Hey folks,
I've always liked blues but never really made any effort to collect any. Started recently with-
Muddy Waters Anthology
Howlin' Wolf - Rockin Chair/Moanin' At The Moonlight
Junior Kimbrough - Sad Days Lonely Nights
John Lee Hooker - Best of
I've been liking these alot and am looking for more of the same. Anybody got recommendations for more from these artists or similar releases that I should look out for?
Help appreciated. Many thanks.
Blues Recommmendations
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Jasonsmith
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just got the 7 dvd set of the scorcese blues project, worth a look as an overview. The best thing I found that I didn't know before was Otha Turner, a practioner of fife and drum blues, who recorded his first album at the age of 90. Other guys featured are Son House, Skip James, JB Lenoir (as covered by Nick Cave), Charlie Patton ...
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a beautiful noise
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it really depends on what 'style' of blues you are into, me, i'm into the delta style. here's some choices:
skip james - he's essential, his falsetto voice is beautiful, he's known for the track "crow jane". he's a good pianist, but i think he really shines on the guitar, it works so well with his voice.
mississippi john hurt - he's an all-time classic and problably my favorite! he's guitar work is amazing and his voice is really delicate. he's a one off in the blues. "lay my burden down" "nearer my god to thee" are tracks any spiritualzied fan will like.
leadbelly - be careful with this one, he had a prolific career, tons of releases, he did blues, folk, standards, children's songs! personally i feel his earliest works are some of his best. "midnight special" "goodnight irene" "where did you sleep last night" "death letter blues" are great examples.
robert johnson - no matter what, buy his box set! it's essential, there's a reason why his legend lives on. tracks like "hellhound on my trail" and "love in vain" are the best of the best for delta blues.
reverend gary davis - don't let the name fool ya, he's one bad-ass mofo. AMAZING guitarist, i can hear him now as i type. try the track "samson and delilah" for a quick peek as to what he's about.
charlie patton - i've yet to find the magic in his work but i have met folks who swear by him. he has a couple of large compilations of his work. should be easy to find.
john lee hooker - for everything you think you know about him, forget it! his early work is stellar "baby please don't go" "boogie chillum" and "crawlin king snake" "tupelo" are all great examples of his unique style.
blind willie mctell - he has to be one of the most arrrogant and hillarious bluesmen i have ever heard, he's a wonderful lyricist. "lay some flowers on my grave" "southern can is mine" "georgia rag" "lord have mercy if you please" are all standouts.
here's some more:
bukka white
blind lemon jefferson
big bill broonzy
mississippi fred mcdowell
furry lewis
lightnin' hopkins
mance lipscomb
hope that helps. good luck. let me know what you find.
me!
skip james - he's essential, his falsetto voice is beautiful, he's known for the track "crow jane". he's a good pianist, but i think he really shines on the guitar, it works so well with his voice.
mississippi john hurt - he's an all-time classic and problably my favorite! he's guitar work is amazing and his voice is really delicate. he's a one off in the blues. "lay my burden down" "nearer my god to thee" are tracks any spiritualzied fan will like.
leadbelly - be careful with this one, he had a prolific career, tons of releases, he did blues, folk, standards, children's songs! personally i feel his earliest works are some of his best. "midnight special" "goodnight irene" "where did you sleep last night" "death letter blues" are great examples.
robert johnson - no matter what, buy his box set! it's essential, there's a reason why his legend lives on. tracks like "hellhound on my trail" and "love in vain" are the best of the best for delta blues.
reverend gary davis - don't let the name fool ya, he's one bad-ass mofo. AMAZING guitarist, i can hear him now as i type. try the track "samson and delilah" for a quick peek as to what he's about.
charlie patton - i've yet to find the magic in his work but i have met folks who swear by him. he has a couple of large compilations of his work. should be easy to find.
john lee hooker - for everything you think you know about him, forget it! his early work is stellar "baby please don't go" "boogie chillum" and "crawlin king snake" "tupelo" are all great examples of his unique style.
blind willie mctell - he has to be one of the most arrrogant and hillarious bluesmen i have ever heard, he's a wonderful lyricist. "lay some flowers on my grave" "southern can is mine" "georgia rag" "lord have mercy if you please" are all standouts.
here's some more:
bukka white
blind lemon jefferson
big bill broonzy
mississippi fred mcdowell
furry lewis
lightnin' hopkins
mance lipscomb
hope that helps. good luck. let me know what you find.
me!
