for Paul
the blues list, sans capital letters!
quintessential blues works from my personal list i would give to anyone trying to get into or deeper into blues.
let me start by saying that i think blues is the least interesting form of music that i listen to very much, and i listen to it all the time. it is framed by extremely small parameters and simply gets out flanked by rock and jazz. everything that will be on this list most likely could end up on a jazz, r&b or rock list... but the cool thing about blues, well one of the cool things, is that the reason it is so integrated into these other forms of music is because it was what spawned them all.
i think we all know that blues started in the deep american south from former slaves that still worked on plantations, but instead of for no money and at least a shitty shelter, they worked for barely no money, and were provided no benefits, you know those little extras like food, water, and shelter. anyways, the root is in working songs, where the typical call and response pattern was developed as a way of communicating and whatnot. that is still the single most identifying parameter of blues music.
if modern architecture can be boiled down to no ornament, blues can be boiled down to call and response.
the blues musicians removed the response portion from outside the band and either responded themselves, or responded with music.
blues is straightforward, it is simple, it is completely unique in this. the moment it stops being this, it is no longer the blues. you start playing in odd rhythms or with syncopations, you are entering rock or jazz or r&b, you start playing blue notes you are in jazz, you start playing major scales, or simply more than pentatonic scales, you are in jazz or rock, you start playing with a full band, you are in jazz, you start playing with instrumental portions, you are in rock or r&b, you start playing without composition, you are in jazz, you start freeing yourself from the rules of melody or rhythm, you are in jazz.
you have to stay simple. simple doesnt mean you cant go nuts, or be interesting, or have a lot of sound, but the genre by definition is very limiting.
so that being said, here is my list, be warned, i dont listen to much blues music that doesnt better fit somewhere else categorically speaking, so some of these you may pop in and question the bluesyness
Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers
Of course, the man who sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar (johnson got laughed off the stage and literally out of town after his first performance for not knowing how to play guitar, came back a year later a master at it... eric clapton has said that he has a har dtime playing johnson's music, fancy that) has to be on this list, and first overall. He is my favorite from that style but not for his guitar, which isnt the greatest, and sounds a lot like his predecessors, namely Charley Patton. but his singing is unreal, and this man had the blues. there is a box set called the complete recordings which has all of this recording ever (which is only like 40 including outtakes and cut tracks) which is the better buy, but if you want an album that isnt cumbersome with dealing with the outtakes and whatnot, there ya go.
B.B. King - Live at the Regal
Simply put, there has never been nor will there ever be a better live album, in any genre, that is better, or even comparable to this album. He is the king, and he is the worst musician in his band!
John Lee Hooker - Live at Cafe Au-Go-Go
Great live album from Hooker, love his super deep voice like molasses.
Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
Great album and great story. Rhode Island wasnt exactly a blues mecca back in the day, but Muddy changed all that in 1960, playing to an all white crowd. you will notice that this album features the song "i've got my mojo working" twice, in a row, because the crowd wouldnt stop cheering until he played it again, back to back. and Langston Hughes happen to write the lyrics to "goodbye newport blues" during the set, handed them to muddy who then got his band to improv the entire song with newly written words inspired by the set they were still in the middle of playing... go figure
Eric Clapton - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Eric Clapton
First off, there are about 20 CDs in the series that Scorsese put together and they are all great, another one or two may be on this list
Secondly, Eric Clapton has to be considered one of the best blues guitarists of all time, but never really recorded a blues album. he never thought it would sell, so he always put one or two songs per album. this disc gives a nice sampling of stuff from the 60's to the 90's. if you want a straight up blues album from slow hand, try the robert johnson tribute cds, but those all almost all covers.
