Adele – British Aretha Franklin with a tenderness of relationship hurt
that has captured the Globe, the hurt is the blues part and that is what makes
Adele transcend pop, She is married and got pregnant now, hopefully happiness
doesn’t kill her beautiful pain fuel [19 (2008), 21 (2011), Live at
the Royal Albert Hall (2011)]
· Alabama Shakes – Brittany Howard has an amazing voice
and great southern Americana blues that echoes Janis Joplin [Boys & Girls
(2012)]
· Albert King – Down home blues born under a bad sign classic [ Born
Under A Bad Sign and Other Hits (1999)]
· Andre Williams – A dirtier James Brown, who can sing
raw sex with authentic musicianship better than anyone I have ever heard. Uber talent burdened by base addictions. [Silky (1998), Red Dirt (1999), The Black
Godfather (2000), Holland Shuffle: Live At The Green Hornet (2003), Rib Tips
and Pig Snoots (2006), Can You Deal With It? (2008)]
· B.B. King – Virtuoso blues guitarist who can shake you with the
greatest blues vocals ever, Icon [Live At The Regal (1965), Live in Cook County
Jail (1971), Icon (), B.B. King Madacy Discs (2002)]
· Bessie Smith – original female flapper-feathered blues vocalist with a
pickpocket grip and a ragtime piano [The Complete Recordings (1925), The Blues
Biography (2011)]
· Big Mama Thorton – original southern female growling hit
you with a stick blues. Fuck Elvis
[Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings (1992), Sassy Mama (2005)]
· Big Maybelle – soul and blues with some horns and wails that’ll make
you sway [The Complete OKeh Sessions 1952-1955)]
· The Black Keys – Auerbach is a Hendrix-level guitarist,
when he plays you know who it is, 2 piece band that just god-damn rocks and
makes you ache. [The Big Come Up (2002), thickfreakness (2003), Rubber Factory
(2004), LenArt (2004), The Moan (2004), Chulahoma (2006), Magic Potion (2006),
Your Touch (2006), The Live EP (2007), Attack & Release (2008), Brothers
(2010), El Camino (2011), Turn Blue (2014)]
· Bobby Bland – classic blues singing the tales of the foolish lover [Greatest
Hits, Vol 1: The Duke Recordings (1998), Two Steps From The Blues (2001)]
· Buddy Guy – Influential Blues Guitarist with amazing rhythm [Slippin’
In (1994), 20th Century Masters: The Best of Buddy Guy (2001),
Buddy’s Baddest: The Best of Buddy Guy (2009)]
· Canned Heat and John Lee Hooker – side project of an elder statesman of
the blues [Hooker ‘N Heat (1971)]
· Charlie Musselwhite– the greatest blues harp player doing his
thing [Takin’ Care of Business (1968), The Harmonica According to Charlie
Musselwhite (1994)]
· Dan Auerbach – solo album of Black Keys front man [Keep It Hid (2009)]
· Etta James – greatest female blues singer of all time who could
equally belt an Ella Fitzgerald love song.
The hurt and appreciation for what love is pours out of Etta in a way
few humans have ever expressed so vividly in the power of a timeless voice. Icon [At Last (1960), Etta James Rocks the
House (1964), Love’s Been Rough on Me (1997), Life, Love, & the Blues
(1998), Love Songs (2001), The Definitive Collection (2006)]
· Freddie King – the third blues king listed so far, no one can touch
B.B. but holds his own [17 Greatest Hits (2009)]
· Howlin’ Wolf – raw and seductive with a scratch-at-the-door blues vocals
asking if you want to boogie [Moanin’ In the Moonlight (1959)]
· J.D. McPherson – throwback Chuck Berry shake it
rock/blues [Signs and Signifiers (2012)]
· Jack White – outstanding guitarist who breaks boundaries with quirk [Blunderbuss
(2012)]
· James Hunter Six – sax band swing blues for the dance
floor [Minute By Minute (2013)]
· Janis Joplin – An iconic female blues voice, only second to Etta with a
spirit that ripped open like an avalanche of whiskey and sex just trying to
hold on for as long as she could before heaven took her back, icon [Cheap Thrills
(1968), I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (1969), Pearl (1971)]
· John Lee Hooker – straight you know he lived it for
eighty three years blues [Live At the Café Au Go Go (And Soledad Prison) (1973),
The Definitive Collection (2006), Boom Boom 80 Essential Tracks (2011)] Music
1960-2000, man played till he died
· Junior Kimbrough – Delta blues guru, inspiration to Dan
Auerbach and so much more with a slow sit there and pull you in to the core of
the blues style [All Night Long (1995), Sad Days, Lonely Nights (1997), God
Knows I Tried (1998), Meet Me in the City (1999), First Recordings (2009)]
Junior Wells – front porch in the swamp shake your head blues [Come On
In this House (1996)]
· Keb Mo – a bit R&B softer at times modern form of blues [Martin
Scorsesse Presents Keb Mo’ (2003), The Reflection (2011)]
· Lead Belly – older than old school blues icon like Woody Guthrie
singing about slavery in a way that is folk and dark and joyful with a blood
that is the foundation of the blues.