Cheers, Shonn. I recognise some of the names but none of their work really. Wasn't the Rev Gary Davies played on the Dylan bible show? I'd planned on Leadbelly and Blind Willie McTell but I'll check out some of the others.
How about Howlin' Wolf & Muddy Waters? There seem to be so many releases I'm not sure where to start. I'm looking for some solid originals and some live records. I've heard Waters at Newport and will track that down but anyone recommend anything else?
How about Howlin' Wolf & Muddy Waters? There seem to be so many releases I'm not sure where to start. I'm looking for some solid originals and some live records. I've heard Waters at Newport and will track that down but anyone recommend anything else?
thanks for recommending this!Jasonsmith wrote:Otha Turner, a practioner of fife and drum blues, who recorded his first album at the age of 90.
I noticed it in the bin yesterday after you mentioned it, the album is Everyone's Hollerin' For Goat and it's wicked awesome.
And a picture of goat feet (severed) on the inside.
the Drums will make you git up and go, the fife is haunting, there's lots of background hooting and hollering (for goat, I guess) and a few blues numbers with guitar.
merle haggard's song working man blues (the one dylan based a song on) is well worth a listen. he has the quality that when you listen you feel lilke it's in your blood and everything he says is true
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
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a beautiful noise
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no offence, but you need a bit more exploring before you hail "hard life' as the best, yeah it's good but blues is really defined by the different genres. no ONE album is gonna cover them all.squire23 wrote:Muddy Waters - Hard Life (best Blues album ever!)
Rory Gallagher - Live at Rockpalast DVD
Get some Keb Mo's stuff as well. Also check out Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for some great modern day rock/blues.
and keb Mo????????????????????????????????????????????????
me.
Yes - Keb Mo. His albums are sometimes hit & miss, he tries to include too much contempory stuff rather than just his blues stuff but goddamn the man is awesome live - pure Blues all the way.a beautiful noise wrote:no offence, but you need a bit more exploring before you hail "hard life' as the best, yeah it's good but blues is really defined by the different genres. no ONE album is gonna cover them all.squire23 wrote:Muddy Waters - Hard Life (best Blues album ever!)
Rory Gallagher - Live at Rockpalast DVD
Get some Keb Mo's stuff as well. Also check out Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for some great modern day rock/blues.
and keb Mo????????????????????????????????????????????????
me.
Sorry - I meant Muddy Waters Hard Again. I'd also reccomend Seasick Steve's Dog House Blues
Just bought the 'Hard Again' LP - Pretty good...and only £3 too. Can't be bad. Still working at getting some of the the others. Otha Turner is one I'm afraid I'll have to give a miss. Had a listen on Amazon the other day and it sounded too much like an Orange pipe band (makes sense) for my liking. Cheers anyway.
Junior Kimbrough - What should I go for next?
Junior Kimbrough - What should I go for next?
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a beautiful noise
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BzaInSpace
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Hard Again is great - I think that might be the take of 'I'm A Man'! 
The Junior Kimbrough album i'll recommend is 'You Better Run'. Sure its an Anthology but every tune on it is gold. The first track has Charlie Feathers in the left speaker and Junior in the right. And it just builds from there.
My main blues recommendation is to track down anything by Jessie Mae Hemphill, lie Kimbrough it's pure trance-drone-hypnotic blues. She used to play a g u i t a r, and tambourine, and sing at the same time. I first heard of her through Sonic's 'Subterranean' comp.
There's a great Blind Willie McTell set called Atlanta Strut that's perfect.
Etta James 'At Last' might be more soul and country than pure blues but it still has the BLUES. It's on Chess. One of the all time greats that one.
Anything by Bukka White, Lightning Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf and Memphis Slim are guaranteed to be good.
