Rabshakeh

Les McCann Ltd. - Bucket o' Grease

This does not sound very appetising.

Is Soul Zodiac by Nat different to Love Sex and the Zodiac by Julian? Was the concept so good that they made it twice?

Robert Hardaway – Lou's Blue

Harry Edison – Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You I feel that this one is a bit of a well kept secret. I can't remember hearing it talked about much.

Claude Rodap - Fregate Orchestra – Syn-Ka

I think that Syl Johnson in this era had quite a lot of similarity to the music being put out by Hi Records: Al Green, Anne Peebles, Otis Clay’s Trying to Live My Life Without You.

Thanks everyone! I am particularly looking for LPs, rather than artist names. Again, only from the postwar period. Was vaguely hoping that there would be some Latinised blues or steel drum blues classics out there. Thanks! These look great. Something to explore. I know a lot of these guys, and as a younger man, the Brits and Stevie RV were a platform in, but I think that I tend to see Mayall etc as following the template as closely as they were able. Where would you start with him? I love Strong Pretender. Almost an 80s MOR rock record but the fact that it still clearly blues at heart elevates it. Plus really really great songwriting throughout.

Preston Love – Preston Love's Omaha Bar-B-Q

There are some good blues threads on here already, but they generally stick to the classic blues template laid down by the likes of Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, BB King, etc. I would love to hear recommendations of your favourite blues LPs that depart from that template. No particular requirements other than (1) being clearly blues, (2) being post war, and (3) departing from the well known style. I am looking for blues LPs with different instrumentation, fingerpicking, psychedelic edges or effects, more fragile vocals, more crazy vocals, horn sections, electric keyboards, different rhythms (Latin or afrobeat), part way to soul, heavy metal or funk, or just general weirdness or idiosyncrasy. Post war only, please. Pre war blues has long been a favourite genre of mine, and I feel more comfortable there.

Does anyone know whether this thread is still available? I get nothing from the link.

Buddy Guy – D. J. Play My Blues

The idea of having 30 George Shearing records stresses me out. I have three shelves as a hard limit to my collection, which means that my collection of vinyl can’t outgrow 370 or so, so it is almost one in / one out. Save for artists whom I consciously collect, I try to have only one record per artist (or one record per period, so two Stanley Turrentine records: one CTI and one Blue Note). That way, if I am in the mood to listen to Cal Tjader, I can put on my Cal Tjader record (Latin Concert). To be honest, 370 records is probably more than a person can regularly listen to anyway. That’s what I tell myself, as I hungrily lick my lips at Jackie McLean or Wayne Shorter reissues.

It’s been quite the night.

Bobby Bland - Two Steps from the Blues Billy Boy Arnold - More Blues On The South Side

Thanks!

Not so lucky. Here for work and very tense. Today will be the first time I am leaving my hotel or the work location in a week, even to eat. Hoping to get some goodies to cheer myself up.

How is this one?

What did you think of the later tracks, starting with "Memphis Blues" and going on? I had a very similar, very negative, reaction to yours in relation to the first half of the record - particularly the opening monologue and then the rather awkwardly educational (to my ears) large group tracks which felt to me to be stiff and like they were missing a point. But then I really enjoyed the second half, where Moran's piano is more prominent and the treatment of the mid sized group tunes is looser and more daring. A lot of the stiff studio quality of the first half seemed to drop away. It did not quite redeem the first half of the record for me, but it did change my overall view of the project. I think that if it had not had that opening monologue and perhaps had fewer of the larger group tracks I would have regarded it much more highly. As it is, I thought it was an interesting experiment that I would return to, but perhaps not all of it.

Love this one.

I used to love the Amazon user edited lists. Long gone but very formative for me.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-04-14/chatgpt-ai-is-knock-knock-knockin-on-spotify-s-door#xj4y7vzkg

I like reviews because they often lead to recommendations and references that you would not get in an article. I find reviews really valuable for that reason alone.

Having re-listened off the back of this, I find it interesting how "cool" the playing is from many of the participants.