There are songs from Lead Belly about simply picking cotton to me that
are bone chillingly powerful. Leadbelly
brings me to a place in history that is at the foundation of hip hop, the
blues, and soul music, and rock n’roll itself through Fat’s Domino and Chuck
Berry. The pain and human error of
slavery fuels a musical message that this Earth is bettered by through horror. Icon
[Leadbelly (1935), Where Did You Sleep Last Night: Lead Belly Legacy Vol 1
(1996). Bourgeois Blues (1997)] Recordings from between 1934 to 1943
· Lightning Hopkins – pick blues in a shack bouts women and
the drink [The Best of Lightning Hopkins (2011)] Music from 1960’s
· Mississippi John Hurt – foot tapping story blues to make you
slow down and think [Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (1996),
Avalon Blues 1963] Music from 1920’s ,
· Mojo Nixon – Drunken bar room drink the whole damn bottle train wreck
with irreverent whisky party masking pain: tie my pecker to my leg and Jesus is
at McDonalds [Mojo & Skid (1985), Fenzy plus Get Out of my Way (1986),
Whereabouts Unknown (1995), Horny Holidays! (1992)]
· Muddy Waters – Southern authentic foundational make you howl blues Icon
[The Folk Singer (1964), Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ it down (1977), I’m Ready
(1978), Muddy Waters Live At New Port 1960 (2001), The Definitive Collection
(2006)]
· Nick Waterhouse – throwback smoky club like Amy
Winehouse but more big band, old school saxaphone [Time’s All Gone (2012)]
· North Mississippi Allstars – a monstrous force of guitar blues funk
boogie knocking you on your ass [World Boogie Is Coming (2013)]
· Ray Charles – icon of blues, rock, soul, country if he wanted to play
it he could shake it with a dark sadness that could command an entire orchestra
or a single piano [Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vols 1 & 2
(1962), The Best of Ray Charles: The Atlantic Years (1994), The Genius Sings
The Blues (2005), Ray Charles Live (1987), Genius: The Ultimate Collection
(2009), Ray Charles Fifty Favorites (2010)] – Music from 1960’s to 1990’s
· R.L. Burnside – original dirty man boogie champion
shakin’ your woman [Ass Pocket of Whiskey (1996), Mississippi Hill Country
Blues (2000), First Recordings (2003)]
· Robert Cray Band – not my favorite but a decent blues
effort [Nothin But Love (2012)]
· Robert Johnson – the solo blues godfather after
Leadbelly preaching it from dirt roads Icon [The Complete Recordings (1936),
The Centennial Collection (2011)] – music from 1930’s
· Son House – old school delta blues sung on the levee and a bus
station [The Original Delta Blues (Mojo Workin’: Blues for the Next Generation)
(1998)] – music recorded in 1940’s
· Stevie Ray Vaughan – Hendrix-like blues guitarist with a
full sound and barroom light reflection [The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan
(2002)]
· Taj Mahal – Rhythm harmonica guitar and rocking blues icon with a
sweet voice for your baby [The Best of Taj Mahal (2000), Martin Scorsese
Presents the Blues: Taj Mahal (2003)] – music late 1960’s to today, man is in
his 70’s and played the blues for fifty years
· The White Stripes – Jack White’s former indie/blues/rock band,
not a huge fan but they can rock. Jack
White’s guitar is where the blues comes from here. [Elephant (2003), Icky Thump (2007), Under
Great White Northern Lights (2010)]
Compilations
· Angola Prisoners Blues (1959)
· Blues Guitar Women (2005)
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