Blues albums/collections

[sal]

After years of meddling and casual listening, I'm really starting to get into the blues. However, I feel now like I did when I first got into jazz. Its such a huge world of music, and I feel lost as to where to start.

I was wondering if any of you could point me in the right direction by giving me the names of any albums that you would consider absolutely essential to any blues collection? Also, if there are any multi-CD collections/box sets out there that stand out from the rest, that would be great too. I'm looking more towards the middle/later periods of blues (1940's onward??), as I have quite a bit of the early Mississippi stuff, and am looking for where to go from there.

Thanks for your help, all. I did check an earlier thread, but it really seemed to be aimed at you folks who know your stuff well already and were looking for recs to build your existing collections. I feel more like a newbie!!

[Dan Gould]

After years of meddling and casual listening, I'm really starting to get into the blues. However, I feel now like I did when I first got into jazz. Its such a huge world of music, and I feel lost as to where to start.

I was wondering if any of you could point me in the right direction by giving me the names of any albums that you would consider absolutely essential to any blues collection? Also, if there are any multi-CD collections/box sets out there that stand out from the rest, that would be great too. I'm looking more towards the middle/later periods of blues (1940's onward??), as I have quite a bit of the early Mississippi stuff, and am looking for where to go from there.

Thanks for your help, all. I did check an earlier thread, but it really seemed to be aimed at you folks who know your stuff well already and were looking for recs to build your existing collections. I feel more like a newbie!!

Sal,

In the past three or four years my listening interests (and purchases) have really moved strongly toward the blues. I'd always had a love for B.B. King and it sort of started when I discovered the Ace reissue series of all of his old Crown LPs. From there I moved into Lowell Fulson, Chicago artists and lots of others. In a lot of ways, my approach started with the Ace website - I knew I loved the B.B. King reissues, and cruising around the site led me to try one of the Lowell Fulson compilations among others. Those led me to pursue other artists and I steadily expanded from there.

I could give you a list of classic recordings by the best-known artists, but I would really recommend a different approach. This is what worked for me when I started in jazz: Look for sampler CDs. There are literally tons of blues compilations out there, by label, by subgenre, by instrument. I wouldn't be surprised if you can find a lot of them very inexpensively through ebay stores or Amazon Marketplace. Try a few, take note of the songs/artists you like the best, and then go from there.

I did that with two Columbia Jazz Masterpiece samplers, received at Christmas after I announced that I "thought I might be interested in jazz" and from those two LPs I went from Miles to Coltrane to Red Garland, and Wynton Kelly to BN, and Count Basie to Joe Williams and on and on and on and on.

Enjoy the journey. In a way I feel as though I've "come home" to the blues simply because I always preferred jazz with a strong grounding in blues, so I felt very much at home as I got deeper into it.

[paul secor]

Sal - The best advice I can give you is to pick up a copy of The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings by Tony Russell and Chris Smith. These guys know their stuff - by which I mean that I agree with 98% of what they say . Seriously, this is much more reliable than the Penguin Jazz Guide, imo. Reading it will lead you to as many worthwhile recordings as you want to go for.

That said, I'll throw in a few recs:

Masters of the Delta Blues - The Friends of Charlie Patton (Yazoo) - I know you said you have a lot of early Mississippi stuff - but just in case...

Memphis Masters (Yazoo)

Memphis Blues Singers Vol. 1 (Frog)

Memphis Blues Singers Vol. 2 (Frog)

The Chess Blues Box

Blues Masters Vol. 2 - Postwar Chicago (Rhino)

4 Volumes of Modern Down Home Blues Sessions (Ace)

Harp Blues (Ace)

Dark Clouds Rolling (Ace) - Excello sides

There's just too much to list. I really suggest getting the Penguin Guide to Blues recordings. Amazon has new copies for less than $20. Those guys won't steer you wrong, and it's a reference you'll have for a long, long time. I've been collecting blues records for over 40 years, and I trust it (and, as I said, agree with most of what they've written).