There's an amazing electric blues album form the mid sixties by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy called 'Hoodoo Man Blues' that is just fantastic - I'm sure I was suggested that one by a post on here somewhere.
Maybe my all time favourite is Jimmy Reed though, his style of singing and guitar playing ahs to be heard to be believed, really good, really easy going but very direct. In fact, its unique, deceptively simple and Neil Young considers him a huge influence. Go and find 'Big Boss Man' or hunt down the track 'Baby What You Want Me Do Now' and...let it roll
The Junior Kimbrough album i'll recommend is 'You Better Run'. Sure its an Anthology but every tune on it is gold. The first track has Charlie Feathers in the left speaker and Junior in the right. And it just builds from there.
My main blues recommendation is to track down anything by Jessie Mae Hemphill, lie Kimbrough it's pure trance-drone-hypnotic blues. She used to play a g u i t a r, and tambourine, and sing at the same time. I first heard of her through Sonic's 'Subterranean' comp.
There's a great Blind Willie McTell set called Atlanta Strut that's perfect.
Etta James 'At Last' might be more soul and country than pure blues but it still has the BLUES. It's on Chess. One of the all time greats that one.
Anything by Bukka White, Lightning Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf and Memphis Slim are guaranteed to be good.
There's an amazing electric blues album form the mid sixties by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy called 'Hoodoo Man Blues' that is just fantastic - I'm sure I was suggested that one by a post on here somewhere.
Maybe my all time favourite is Jimmy Reed though, his style of singing and guitar playing ahs to be heard to be believed, really good, really easy going but very direct. In fact, its unique, deceptively simple and Neil Young considers him a huge influence. Go and find 'Big Boss Man' or hunt down the track 'Baby What You Want Me Do Now' and...let it roll
Last edited by BzaInSpace on Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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digital jesus
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alan_cohaul
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Blues Hammer! I'm surprised no one mentioned it.
That's the one thing i've found with blues and music in general--one person's "authentic" is another's "derivative". There's bands like the Immortal Lee County Killers 2 who play really lo-fi, broken garage gunk blues.... some say Blues, some say Blues Hammer. For some, Stevie Ray is the "blues". I say "Blues Hammer", but each to their own.
Like A Beautiful Noise says, you can't go wrong with Robert Johnson's 2 disc complete recording anthology. Absolutely nothing Blues Hammer about that!
I'm surprised no one mentioned it.That's the one thing i've found with blues and music in general--one person's "authentic" is another's "derivative". There's bands like the Immortal Lee County Killers 2 who play really lo-fi, broken garage gunk blues.... some say Blues, some say Blues Hammer. For some, Stevie Ray is the "blues". I say "Blues Hammer", but each to their own.
Like A Beautiful Noise says, you can't go wrong with Robert Johnson's 2 disc complete recording anthology. Absolutely nothing Blues Hammer about that!
The best place to start for early Delta Blues (imho) is a set from Document records called "Son House and the Great Delta Blues Singers" --- which includes the complete early Son House as well as fantastic stuff (and incidentally the complete recorded works) by Willie Brown, Kid Bailey, Garfield Akers, Joe Callicott, Jim Thompkins, Blind Joe Reynolds, and Rube Lacy. Probably my favorite secular Blues CD.
Complete Robert Johnson for sure, don't mess with any of the piecemeal compilations.
For Blind Willie McTell I'd start with "Atlanta Twelve String" --- it's a little later in his career so it has much superior sound quality to the 20s and 30s masters.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the gospel-blues singer Blind Willie Johnson, best known for his wordless "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground." He's got amazing presence and atmosphere and on the whole I find him the most listenable and timeless of the early blues I've heard.
Complete Robert Johnson for sure, don't mess with any of the piecemeal compilations.
For Blind Willie McTell I'd start with "Atlanta Twelve String" --- it's a little later in his career so it has much superior sound quality to the 20s and 30s masters.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the gospel-blues singer Blind Willie Johnson, best known for his wordless "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground." He's got amazing presence and atmosphere and on the whole I find him the most listenable and timeless of the early blues I've heard.