert Johnson - Complete recordings (he plays acoustic...electric wasn't invented yet...)


That's a start

The Black Keys make me want to die of a heroin overdose.

in a good way?

more suggestions:

electric:
albert collins
elmore james
t-bone walker
howling wolf (of course--anything)
muddy waters--there is a great chess comp of stuff from the 1950s--particularly good with little walter on harmonica
john lee hooker: endless boogie, urban blues

mississippi fred macdowell: i do not play no rock and roll.

acoustic:
endorse the robert johnson suggestion. yes yes.
charely patton
skip james
blind lemon jefferson
bessie smith

^ Awesome! I was waiting for a Howling Wolf recommendation cause I see his name everywhere on Blues complilations...hell even ones at Wal Mart.

Asta!!

Lets see if I can get a couple of more recommendations here.

Asta!!

If youare going to check that stuff out, listen to the originals by Hendrix first. SRV was a more polished a player then Jimi was but Jimi had more fire then SRV (if that's actually possible) IMO.

Listen to Hendrix, he was a blues player through and through. Redhouse for example on Are you Experienced is a straight up blues. From there all his music was Blues based just done loudly.

Go listen to the 3 Blues "Kings" BB King, Albert King and Freddie King

Eric Claptin's From the Craddle Album is like 14 tracks of blues and is a great record.

Obviously Stevie Ray Vaughn is one to listen to. He's basically an encyclopedia of the blues in terms of influenced by every major blues guitarist that came before him and meshed all their styles together.

Listen to some Jazz blues as well. Listen to guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Pianists like Oscar Peterson and Saxophonests like John Coltrane, Miles Davis on Trumpet.

Robert Johnson as mentioned before, gotta listen to him.

Johnny Winter for some crazy slide blues playing

Well most of what I know has been mentioned above with the likes of BB King, Muddy Waters, Clapton and all....

How about Vocalists.... My favorite of all Time is The Late Great Nina Simone... she can make you laugh, cry even get you horny...

Also a new artist in this genre... Joss Stone... she is only 16 or 17 years old but has the voice and emotion of a 50-something woman with a broken heart....

eric bibb has been kickin' my ass as of late.........

sue foley can belt out some cool shit too.

Great more...I wondering if someone was gonna say Johnny Winter..I hear about him a lot. Are You Experianced is probably my favorite Hendrix song actually. I think of getting Greatest Hits collections by him but they NEVER have that song in there I'm just gonna have to start collecting him along with everyone else.

What about Ry Cooder? I liked what he did in the movie Crossroads. I remember Bonnie Rait being a really good slide player as well what about her? Keep em comin.

Asta!!

asking for recommendations for over a month, but no feedback on what's been recommended?!? gotta give us some direction here

Hmm I guess yer right. I'm a little poor though..would only be able to get 2 of these tops at a time and then not be able to get more for a while...take some time to pick 1 or 2 out of all the suggestions...but I don't want the thread to die again during that time either I guess hmm...didn't really give that much thought haha. Hmm I wonder if I could get one of those 12 for the price of 1 things...That'd knock out a whole buncha em :D. Prolly not cause we already did that before I made this thready...got Robin Trower and Starsailor and Neil Young and Procol Harum..etc..hmm...what a pickle. Oh well I got plenty a time no rush :D

Asta!!

Try getting the Hendrix "Are you experienced?" album. The whole thing is awesome.

Well, early Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green) was all about pure blues. The albums to look for are: "Fleetwood Mac", "Mr. Wonderful" & "The Pious Bird of Good Omen". I Hope you enjoy them.

R. L. Burnside is my pick for recommended blues. Particularly the album "Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down."

Elmore James...Chicago blues..."dust my broom"

My suggestion is to look at the first couple of Led Zeppelin albums, and see who originally wrote the songs (most of them are blues covers). Check out Memphis Minnie (don't know any albums, but the song "When the Levee Breaks" was covered), Bukka White, Leadbelly, and Roy Harper (he's more folkish, though). Led Zeppelin themselves do some hardcore blues (Hat's off to Roy Harper(sic) and Bring it On Home, Since I've Been Loving You, I Can't Quit You Baby, How Many More Times, In My Time of Dying, Tea for One, the list goes on forever).

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice
1/8....
yardbirds......checkemmout:)

Let's get right to the point here.
Artist / Album
Thomas "Snake" Johnson - Complete Recorded Works (1928-29)
Charley Patton - Complete Recordings 1929-1934
Skip James - Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues: Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings
Blind Willie McTell - Classic Years 1927-1940 [Box Set]
Leadbelly - Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy, Vol. 1
Leadbelly - Bourgeois Blues: Leadbelly Legacy, Vol. 2
Son House - Father Of The Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions
Son House & The Great Delta Blues Singers
Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings [BOX SET]

All of these are essential in my opinion if you want to get into old blues. There's so much more but I think those are a good place to start. There's also a box set called Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues, it's 5 CD's and a nice booklet that talks about each song in the set. It's a good place to start if you don't have a lot of loot to toss about since it's got such a great selection.

(one month later...)

For sure!

Anything by Otis Spann, especially his solo recordings are great. He's a genius on piano. I'm a blues keyboard player myself, and got a lot of inspiration from him.

I agree with most of that, except that I think Aerosmith does a horrible job of making blues music. :)

Definitely seconding the Stevie Ray Vaughn though.

Awesome. I'm thinking this is as many as I'm gonna get now I just need to check out all of these names and decide my favorites and see who e'll really move me. Thanks a bunch guys.

Asta!!

Ohh! Also, Robert Cray! Some Rainy Morning is good, but then all of his stuff is good. Louis Armstrong too.

Some good stuff here.

I didn't see anybody mention Johnny Lang? Young phenom. Born for blues. First heard him when he was ~16 and coudn't believe my ears. Nobody ever has a clue the guy hasn't been playing for 30yrs. I think he's about 25 now. Much better guitarist these days.

Eric Johnson is technically amazing. (another product of Austin and born a couple months after SRV) He's a master of any style so not exactly a Blues purist. His Venus Isles tribute to SRV deserves a listen.

Mark Knopfler has a heavy blues influence, but a very unique style. Some is more of a country-blues. The first Dire Straits album is mandatory.

The Robert Johnson boxed set is good but takes some seasoning. Try a little, then some derivative stuff, then again. It'll grow on you as you pick up the history.