Edited February 6, 2008 by paul secor

[Debra]

Hopefully I am not violating some board protocol by recommending that you visit the Blindman's Blues Forum board. There are many knowledgeable blues lovers there and many excellent recommendations.

Here are some obvious choices which come to my mind:

Muddy Waters--Chess box

Howlin' Wolf--Chess box

Willie Dixon--Chess box

Otis Rush--So Many Roads

Otis Rush--Essential Collection: The Classic Cobra Recordings

Albert King--King of the Blues Guitar, or Born Under A Bad Sign (both albums have many of the same recordings)

Freddy King--Very Best of Vols. 1, 2 and 3; or if you want to start with just one CD, Hide Away: The Best of Freddy King

Elmore James--The Sky is Crying: A History of Elmore James

Albert Collins--Ice Pickin'

Johnny Copeland--Copeland Special

Magic Sam--West Side Soul, Black Magic

Buddy Guy--The Vanguard albums. A Man and His Blues, and Hold That Plane, are my favorites.

Robert Johnson--Complete Recordings

Mississippi John Hurt--1928 Recordings, Today!

Lonnie Johnson--Steppin' On The Blues

Little Walter--The Essential

Edited February 6, 2008 by Debra

[Noj]

I'm also a blues NOOB, but I recently picked up a best of Blind Willie McTell and it is awesome. I'll be referencing this thread for recommendations.

[John L]

I'll second Debra's list. That's some sparkling blues, right there. Throw in a bit of classic 1950s Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, BB King, T-Bone Walker, and you are on your way.

[WorldB3]

You could go to the record store and start with the W’s and work your way back:

Junior Wells – Hoodoo Man Blues, Blues Hit Big Town

Sonny Boy Williamson – His Best Chess

Muddy Waters – His Best Chess, Folk Singer, Live At Newport

Howlin Wolf – anything on Chess or Sun records, again the Chess Best of are great places to start.

Little Walter – His Best Chess

Then you got your Prewar Blues stuff. The Roots Of Robert Johnson is a great place to start.

Then I would check out the Complete Early Recordings of Skip James and Dark Was The Night by Blind Willie Johnson.

I love the Lightning Hopkins 60's Bluesville (recorded by Rudy Van Gelder) records, especially Going Away and Late Night Blues.

Then you got your Delta Hill country stuff like R.L Burnside, Too Bad Jim and the complete acoustic early recordings are both excellent.

A small sample to get you started as far as some stuff to look into you may enjoy.

Edited February 6, 2008 by WorldB3

[Debra]

I'll second Debra's list. That's some sparkling blues, right there. Throw in a bit of classic 1950s Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, BB King, T-Bone Walker, and you are on your way.

Great suggestions. I have the T Bone Walker Mosaic box set. I do not know if there is a good smaller collection of his earlier work. His "T Bone Blues" album on Atlantic, from the late 1950s, is another one I should have put on my list.

The B.B. King Ace reissues are fantastic. We are lucky that they are in print now. You can't go wrong there.

I have not been able to figure out how to get a really great John Lee Hooker collection in just a few discs. His career was so long, and he recorded so much good stuff at various junctures. I have a lot of his LPs and CDs, which do not help a beginner. Does anyone have any suggestions there?

Johnny Guitar Watson's "Three Hours Past Midnight", a collection of his 1950s work, is another one I should have put on my list.

Edited February 6, 2008 by Debra

[Dan Gould]

I'll second Debra's list. That's some sparkling blues, right there. Throw in a bit of classic 1950s Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, BB King, T-Bone Walker, and you are on your way.

Third, except that I'd hesitate to list the Otis Rush Cobra recordings as highly. Iirc, he kept rehashing the same music with different lyrics, and I believe there are a few alternates as well. I mean, I love his music but its not a little repetitive after a while.

[Debra]

I'll second Debra's list. That's some sparkling blues, right there. Throw in a bit of classic 1950s Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, BB King, T-Bone Walker, and you are on your way.

