In the last several months, I've been getting more and more into the blues. I'm still a bit of a novice in the genre and have only begun to scratch the surface, but so far, my favorite stuff is the Mississippi Hill Country stuff. I also really like acoustic blues. Some of the players I'm really into are: RL Burnside Paul "Wine" Jones JW Warren Son House Robert Caldwell Junior Kimbrough Willie King Those are the ones that come to mind right off the bat. I'd love to have some more recommendations.
I won't claim to be a blues expert. One of my phirst blues cd's was BB King "Live at San Quentin". 'Nobody Loves Me But My Mother' is one of my phavorites phrom that disc.
--- thing is, if you like acoustic blues the best, then you gotta love Robert Johnson, whose guitar playing pretty much sets the pace for everything before 1940 (and after, but that's a topic for debate ). nothing shocking in that recommendation. my favorites are Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, as far as singers go. their instrumental chops have never won any acclaim. and the best blues guitar player may be Buddy Guy, but his recorded work is just very good. if you've had the advantage of seeing a live performance, you know how amazing he is. Albert Collins is very strong, as is Albert King ( Born Under a Bad Sign is a classic ). Muddy and Johnny Winter playing together on I Can't Be Satisfied is a favorite. ( the Hard Again album )
Robert Johnson is essential. As is Charlie Patton. You must hear both of them. My favorite early country bluesman? Skip James, hands down. His complete 1931 recordings (18 songs on 1 Yazoo disc, I believe) is amazing. He played both guitar and piano, and had very different styles on the two different instruments. His work is dark, edgy, intense. His style is idiosyncratic--one reason he isn't as famous as Johnson and Patton, IMHO, is the fact that he wasn't as influential. "Devil Got My Woman" is worth the price of the CD alone. As is "I'm So Glad." I love Skip James.
I've heard the whole Robert Johnson boxset from a friend, I just don't own it. I should though. Will definately look into Charlie Patton and the Skip James just sounds awesome.
Well, I can't recommend Little Walter enough-his harmonica playing may be the most compelling voice in blues music period. I've been revisting two players a lot recently: Roy Buchanan & Eric Clapton's mid-'70-Clapton in particular. There are two lives cut from the period, Stormy Monday and Double Trouble that are great stuff-spend the $1.98 on iTunes or some other service if you don't want to get the whole album. Stormy Monday is played at a Ray Charles blues tempo-very, very, slow. And Clapton's voice during the period has that booze and cigarettes tired feeling. His playing is sharp though, which creates this great juxaposition. Double Trouble is from the same period, and the solo is really a textbook in dynamics and nuance. It was a pretty fallow period for Clapton in terms of his studio work; that's not much there IMO. But there are some real gems in the live stuff. There are a group of people on this board who love to take shots at Clapton, which I think are pretty dubious and based on some other bias or hang up. If you take the time to listen to his work, there are some highpoints that rate with the best of the blues players. If you haven't already, dip into the bluesy side of the Ray Charles catalog-tunes like Hard Times and I Want a Little Girl. The vocal on the latter, is just incredible, with Charles sing at full throat-to the point that his voice cracks (it sort of sound like he had a cold, which gives it a a different tone). My last suggestion would be to check out the Best Of... collection of Johnny Guitar Watson. I love his attack and tone on guitar, and as a vocalist...well, you quickly hear where Etta James went to school.
A good place to get samples of all of the important players is the Time-Life compilations: http://www.timelife.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=90 You can get them cheaper on other sites. They are a great primer and should get you going as far as delving deeper into a particular artist.
you have to pick up Showdown - albert collins, albert king and robert cray,,,,good cd.....Strong Persuader is a perhaps Cray's best work, its a must. I am one of those that think Clapton should stay away from the Blues,,,,listen to SRV, Buddy Guy, Hooker, King and some of the others mentioned and to me Clapton does not fit in. Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon are two more that anyone getting into the blues should listen too
It took a long time for Skip James to grow on me. Most blues just hits you instantly, but I had to let Skip James seep in over a long time. I second this recommendation. Devil Got My Woman is a great album. As others mentioned Muddy Waters and Little Walter are essential. Unfortunately, Little Walter's "Boss Blues Harmonica" is out of print, but this one (called "His Best") has most of the tracks that were on that: I didn't have the dough for the Muddy boxed set so I went with this 2 CD set and love it. The title is something like "1947-1972: An Anthology" Don't think Howlin Wolf has been mentioned yet. He kicks so much ass you just gotta get the box set if it's still available. And you MUST get this one. It's my favorite blues album of all:
I almost forgot Magic Sam. More of that Chicago electric blues sound like Junior Wells and just as essential in my book. My favorite album of his is "West Side Soul".