Freddie King - Burglar
This CD fringes on r&b or jazz, but i still think it is blues. great album, great guitarist, even better voice, truly soulful. This album sounds like the 70s version of Bo Diddley, who i dont much care for, but if i did put a diddley disc on here, it would be "bo diddley and co"
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Live at Carnegie Hall
Blistering paced live album. SRV shows off all his chops and then some. I tend to prefer live albums, but if you like studio stuff, "texas flood" is his best work
Jimi Hendrix - Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Jimi Hendrix
MCA put out a blues album from Jimi in the 90s, but this one is far superior, offering up lots of live recordings. Jimi is similar to clapton in that he needs to be on the list, but never really recorded blues albums entirely. Red House and Hear my Train a Comin are unreal!
Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign
The man with early electric blues in my opinion is at his best in this album.... so soulful. I dont know how he makes simple progressions and drastically scaled down chord structures and compositions sound so damn cool but he does!
Johnny Winter - Second Winter
The first blues shredmaster at his best. he can destroy a guitar, plus his voice sounds like he is a 300 lbs 85 year old black man from new orleans who smoked his whole life, and really he was a 40 something skinny white guy from dallas. hah!
John Mayer - Where the Light is, second set
The whole disc isnt blues, but the second set with the John Mayer Trio is straight up amazing blues! unbelievable stuff from john.
Motor City Josh - Blue Collar Bluesman
Dont just love him because he is from detroit and he is almost always at a bar down the street from me. but he is also the future of blues. great great great modern blues album!
There is my list.
no there is no leadbelly and his 12 string, there is no blind willie jefferson or blind willie mctell or any other blind willie i may be forgetting. there is no ray charles (although there should be), there is no billie holiday, or jimmy reed or otis rush, or fats domino (althought there probably should be) or robert cray, or allman brothers band.
A ton of blues is so hard to find, it wasnt really recorded until the 60's when it was almost dead already. there are a ton of great bluesy guitarists working today in rock, like warren haynes, john mayer, stone gossard, and NOT JACK BLACK... i swear to god the next person that says he is one of the best guitarists around today i will slap them. great song writer, great pop musician, he cannot improvise to save his life, nor can he solo, you cannot be considered a great guitarist without those qualities, it doesnt work that way!!!!
two good collections to have to understand a lot of the blues history, martin scorsese presents the blues, and the chess blues box set. i own them both, and they are both great to have!
so there ya go!
quintessential blues works from my personal list i would give to anyone trying to get into or deeper into blues.
let me start by saying that i think blues is the least interesting form of music that i listen to very much, and i listen to it all the time. it is framed by extremely small parameters and simply gets out flanked by rock and jazz. everything that will be on this list most likely could end up on a jazz, r&b or rock list... but the cool thing about blues, well one of the cool things, is that the reason it is so integrated into these other forms of music is because it was what spawned them all.
i think we all know that blues started in the deep american south from former slaves that still worked on plantations, but instead of for no money and at least a shitty shelter, they worked for barely no money, and were provided no benefits, you know those little extras like food, water, and shelter. anyways, the root is in working songs, where the typical call and response pattern was developed as a way of communicating and whatnot. that is still the single most identifying parameter of blues music.
if modern architecture can be boiled down to no ornament, blues can be boiled down to call and response.
the blues musicians removed the response portion from outside the band and either responded themselves, or responded with music.
blues is straightforward, it is simple, it is completely unique in this. the moment it stops being this, it is no longer the blues. you start playing in odd rhythms or with syncopations, you are entering rock or jazz or r&b, you start playing blue notes you are in jazz, you start playing major scales, or simply more than pentatonic scales, you are in jazz or rock, you start playing with a full band, you are in jazz, you start playing with instrumental portions, you are in rock or r&b, you start playing without composition, you are in jazz, you start freeing yourself from the rules of melody or rhythm, you are in jazz.
you have to stay simple. simple doesnt mean you cant go nuts, or be interesting, or have a lot of sound, but the genre by definition is very limiting.
so that being said, here is my list, be warned, i dont listen to much blues music that doesnt better fit somewhere else categorically speaking, so some of these you may pop in and question the bluesyness
Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers
Of course, the man who sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar (johnson got laughed off the stage and literally out of town after his first performance for not knowing how to play guitar, came back a year later a master at it... eric clapton has said that he has a har dtime playing johnson's music, fancy that) has to be on this list, and first overall. He is my favorite from that style but not for his guitar, which isnt the greatest, and sounds a lot like his predecessors, namely Charley Patton. but his singing is unreal, and this man had the blues. there is a box set called the complete recordings which has all of this recording ever (which is only like 40 including outtakes and cut tracks) which is the better buy, but if you want an album that isnt cumbersome with dealing with the outtakes and whatnot, there ya go.
