I'm getting a bit fed up with music in general at the moment, and after listening to blues great John Lee Hooker on the radio recently, I fancy listening to more of the same.I know a bit about Clapton etc, but am pretty limited when it comes to the blues. Any suggestions? Who should I investigate in?Who should I Avoid?
Start with the big guns: Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, BB King and then the world expands from there.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Like anything else, there are different genres in blues, so depends what you fancy
I prefer modern nu-blues and funk-blues (Keb Mo', some Albert Collins and the Icebreakers, some Koko Taylor, some 70s Albert King, etc) that takes rhythmic chances out of the typical I-IV-V 12-Bar shuffles or slow traditional
Clapton: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (the "Beano" ) album.Originally Posted by KELLY WELSH
In addition to the "big guns" Jerjo mentioned, add:
Freddie King
Otis Rush
Magic Sam
Luther Allison
Jimmy Reed
Earl Hooker
Johnny Winter
Sonny Boy Williamson (aka Rice Miller)
Last edited by mogrooves; 12-20-2013 at 01:11 PM.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
All good suggestions so far. I recommend you check out this stuff and go from there.
http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...ecordings&sm=1
watch American Folk Blues Festival: 1962-1966 (<--3 discs) and American Folk-Blues Festival: 1963-1966 (1 disc) and Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey.
Last edited by davis; 12-20-2013 at 01:26 PM.
Depends on what you like about the blues.
I love this
Play it loud, Muddy and Johnny did
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
When I watched this DVD, I kept thinking I would NOT want to be in a band that has to go onstage after that show. there's no way to follow that. But I suspect JLH was the headliner.
Unless it's, perhaps, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, for whom JLH opened the first time I saw them.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
I like blusion.
Some fantastic under the radar suggestions (I especially like Luther Allison).
I don't think anyone has mentioned:
Buddy Buy
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee
Johnny Copeland
"The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau
Those 'all star' blues albums with various rock stars on, I don't really listen to. Stick to the 'real thing' would be my advice.
Albert Collins' 'Ice Pickin' is a great one for the jaded rock fan IMHO- some amazing guitar playing on that. There's a long held note in 'Honey Hush' which always takes my breath away. There's also a couple of very amusing songs ('Master Charge' always cracks me up).
Otherwise I think just about any 50s/early 60s blues on the Chess label. Most of the major players of electric blues were on that label.
A few names you want to investigate (a few have already been named, but they're worth repeating):
Albert King
Freddie King
Albert Collins
Muddy Waters
Howlin' Wolf
Robert Johnson
John Lee Hooker
Buddy Guy
I'm actually a bit of a novice with the blues myself, but I do know that Freddie King's Getting Ready and Texas Cannonball are both great records. So is King Of The Blues Guitar by Albert King. If I remember correctly, all three albums have backing by Booker T And The MG's. I remember it once being suggested in one of the guitar magazines that most of what Stevie Ray played on China Girl and Let's Dance was derived from Albert's licks on that album.
John Lee Hooker was notorious for his ability to confound most musicians who attempted to back him. He changed chords whenever he felt like it was the right time, which frequently didn't follow cliched "12 bar" patterns. So you absolutely could not go on auto pilot when working with Hooker. You had to watch him and be able to know when he was gonna change chords and be ready to not turn the song into a trainwreck because he decided to drop a beat you weren't expecting him to. I recall reading this was an issue when he first toured the UK, and The Animals were backing him, and apparently it was Alan Price who couldn't get used to doing it Hooker's way.
Oh, and check out some of Ry Cooder's albums. His first few records during the 70's, say up through Showtime, those all have some fine blues music on them, though it's kinda mixed up with other sort of "rural American" folk music forms.
Last edited by GuitarGeek; 12-20-2013 at 06:43 PM.
Sounds like one of Bill Graham's bills. I remember he said once that he liked to put people like Chuck Berry or Albert King on in front of Cream or The Airplane or the Dead, with the intention of turning on anyone who showed early enough to catch the opening set. If I remember correctly, Black Beauty was recorded on one of the nights Miles opened for the Grateful Dead.
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee
Cephas & Wiggins
Rory Block
The Gaslight, a West Village folk club, very small, 1971.
One of the reasons Graham gave for closing the Fillmore East was that he had less and less control over who he could book, having to aquiesce to the demands of record companies and managers.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
S R V
Bloomfield
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
1971. Take note of the writing at the top of the poster at 0:03
“Pleasure and pain can be experienced simultaneously,” she said, gently massaging my back as we listened to her Coldplay CD.
I have become a big big blues fan over the past decade or so. Many of the classic artists have already been mentioned, but some others that are well worth checking out:
Walter Trout – One of the great blues rock artists out there IMO.
Joanne Shaw Taylor – Young blond guitar slinger originally from England, but now in Detroit.
Samantha Fish – Another great young guitar slinger, with a great voice as well. A rising star.
Quinn Sullivan – This kid was discovered by Buddy Guy. He is only 16 years old, but will be a great one.
Anthony Gomes – Been around a while, plays killer rock / soul infected blues.
Tab Benoit – Killer Cajun blues from Louisiana.
Tommy Castro and the Pain Killers – Soul blues and a great live performer.
Coco Montoya – Been around a long time, but not that well known.
Sonny Landreth – One of the best slide guitar players ever IMO.
Kelley Richie – Very Hendrix influenced. Fantastic live.
Gary Clarke Jr. – You probably know him already.
Mato Ninji – Leader of the band Indigenous. Very Stevie Ray Vaughn influenced.
I have seen all of these people live (except for Clarke) and they are all great.
Steve Sly
Junior Wells...
Slim Harpo...
"That's the blues. B-L-U-S-E"...
THIS is the blues:
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Some great singin' 'n' playin' here:
Some of today's best blues are being made by the ladies. Here are a few examples:
Samantha Fish:
Joanne Shaw Taylor:
Ana Popavic:
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