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Let's Talk Blues Music

Sefarst

Graduate Poster
S
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
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I'm looking from input as to who your favorite blues singers and guitarists are. Contemporary artists are fine as well. I like Marc Broussard as a contemporary artist but still have a soft spot in my heart for the really old blues musicians like Robert Johnson.

Extra points if you can link us to some of their music. Obviously for Marc Broussard:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NC1v5trmB1E

And for Robert Johnson:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

B.B. King, with a little jazz:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tBWcSc3nPow&feature=related
 
I'm a long time fan of John Lee Hooker. His "Endless Boogie" style of the 60's was marvelous. His last few discs before his death a few years ago were also excellent, due as much to a new producer as anything else.

I love this version of Hobo Blues:


And The Healer is a nice slow burn w/Santana:
 
But, if you're talking blues guitar, you have to talk about Buddy Guy. I saw him live a few times in the late 80's... incredible. But, his body of work from the late 50's to last year at Crossroads is simply unparalleled. What more can you say than he was copied by Hendix and SRV and countless others?
 
And, of course, Chester Burnet AKA Howlin Wolf. I've got his complete Chess recordings... great stuff in there. I love this version of Little Red Rooster where he's teaching Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and others to play the song:
 
Oh - and a recent discovery. My neighbor dragged my wife to see this guy a few months ago.. Primarily because he was cute, but also because she had been following his career for a couple of years as a friend of the family.

This kid is like, what, maybe 12? His parents must have been feeding him blues steroids.

Johnny Lang:
 
Robert Johnson

Also, non-blues musicians but with a very strong blues sense in their playing:

Artie Shaw
Louis Armstrong
Art Tatum
Horace Silver
Lennie Tristano (yup)
Charlie Parker
Dave McKenna
Lester Young
Billie Holiday
Miles Davis
 
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I think Jonny's about 20 now. But if you can find "It's Obdacious" he was about 12 or 13 when he recorded that.

I like Keb Mo. He's always good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zyJ2dSpdyY


I've always been fond of jump blues. You can find a good bit of it in the beach music scene (similar to west coast swing). Finding links to any of it is very difficult, though. A lot of my beach music comes from Ripete Records, and their website has some sound clips on this page.
http://www.ripete.com/clips.html

In particular:
Ruby Andrew's -- Footprints on the Ceiling (although I prefer her version of Bark, Battle and Ball, but they don't have a sample of that)
Nappy Brown/Kip Anderson's -- Rocket 88
Bill Pinkney -- Gonna Move Across the River
The Tams/CG Cameron -- Walking Dr Bill
 
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I'm all about the great pre-war southern Bluesmen. The truly tortured souls hitchin' rides and howlin' in juke joints. To me, and with few exceptions, it's the only kind of blues that sounds genuine. Do a Google/Youtube search of the following:

First there's the trio that Robert Johnson idolized:
The King, Charlie Patton (http://youtube.com/watch?v=zB8OhfxbBlY&feature=related)
The Voice, Son House (http://youtube.com/watch?v=QwjGytOVVQA&feature=related)
The Fingers, Willie Brown (http://youtube.com/watch?v=xavwzN3dNMA)

Then there's...
Blind Willie Johnson (http://youtube.com/watch?v=BNj2BXW852g)
Kokomo Arnold
Tommy Johnson
Blind Willie McTell
Blind Lemon Jefferson

...and the list could go on and on.
 
MetalSeagull said:
I think Jonny's about 20 now.
Click to expand...
Closer to 30... his legend has grown in the general blues tradition, hasn't it? :D

Me, I went between stuff like Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, and more Elmore James, and more modern stuff like Robert Cray, Jeff Healey, and Eric Clapton. I've explored all of it, because anything guitar-based is relevant to me.
 
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n11/n12 said:
I'm all about the great pre-war southern Bluesmen. The truly tortured souls hitchin' rides and howlin' in juke joints. To me, and with few exceptions, it's the only kind of blues that sounds genuine. Do a Google/Youtube search of the following:

The King, Charlie Patton
The Voice, Son House
The Fingers, Willie Brown

Then there's...
Blind Willie Johnson
Kokomo Arnold
Tommy Johnson
Blind Willie McTell
Blind Lemon Jefferson

...and the list could go on and on.
Click to expand...
Now your talkin' blues!