B.B. King - Live at the Regal
Simply put, there has never been nor will there ever be a better live album, in any genre, that is better, or even comparable to this album. He is the king, and he is the worst musician in his band!
John Lee Hooker - Live at Cafe Au-Go-Go
Great live album from Hooker, love his super deep voice like molasses.
Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
Great album and great story. Rhode Island wasnt exactly a blues mecca back in the day, but Muddy changed all that in 1960, playing to an all white crowd. you will notice that this album features the song "i've got my mojo working" twice, in a row, because the crowd wouldnt stop cheering until he played it again, back to back. and Langston Hughes happen to write the lyrics to "goodbye newport blues" during the set, handed them to muddy who then got his band to improv the entire song with newly written words inspired by the set they were still in the middle of playing... go figure
Eric Clapton - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Eric Clapton
First off, there are about 20 CDs in the series that Scorsese put together and they are all great, another one or two may be on this list
Secondly, Eric Clapton has to be considered one of the best blues guitarists of all time, but never really recorded a blues album. he never thought it would sell, so he always put one or two songs per album. this disc gives a nice sampling of stuff from the 60's to the 90's. if you want a straight up blues album from slow hand, try the robert johnson tribute cds, but those all almost all covers.
Freddie King - Burglar
This CD fringes on r&b or jazz, but i still think it is blues. great album, great guitarist, even better voice, truly soulful. This album sounds like the 70s version of Bo Diddley, who i dont much care for, but if i did put a diddley disc on here, it would be "bo diddley and co"
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Live at Carnegie Hall
Blistering paced live album. SRV shows off all his chops and then some. I tend to prefer live albums, but if you like studio stuff, "texas flood" is his best work
Jimi Hendrix - Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: Jimi Hendrix
MCA put out a blues album from Jimi in the 90s, but this one is far superior, offering up lots of live recordings. Jimi is similar to clapton in that he needs to be on the list, but never really recorded blues albums entirely. Red House and Hear my Train a Comin are unreal!
Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign
The man with early electric blues in my opinion is at his best in this album.... so soulful. I dont know how he makes simple progressions and drastically scaled down chord structures and compositions sound so damn cool but he does!
Johnny Winter - Second Winter
The first blues shredmaster at his best. he can destroy a guitar, plus his voice sounds like he is a 300 lbs 85 year old black man from new orleans who smoked his whole life, and really he was a 40 something skinny white guy from dallas. hah!
John Mayer - Where the Light is, second set
The whole disc isnt blues, but the second set with the John Mayer Trio is straight up amazing blues! unbelievable stuff from john.
Motor City Josh - Blue Collar Bluesman
Dont just love him because he is from detroit and he is almost always at a bar down the street from me. but he is also the future of blues. great great great modern blues album!
There is my list.
no there is no leadbelly and his 12 string, there is no blind willie jefferson or blind willie mctell or any other blind willie i may be forgetting. there is no ray charles (although there should be), there is no billie holiday, or jimmy reed or otis rush, or fats domino (althought there probably should be) or robert cray, or allman brothers band.
A ton of blues is so hard to find, it wasnt really recorded until the 60's when it was almost dead already. there are a ton of great bluesy guitarists working today in rock, like warren haynes, john mayer, stone gossard, and NOT JACK BLACK... i swear to god the next person that says he is one of the best guitarists around today i will slap them. great song writer, great pop musician, he cannot improvise to save his life, nor can he solo, you cannot be considered a great guitarist without those qualities, it doesnt work that way!!!!
two good collections to have to understand a lot of the blues history, martin scorsese presents the blues, and the chess blues box set. i own them both, and they are both great to have!
so there ya go!