Still Got The Blues…anyone?

[Jerjo]

James effin' Cotton

I've got that album on vinyl and CD, it's a killer.

[ronmac]

^^ Good stuff, although I'm less of a fan of the big band style blues. Too much polish for my taste. Give me some pre-War stuff any time. The earlier, the better, IMO.

[Garden Dreamer]

I jumped right to page 6 so don't know if they've been mentioned, but if you want to go way out on a limb, you have to investigate the genre of Mississippi Hill Country Blues with Fat Possum Records being the main source. The music is dark, eerie, hypnotic, gnarly, liquor-soaked and 100% real. The two main proponents are the late RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. T Model Ford and Paul "Wine" Jones are good second-tier artists on the label. Beware if looking for Burnside albums because he became a favorite of hipsters so there's an album like "Ass Pocket o' Whiskey" where he plays with a punk-style band, and another where his sampled voice and guitar licks are used in a dub-style of electronic music. His best album for my money is "Too Bad Jim" and Junior's best is "All Night Long".

For the more traditional blues guys, my big three are John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Mississippi Fred McDowell. McDowell is more of a solo acoustic player dating back from the 30's but later in his life he took up the electric and his playing was just as compelling.

EDIT: ha, didn't realize this was an old thread that I had already replied to in 2013 back on page 4! With a similar response to what I posted above...

[100423]

You guys will want to read this:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ine/blues.html

Very cool! Thanks!

[Jerjo]

I just reshuffled my vinyl collection for the first time in over a decade. We've moved a few times but I always put it back in this ridiculous order that worked only in my head. Now it's all alphabetical with separate sections for blues, jazz, and classical (only have a few in the last two). I ditched a lot of records when we moved back to North Dakota five years ago so I was a little nervous flipping through all those records. But apparently I did not part with any of the blues stuff. I got Muddy, Wolf, Otis Rush, Little Walter, James Cotton, Jimmy Rodgers, BB and Albert, Johnny and Edgar, SRV... Gonna be fun working through these this winter.

[mogrooves]

I didn't know Luther had a playing son; I dig the old school Hendrix vibe. Here he is on one of the old man's tunes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbN-pEfidug

[SteveSly]

I didn't know Luther had a playing son; I dig the old school Hendrix vibe. Here he is on one of the old man's tunes:]

Luther’s son Bernard has been around for years. I have seen him a couple of times. I don’t think he has ever reached the same level as his father, but he is a very talented blues performer in his own right.

[ronmac]

Luther’s son Bernard has been around for years. I have seen him a couple of times. I don’t think he has ever reached the same level as his father, but he is a very talented blues performer in his own right.

Yep, I saw Bernard and Luther play in the mid 80s at a blues show at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh (where the opera performs, and where I happened to get married, too) that included Johnny Winter and some others. Johnny was a bit off that night, but Bernard wailed beautifully.

[Jerjo]

I remember seeing Lonnie Brooks in some blues shows with several acts. Lonnie always had his son Ronnie in the band and there would always be a couple songs where they'd let Ronnie blister a solo. And every single time I'd look back at all the guitar players I'd seen that night and think Ronnie was the best soloist. His vocals weren't as good as the old man but ye gods, just a mofo on the guitar.

[Garden Dreamer]

RL Burnside had his grandson Cedric on the drums.

[Finch Platte]

I like blusion.

Excellent. One of my favorite players. Wish he released as many CDs as Bonamassa does. :*/

[The Dark Elf]

Here's 10 I couldn't live without:

Muddy Waters at Newport 1960
Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live
Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign
Hound Dog Taylor - Beware of the Dog
Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' at Midnight
Elmore James - Shake Your Moneymaker
B.B. King - Live in Cook County Jail
Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band - Hoodoo Man Blues
Blind Willie Johnson - The Complete Blind Willie Johnson
Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 OKeh Recordings
Skip James - Complete 1931 Recordings in Chronological Order

[SteveSly]

I remember seeing Lonnie Brooks in some blues shows with several acts. Lonnie always had his son Ronnie in the band and there would always be a couple songs where they'd let Ronnie blister a solo. And every single time I'd look back at all the guitar players I'd seen that night and think Ronnie was the best soloist. His vocals weren't as good as the old man but ye gods, just a mofo on the guitar.

I am constantly surprised why Ronnie has not gotten bigger than he has. I have seen him live several times and he has absolutely blown me away each time. For a few years he was touring with the Tommy Castro legendary blues cruise review (or something like that) which always featured 4 or 5 different very good blues acts, and came to my town several years in a row. Brooks set was always the highlight, and when they did the big jam at the end he was always the main man as well. I saw him do a full set at the St. Petersburg Florida Blues Festival a few years ago and again he was incredible. He is a master at working the crowd and plays and sings brilliantly. To be honest I like him better than his more well-known father. There is also another Brooks’s brother who is a blues musician as well, but can’t remember his name off the top of my head. They sometimes perform together as the Brooks brothers. Bottom line, if you are a fan of modern blues and get the chance to see Ronnie Baker Brooks definitely jump on it. He is that good.

Here is a pretty good clip:

[chalkpie]

Bump. Getting back into ZZ has me interested in some blues. I want the real deal classics.....

[StarThrower]

[StarThrower]

Allman Bros. fans might dig this Ronnie Earl tune.

[JJ88]

Bump. Getting back into ZZ has me interested in some blues. I want the real deal classics.....

'La Grange' was certainly influenced by John Lee Hooker's 'Boogie Chillun' which came out in 1948 or something. I see Wikipedia also cites Slim Harpo's 'Shake Your Hips' (covered by the 'Stones) and yes you can definitely hear that track in there.

In terms of electric blues, just about anything on the Chicago-based Chess or Vee Jay labels is worth hearing. A few people like Elmore James and John Lee Hooker recorded for both labels (but it's difficult to find a US label the latter didn't record for). Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters recorded a few decades worth of material for Chess.

[Fracktured]

I probably mention Ana Popovic before. Saw her a few times and she puts on a good show


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[StarThrower]

Great recording with horns circa 1966.

[ronmac]

[The Dark Elf]

Here's a fabulous 11 minute version of "A New Day Yesterday" from the '72 Thick as a Brick Tour:

[SteveSly]

I probably mention Ana Popovic before. Saw her a few times and she puts on a good show


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have seen Ana a few times and agree, she is great. I have a few of her albums too which I like.

[headcrash]

Real deal? Real deal:



Of slightly more recent vintage:

[spellbound]

[spellbound]