I really want to second the Little Walter recommendations. This includes some of Muddy Waters' best stuff on Chess, with Walter as his sideman. "She's Alright," "Long Distance Call" "Standin Round Cryin" ... those sides are really the cream. The Junior Wells recommendation above is also a fantastic album. And I love, love, love Elmore James, the slide guitar king. Freddy King's early stuff is also a big favorite, super tasty and funky. Royal gets major points for being the first to mention Howlin Wolf, but a minor demerit for knocking his playing skill. I can't state this strongly enough: Howlin Wolf was the motherfvckin man. Muddy used to be my favorite blues artist but he's been slowly supplanted by Chester Burnett, aka the Wolf. He possessed one of the greatest natural voices ever recorded, but his style and attitude and power are truly amazing. His long time guitarist Hubert Sumlin deserves a lot of credit for the rockin, kinda funky jerk of some of his best records, but Wolf just attacked both the guitar and the harmonica. While, yes, not the greatest guitarist you'd be hard pressed to find more passionate performances. And his harp playing is just fantastic, because he squeezes so much out of it. I'd suggest it's impossible to listen the album "Moanin at Midnight" and not come away awe struck. And few people could write or sing the lyrics like "asked her for water, and she gave me gasoline" or the lyrics to ".44" and make them sound so very, very believable as the Wolf: "I wore my .44 so long, I've made my shoulder sore I wore my .44 so long, I done made my shoulder sore Well, I'm so mad this mornin', I don't know where in the world to go Well, I'm so mad this mornin', I don't know where in the world to go" Written from experience, no doubt. My favorite pure harp player is Sonny Boy Williamson, aka Rice Miller, often referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II, because he just straight up stole an already established artist's name. Lightnin' Hopkins is a great relaxed acoustic guitarist with a real conversational singing style. Very down home. But please don't forget the Crawlin King Snake, John Lee Hooker. His version of "I Cover the Waterfront" is gorgeous as he barely touches his guitar strings and his voice softly sails. He's the king of the "vibe" guitarists, i.e. he just finds a hook and goes with it, structure be damned. And his voice is incredible. 99% of my blues are on vinyl, otherwise I'd be happy to share a lot of this.
I second most of the recommendations above. Muddy Waters (1950's Chess period) and Mississippi John Hurt (1927) are also essential. I would also get some Louis Armstrong. I know it's jazz but the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens are steeped in the blues.
If you like filling in the lines between different musical genres, check out Jimmie Rodgers, the Singing Brakeman. He's considered country, but his songs and early blues contain a lot of the same elements and tunes , e.g., Going Up the Country by Canned Heat is a rip off of Bulldoze Blues by Henry Thomas and Jimmie Rodgers has a song that's the same tune - can't remember the name right now. I don't know which came first. I've got several blues collections that provide me with the right coverage for me.
That's actually one of the things I've been digging about exploring earlier music; artists weren't so label concious, they'd frequently genre-hop.
You mentioned that you're interested in early acoustic blues, so I wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Keep 'em coming folks. You're all helping keep me broke for months and months and irritating my wife in the process!
I think Buddy Guy should get a mention, although many consider him leaning more towards rock than blues. Still could fit depending on your mood. Also, Stevie Ray Vaughn's The Sky is Crying is excellent, as is In Step.
Electric blues and the Chicago sound have been pretty well covered, so I'll throw out a few acoustic must-haves: Leadbelly, Bukka White, and Blind Willie Johnson.
They do? "Damn Right I've Got the Blues" would get my vote as best blues album ever... Some other faves-- Son Seals "Bad Axe" Otis Rush " Lost Blues" (Originally released as "Troubles Troubles" in 1977; he ran out of money and put it out without the keyboard parts he had intended; in 1991 he took Lucky Peterson into the studio with the tapes and finished it. There's a whole school which prefers the "original" but I'm not among them...) Larry Johnson "Fast n Funky," a very low budget release showcasing the last master of stride blues... And the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's "East-West" For the accoustic blues side of things, one wants to mention The Rev Gary Davis. And among harp players Big Walter Horton deserves a listen.