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NINE BLUES ALBUMS
YOU'LL NEVER BE SORRY YOU BOUGHT
(& PROBABLY WILL DIG A LOT)
the annotated CD recommendation list for
blues newbies
by mr.
big
click on the title to buy the CD through amazon.com
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ROCKIN' THE JUKE JOINT DOWN, The Jelly Roll Kings.
Swooshing organ lines, down-home harp, crunchy guitar, and a
great sense of fun from some modern Delta legends. This trio
(Big Jack "the oilman" Johnson, guitar, Sam Carr, drums, and
Frank Frost, harmonica and keyboards) had been playing
together for almost 15 years when this album was recorded in
1979, and their rapport is obvious in the infectious sense
of humor that lives in the grooves on this LP. Jack Johnson
has a Dr. Demento laugh that appears on several tracks, and
despite his menacing Hubert Sumlin-meets-Big Black guitar
lines, you get the feeling that he's having as much fun as
you are, especially on the trademark cover of "You Are My
Sunshine".
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to
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recommendations
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Discussion List
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I
AM THE BLUES, Willie
Dixon .
His greatest hits. If you have the extra cash, get the boxed
set, THE
CHESS BOX. This is
truly essential stuff from one of the greatest arrangers,
producers, and songwriters of any musical genre.
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GENUINE
HOUSEROCKIN' MUSIC,
Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers.
This is the first, and quite possibly, the rawest, Alligator
LP, and very possibly still the top seller of their catalog.
Crank this one up and let the neighbors howl. The rough
guitar edges and simple charm of songs like "Gonna Send You
Back to Georgia" make it great party music.
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HOODOO
MAN BLUES, Junior
Wells with Buddy Guy.
The blues album that established the funky soul trend.
Junior plays some acrobatic harp, with Buddy adding just the
right amount of guitar to make it very tasty. Standout
versions of "Hound Dog" and my personal fave, "Snatch it
Back and Hold It". Seminal album. Great Walkman tape.
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THE
TURNING POINT, John
Mayall.
Okay, so this is by one of those English guys, and it's not
quite all blues. Don't matter. This all acoustic live album
was recorded without drums and includes some of the most
haunting passages I've heard on record. Some of it slips
west into jazz, but it includes the harp workout "Room to
Move". Also, check out Mayall's BLUES
BREAKERS LP, which
includes Eric Clapton before he was a rock god teetering on
the brink. Another fine record, currently released as
"Behind
the Iron Curtain", is
a live release that features some extended jamming with a
fine set of players from a 1985 concert tour. Mr. BiG has an
import release of this for sentimental reasons. He attended
the show the night previous to the recording date, in
Budapest, Hungary. The record was good enough to be out as
an (apparent) bootleg for a while before the official
release, and includes some nifty reworkings of two songs
from the Turning Point LP, and one from the Blues Breakers
LP.
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GREATEST HITS, Howlin'
Wolf.
The great thing about Wolf is that all his songs have quirky
little twists that make them well worth listening to over
and over again. The collection that I have is almost all in
the second half of his career, with Hubert Sumlin on guitar
(a particularly iconoclastic performer himself). You really
can't miss with an assortment of Willie Dixon tunes with a
wide variety of rhythms and patterns. Also, for yuks, try
out Muddy
& the Wolf, an LP
set that on one side has Wolf trying to pound some sense
into the young British upstarts like Clapton, Steve Winwood,
and Stones bassist Bill Wyman. The other side has Muddy
Waters getting along pretty well with most of
the(Chicago-based) Mike Bloomfield/Paul Butterfield blues
aggregation.
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MORE
REAL FOLK BLUES, Muddy
Waters.
Although there is a huge selection of Muddy recordings to
choose from, and most of the CD reissues are well-compiled,
I think that the most interesting part of his career is
these early sides cut during the late 40's and very early
50's, which are all acoustic either solo or with minimalist
backing, and include some ferocious slide work. These tunes
have been repackaged into several collections, and there's
an excellent boxed set that is well worth the cash if you'd
like to have an overview of the man's career. But purely on
sonic power, the acoustic recordings of some basic blues
patterns like "Goin' Down South" (a/k/a the Rollin' and
Tumblin' pattern) and the scary, threatening quality of the
vocals make this unforgettable. All this stuff was done with
(maybe) 8 tracks and very basic recording equipment, and
it's as compelling as any 48-track powerhouse of sampling
artistry today, and at least as evocative. If you listen to
these recordings and then listen (again) to the most famous
records
made with
Johnny Winter at the production helm in the
70's (Blue Sky label),
you can tell that the strength of Waters' performances, like
Sinatra's, was in his phrasing and ability to get inside the
song rather than the size and volume of the backing
band.
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IT'S
THE BLUES MAN, Eddie
Kirkland.
Excellent early 60's classic from a veteran Detroit
bluesman, with some low down guitar over cool cool Ray
Charles-ish backbeats. You'll either end up twisting or
singing along.
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MAXWELL STREET JIMMY DAVIS,
Jimmy Davis, Elektra LP.
This might be out of print now, but it's worth the search.
Acoustic blues with vocals obviously derivative of Howlin'
Wolf, but something about this record just cries and it's
probably my favorite acoustic blues record. Apparently out
of print, but well worth searching for.
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Also strongly recommendable
after you get your feet wet: the Robert
Johnson complete recordings on CD (excellent remastering of a
masterful performer); the Blues
Masters series on
Rhino records (well catalogued and organized in interesting
ways); the Legacy
of the Blues series
(if it's still available) put together by Samuel Charters in
the 60's, with many great traditional and acoustic
performances; the Blues Roots 10-volume series compiled by
historians Paul Oliver and Pete Welding; in the excellent,
but still an acquired taste category are albums by
John
Primer (on Earwig,
including a great blues reworking of Rhinestone Cowboy,
believe it or not) and the amazing harmonica virtuoso
Sugar
Blue (John Popper of
Blues Traveler ripped his sound off big time), and the funky
first full-length effort by Washington, DC veteran
Bobby
Parker (couple
unbelievable tracks here, including one that Zep ripped for
"Moby Dick").
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BLUES Bands- submit your demo tapes, CDs, LPs
for sale!
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