reccomend some blues to me (1 Viewer)

[Bobby T]

Thanks to the magic of free internet radio I've discovered I really like blues. So with fathers day approaching does anyone have some good artists or groups to send the wife after? CD, SACD, or DVDA.

 

[John_Lee]

John Lee Hooker
Johnny Lang
B.B. King
Leadbelly
Taj Mahal
Willie Dixon
Howlin' Wolf
Robert Johnson
Bessie Smith
Stevie Ray Vaughn

that should get you started with the basic essentials.

 

[KrisM]

My essentials list would be pretty close to John Lee's but I would drop Johnny Lang and add Muddy Waters, Little Walter and T-Bone Walker.
What artists have you enjoyed so far? It's fine for us to recommend Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and the like, but if you're enjoying the more modern stuff, you might not like the older blues.
I would also recommend not getting too excited about hi-rez when it come to blues. There are some great SACDs(John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan),but most of the truly essestial stuff is not available in hi-rez.
As a Canadian I should also mention Paul Reddick, a fantastic modern harp player who is influenced by pre-war blues. Rattlebag and Villanelle are his two most recent discs and both are fantastic. Not to be compared with the masters, but worth checking out.
Welcome to blues, watch your wallet!

KrisM

 

[MatS]

SRV
Buddy Guy
RL Burnside

 

[Jeff_A]

Albert Collins and Elmore James must be included on any serious blues lists.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

B.B. King & Eric Clapton -- Ridin' With The King
Stevie Ray Vaughan -- Couldn't Stand The Weather (available on SACD); Texas Flood; In Step
The Allman Brothers -- Live At The Filmore East (available on SACD)
Robert Cray (I only have a greatest hits)
Muddy Waters

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Old blues: Jimmy Reed

Contemporary blues: Walter Trout, Susan Tedeschi

 

[Brian L]

Anything with SRV would be easy to suggest.

And if you want to hear where he got some of his stuff, check out "Albert King and SRV in Session".

A fascinating live show, and well recorded to boot. The SACD can be had for $5.99 at yourmusic.com.

Brian

 

[AricB]

for more contemporary/modern blues:
jonny lang, kenny wayne shepard, stevie ray vaughan. I have a cd by Frank Bang that is pretty good, i think its only from CDBABY.com he is a touring guitarist with Buddy Guys band.

 

[nickGreenwood]

Eric Clapton - From The Cradle, his first major full blown blues album.

Other than that I recommend everything else that the others have suggested.

 

[Aaron_Mum]

My two favorite blues albums are BBKing "Live at Cook County Jail" and BBKing "Live at the Regal". Both live concerts are amazing and you can find these two disks for under $10 no problem.

 

[Bobby T]

Thanks guys. I have some SRV and Muddy Waters greatest hits. Unfortunately the internet station I've been listening to through itunes isn't streaming artist and song info.

 

[KrisM]

That's too bad Bobby. I don't know about where you are, but my local library has a huge music collection, blues included. A good way get yourself familiar with what you like.

Regards
KrisM

 

[Carl Miller]

Agreed. Albert Collins is a must.

John Campbell (early 1990's) isn't on many peoples must have blues list because he died so young and his career never quite took off, but his two main albums, One Believer and Howlin Mercy are outstanding...Zep fans would probably really enjoy his cover of When the Levee Breaks too.

 

[Rachael B]

I'd try some of the Alligator Records sampler CD's. There's atleast 4 volumes. The AuioQuest/Bluesquest SA-CD sampler is nice SA-CD stereo. Samplers are a nice way to start out, me thinks.

 

[Chet_F]

Muddy Waters - Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live from EPIC is a must have. It's a 2 cd set and excellent.

Or you can pick up a compilation CD like Essential Blues 1 or 2.

For more modern sounding blues I'd recommend:
Eric Clapton - Blues, it's a 2 CD set, 1 is Studio tracks, the other is all live tracks. Me and Mr. Johnson is also a good CD from Clapton. I haev over 30 of his CDs from various groups, to his self titled CDs.

Kenny Wayne Sheperd - Trouble Is

Robert Cray

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live At Montreux - great double CD.

Enjoy - I have been for years. Love the Blues.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I've found blues performers I wasn't familiar with by reading Blues Revue magazine and listening to their free sampler CDs.

Subscribe and you get six issues a year with a blues sampler CD (usually 14 full songs) in every other issue. I think the CDs alone are worth the subscription price.

Their website is http://www.bluesrevue.com/

NOTE: I have nothing to do with Blues Revue except as a subscriber for several years.

 

[Greg_C_T]

Bobby--

Check out Keb 'Mo (especially his self-titled '94 album). There's some good, laid-back blues there.

 

[Bobby T]

CD Baby is sooooooo dangerous. It's like a crack dealer to music lovers. But I'll brave the waters once more. It never occured to me to look there for indie blues artists.

 

[AricB]

Bobby, there might be some audio samples at his website: www.frankbang.com or at CD baby.