I saw Son House perform in Detroit in the early 60's after he was "rediscovered" in upstate New York. He sat in a wooden chair, alone on a large stage, and tore the joint up with his growling National Resonator. What a night that was!

Once sat on the porch at John Lee Hooker's house on Hastings Street on Detroit's East side and listened to him jam with some locals. Blew me away!

Saw Mississippi John Hurt at the Gaslight in the Village in 62', Big Joe Williams in Ann Arbor in 69', Rev. Gary Davis and Mance Lipscomb in Newport in 65' These masters were the real deal!

Saw Lightnin' Hopkins and Jesse "Lonecat" Fuller at the old Chessmate Club in Detroit in the 60's.

Those days are long gone, along with all the great bluesmen.
 
There's an american blues giant who's a great guitarist as well named Ronnie Peterson living in Israel for the past 15 or so years.
www.ronniepeterson.com

He's had top of the line international blues artists from all over the world join his "ronnie peterson blues band" for combined shows mainly in Israel and abroad as well.
 
fishbait said:
Now your talkin' blues!

I saw Son House perform in Detroit in the early 60's after he was "rediscovered" in upstate New York. He sat in a wooden chair, alone on a large stage, and tore the joint up with his growling National Resonator. What a night that was!

Once sat on the porch at John Lee Hooker's house on Hastings Street on Detroit's East side and listened to him jam with some locals. Blew me away!

Saw Mississippi John Hurt at the Gaslight in the Village in 62', Big Joe Williams in Ann Arbor in 69', Rev. Gary Davis and Mance Lipscomb in Newport in 65' These masters were the real deal!

Saw Lightnin' Hopkins and Jesse "Lonecat" Fuller at the old Chessmate Club in Detroit in the 60's.

Those days are long gone, along with all the great bluesmen.
Click to expand...
Understatement of the century "Fitter is jealous of Fishbait". Some more personal favourites:
Peetie Wheatstraw
Elmore James
Albert King
Georgia Tom and Tampa Red
Leadbelly
Roosevelt Sykes
Skip James
Lonnie Johnson
The Mississippi Sheiks
Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee
A now defunct acoustic trio Jackson Delta
And the big man himself Willie Dixon.

ETA 3 modern players
Kelly Joe Phelps
Keb Mo
Johnny Winter
 
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As a cigar-box guitar artist who appreciates the sound of "whinin' twine" (to paraphrase Billy Gibbons), I'm a big fan of the genre.
Many fine artists, more than I can easily remember. One of my fondest memories is the 4th of July concert some years back here at the St. Louis Riverfront with Albert King. This was shortly before Albert passed, and he put on a knockout show. The crowd would not let him quit, and even the park police finally just waved their hands and said "play on".
The Muddy Waters band was unsurpassed as far as combo playing goes, to my ear.

Those interested in the funky sounds available from the lowly cigar-box should just do a YouTube search for "cigar box guitar", there are a number of artists with good clips.
 
Howlin Wolf
Muddy Waters
Johnny Winters
Stevie Ray Vaughn

When I was living in Portland Or, in the mid 90s I used to go see Bob Shoemaker, tall Irish guy, who could play any song in the open tuned style on dobro or acoustic. He's absolutely the best blues guitar player I've ever seen live.

Also...
Hounddog Taylor
Lightnin Hopkins
Cephus and Wiggins
 
I follow the blues circuit and listen to modern artists like Chris Duarte, Tommy Castro, Joe Bonamassa, etc.. Last Friday I saw Robin Trower live, more in the blues-rock genre and playing guitar and making sweet music as well as anyone alive or dead. This tour he is doing an extended version of Bridge of Sighs that is sublime.

Prehistoric - OGWT (Old Grey Whistle Test)
A Fine Day
Newer:
Roads to Freedom

It's all in the emotion of the performance. BB King is a mediocre player who happens to make great music. There are technically gifted players who make horrible music (Satriani, Vai, etc.). The old school guys that rose to the top, such as Buddy Guy and Albert King, did so deservedly because they made outstanding music. Stevie Ray Vaughan had an incredible mix of aggression and emotion. I can still get juiced up with the blues, whereas modern rock is pretty much dead for me.
 
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