Third, except that I'd hesitate to list the Otis Rush Cobra recordings as highly. Iirc, he kept rehashing the same music with different lyrics, and I believe there are a few alternates as well. I mean, I love his music but its not a little repetitive after a while.

To each their own. This is all a matter of taste. To me the Otis Rush Cobra recordings are seminal electric blues recordings. He revived and rehashed those songs many times in later years, not always with inspired results. I selected the two Otis Rush albums I put on the list with some care, for that reason.

[kh1958]

The Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and Willie Dixon Chess box sets would be a good place to start, for the post-War era. The Willie Dixon box set, as well as another excellent 4 disc Chess Blues box set are available inexpensively from yourmusic.com.

I would also suggest the American Folk Festival of the Blues DVDs--there are four of them now and all are terrific. These were done by the same people who produce the Jazz Icons series.

For pre-war country blues, anything on the Yazoo label is likely to be well done and worthwhile.

For a few specific favorites:

Earl Hooker--The Moon is Rising, There's a Fungus Among Us, Two Bugs and a Roach and Blue Guitar.

Magic Sam--West Side Soul

Albert King--The Blues at Sunrise; The Blues at Sunset.

Robert Ward--Fear No Evil and New Role Soul

Buddy Guy--Stone Crazy; D.J. Play My Blues; I Can't Quit the Blues.

Junior Wells--Hoodoo Man Blues; Pleading the Blues.

Freddie King--the Texas Cannonball; the Very Best of Freddie King (volumes 1 to 3).

Otis Rush--So Many Roads

Fenton Robinson--Somebody Loan Me a Dime and Special Road

Little Walter--Hate to See You Go and the Best of Little Walter

Sonny Boy Williamson--One Way Out and Down and Out Blues.

T Bone Walker--Complete Imperial Recordings

Lonnie Johnson--various OJCs.

Edited February 6, 2008 by kh1958

[Dan Gould]

I'll second Debra's list. That's some sparkling blues, right there. Throw in a bit of classic 1950s Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Nighthawk, BB King, T-Bone Walker, and you are on your way.

Third, except that I'd hesitate to list the Otis Rush Cobra recordings as highly. Iirc, he kept rehashing the same music with different lyrics, and I believe there are a few alternates as well. I mean, I love his music but its not a little repetitive after a while.

To each their own. This is all a matter of taste. To me the Otis Rush Cobra recordings are seminal electric blues recordings. He revived and rehashed those songs many times in later years, not always with inspired results. I selected the two Otis Rush albums I put on the list with some care, for that reason.

Agreed, but I wasn't referring to rehashing the tunes later on, but to the fact that he rehashed the same music multiple times for that label, in search of another hit, and it grows wearying to hear them one after the other. Its unbelievably great music but for me, it has to be heard in smaller doses than one sitting.

[Debra]

The Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and Willie Dixon Chess box sets would be a good place to start, for the post-War era. The Willie Dixon box set, as well as another excellent 4 disc Chess Blues box set are available inexpensively from yourmusic.com.

I would also suggest the American Folk Festival of the Blues DVDs--there are four of them now and all are terrific. These were done by the same people who produce the Jazz Icons series.

For pre-war country blues, anything on the Yazoo label is likely to be well done and worthwhile.

For a few specific favorites:

Earl Hooker--The Moon is Rising, There's a Fungus Among Us, Two Bugs and a Roach and Blue Guitar.

Magic Sam--West Side Soul

Albert King--The Blues at Sunrise; The Blues at Sunset.

Robert Ward--Fear No Evil and New Role Soul

Buddy Guy--Stone Crazy; D.J. Play My Blues; I Can't Quit the Blues.

Junior Wells--Hoodoo Man Blues; Pleading the Blues.

Freddie King--the Texas Cannonball; the Very Best of Freddie King (volumes 1 to 3).

