im not really a fan of the electric blues but muddy waters electric stuff is great. as someone mentioned, he started out doing more "traditional" delta blues, which im more into. most have already been mentioned but i would add mississsippi fred mcdowell. fantasic slide guitar - he played acoustic and electric, but still retained the traditional vibe even plugged in. fred neil - white guy who was not really delta, but bluesy none the less. amazing tenor voice - he was part of the early 60's nyc scene which dylan came out of. blind willie johnson and leadbelly too
If you want some new blues, in the vein of Jimmy Reed, check out Super Chikan and the Fighting Cocks. James "Super Chikan" Johnson is a true blues legend in clarksdale, ms and beyond. Just so you known, many, if not all of the singing, in that movie came from bands in and around clarksdale. Also, check out early Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside albums. Two legendary blues artist for that nasty, slow moan, blues sound.
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They're a little different. The first thing that comes to mind is that they sound kinda like Jack White (White Stripes) playing blues but better.
The 2 albums I have are titled "Magic Potion" and "ThickFreakness". I like Magic Potion a bit more. Sorry for double post.
This should get you started: Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers Blind Willie Johnson - Dark was the Night Albert King - Born under a bad sign BB King - Live at the Regal And anything by Muddy Waters
Martin Scorsese has a series of CDs that explore several facets of the blues. Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues There is also a DVD.
Here you go, everything at one site: http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am...B7CB0FD2EA45D43D5C0EF55F6D9662D5DF0&sql=73:41
Wow! Sorry for the delay...ya don't log in here for a day and look what you miss. Everybody's suggestions have been good. You said you wanted some down home grit. Here it is, straight from Houston's Third Ward: Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins Weldon "Juke Boy" Bonner You should also check out some of the old Fat Possum records crew....RL Burnside, Cedell Davis, T-Model Ford. Those cats play what you are looking for. Enjoy!
Great suggestions. I'm finding that I've heard of (and heard) quite a few of these folks. Ima' get to downloading, but right now, I've gotta go....see this girl I know.
Glad to see that jo mama mentioned Blind Willie Johnson (along with someone else after his post). Blind Willie was, IMO, the greatest slide guitar player ever. Your blues collection is incomplete without something by him as well as works by these artists: Muddy Waters Howlin' Wolf Robert Johnson Son House Little Walter Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) John Lee Hooker Elmore James Buddy Guy Skip James J.B. Lenoir Most of these guys have already been named but I don't think that Skip James and J.B. Lenoir have been named. Both of those guys are incredible - Skip especially as he was just as great on the slide guitar as he was on the piano. Also, pick up John Mayall's Bluesbreakers album with Eric Clapton on it aka "The Beano Album". Some great modern blues and unbelievable guitar playing by Clapton. Hell, you might as well as pick up Cream's first 3 studio albums as well. It has quite a bit of blues on it such as "I'm So Glad", "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Spoonful", "Sitting on Top of the World", "Crossroads", etc. To me, Clapton never played better than the period that he was in the Bluesbreakers up to his Derek and the Dominoes phase with his days in Cream being him at his very best. His playing in Cream was rivaled only by Hendrix and Jimi was well-known to cover Cream songs in his concerts. Shows you how much respect Messr Hendrix had for Clapton. Clapton was really God back then. Too bad he has settled (for the most part) into an AOR mediocrity.
Good points, Manny. I'm glad someone mentioned Lenior, he's one of my personal favorites (along with Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Muddy, and Albert King). If you like Clapton blues, I strongly recommend the album "Me and Mr. Johnson" by Clapton. It's him doing all Robert Johnson cuts.... Pretty tasty! If you like Cream's take on the blues, then I'd also recommend throwing on some live Led Zeppelin. Their BBC sessions have quite a few tasty tracks. As mentioned, go buy the Scorsese documentary. It's really worth it.
One of the great tragedies of rock, IMHO. His recent blues albums are an effort to counteract this, but it's too little too late. A guy I knew in LA was one of his techs for a tour in the late 1980s. He told me that the only thing Clapton is concerned with when he's on the road is the color of the T-shirt he will be wearing for the show that night. Otherwise, he's on autopilot.
Blind Willie Johnson would have been better if he'd changed chords during his songs. But he'd just find one chord and sit on it for the whole song, playing on it and improvising on it, but staying on that one chord. I much prefer a chord progression, like standard twelve-bar or eight-bar blues chord progressions. SRV had fantastic chord progressions. I always felt Clapton was an incredible guitar player (especially his blues chops), and only a mediocre singer and songwriter. I'd love to hear his album on Robert Johnson.
Akeem, What do you think of the Clapton album, "From the Cradle"?? I think his playing on that one is pretty damn good, but he is trying too hard to sound like the old blues artists instead of singing in his own voice.
Have any of you guys caught a group from England called Back Door Slam. They played a hot set tonight in Memphis. This band is tight as hell. They play some smoking blues, but always stay in the pocket, if you know what I mean. They did a killer version of "riding with the king."
One more suggestion: check out the 1986 movie "Crossroads" with Joe Seneca and Ralph Macchio (yes, THAT Ralph Macchio). Not so much "genuine" delta blues, it's more of a tribute to the delta blues spirit and sound. And it's worth it just to hear Ry Cooder and Steve Vai cutting heads. Pretty good stuff, despite the presence of the Karate Kid. Stay away from the soundtrack, though. All the good music from the movie is missing.