Otis Rush--So Many Roads

Fenton Robinson--Somebody Loan Me a Dime and Special Road

Little Walter--Hate to See You Go and the Best of Little Walter

Sonny Boy Williamson--One Way Out and Down and Out Blues.

T Bone Walker--Complete Imperial Recordings

Lonnie Johnson--various OJCs.

Great list. Buddy Guy's "D.J. Play My Blues" is an inspired choice. Earl Hooker is someone who I just forgot when I made my list.

I enjoyed a recent magazine interview with Charlie Musselwhite in which he explained that when he was a young, up and coming blues musician in Chicago, he was very impressed with a great guitar player known to the other Chicago blues greats as Zeb. Years passed before he learned that Zeb was Earl Hooker. In a similar way, he thought that a guy known to the other musicians as Shakey was a great harmonica player. At some point he learned that Shakey was Big Walter Horton, who became his good friend and mentor.

[WD45]

Yeah, this is a grand place to dig in:

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Wot, no mention of Jimmy Reed?

MG

[kh1958]

Earl Hooker is someone who I just forgot when I made my list.

I enjoyed a recent magazine interview with Charlie Musselwhite in which he explained that when he was a young, up and coming blues musician in Chicago, he was very impressed with a great guitar player known to the other Chicago blues greats as Zeb. Years passed before he learned that Zeb was Earl Hooker. In a similar way, he thought that a guy known to the other musicians as Shakey was a great harmonica player. At some point he learned that Shakey was Big Walter Horton, who became his good friend and mentor.

There's a pretty entertaining biography of Earl Hooker that is worth reading. Lots of great stories and amazing sounding performances. (Whenever Buddy Guy's amp was stolen, he's go looking for Earl Hooker.)

[Debra]

Wot, no mention of Jimmy Reed?

MG

I have an excellent compilation on CD of Reed's Vee Jay recordings, released on the Charly label, but it is out of print. You are right, Jimmy Reed should be mentioned. I don't know what is in print and a good starting point.

[WorldB3]

Wot, no mention of Jimmy Reed?

MG

I have an excellent compilation on CD of Reed's Vee Jay recordings, released on the Charly label, but it is out of print. You are right, Jimmy Reed should be mentioned. I don't know what is in print and a good starting point.

Vee Jay has re-issued the early Jimmy Reed sides, same for John Lee Hooker.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

A couple of months ago, I got a cheap 20 track comp of Reed's early VJ material; from"High and lonesome" to "You got me dizzy". I'm not familiar with his discography, but this comp seemed to go up to 1956. The CD is called "Ain't that lovin' you baby" and is on the Blue Label label , apparently a subsidiary of a German company SPV. The packaging on these Blue Label jobs is crap and there is no discographical information. But the sleeve notes, by Neil Slavin, are as good as you'd expect him to produce.

The company has put out a series of these compilations. I would expect another Jimmy Reed in a couple of years, taking things up to 1959.

MG

[Dan Gould]

If Sal is interested in horn-driven West Coast blues, three Ace compilations:

Jimmy McCracklin and his Blues Blasters, Volumes 1 & 2

Lowell Fulson, Black Nights - the Early Kent Recordings

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

And, speaking of the West Coast - Pee Wee Crayton.

MG

[Dan Gould]

And, speaking of the West Coast - Pee Wee Crayton.

MG

And, speaking of Ace, they've got a couple of good comps of his work, too.

[BruceH]

Don't forget Charley Patton.

[Dan Gould]

How about two superlative singers who recorded for Duke:

Bobby Blue Bland, Two Steps From The Blues

Junior Parker, Driving Wheel

There are other Junior Parker albums to have but it looks like the CD reissue of that album might be easiest to find.

[Tom 1960]

Hopefully I am not violating some board protocol by recommending that you visit the Blindman's Blues Forum board. There are many knowledgeable blues lovers there and many excellent recommendations.

Oh well, couldn't resist to second that recommendation. Just click on the link Sal and you'll be transported there.

Edited February 6, 2008 by Tom 1960