# I'd Like to Like the Blues **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068 "2008-03-20T14:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/41 "2008-03-21T16:52:21Z")
[QUOTE=irishgirl] [**Lead Belly**](http://www.leadbelly.org/re-homepage.html) has influenced a lot of today’s musicians. Other artists have all done version of his songs that you may know, including: Rock Island Line; Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (Black Girl); Midnight Special; Alabama Bound; Goodnight, Irene; Pick A Bale of Cotton. [/QUOTE] Ooh good one! Can’t believe we forgot him. My grandmother used to sing, Pick A Bale of Cotton all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Brandon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f08c70/32.png) [@Brandon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/42 "2008-03-21T20:12:22Z")
[QUOTE=TheMerchandise] I think I’m going to take **Flickster’s** advice and start with more contemporary stuff and work backwards. [/QUOTE] I have been a big fan of Watermelon Slim and The Workers for quite a while now. They are the real deal and brilliant entertainers. In the past two years they have received, I believe, 12 nominations for the Blues Music Awards. I think that means he has more Blues Music Awards nominations than he has teeth. Watermelon Slim’s history is interesting as well. He has multiple degrees, is a Vietnam War veteran, and was a truck driver. Additionally, according to his website, “while laid up in a Vietnam hospital bed he taught himself upside-down left-handed slide guitar on a $5 balsawood model using a triangle pick cut from a rusty coffee can top and his Army issued Zippo lighter as the slide.” You can read more about him here: [http://www.watermelonslim.com/slimband.asp](http://www.watermelonslim.com/slimband.asp) Here’s a few YouTube videos for you to check out, though I highly recommend picking up an album: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WeMRIu43qjg/hqdefault.jpg "Watermelon Slim - Smokestack Lightning") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeMRIu43qjg) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lqxj1yjXWS0/hqdefault.jpg "Little Girl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqxj1yjXWS0) ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qcrtChxhCic/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/qcrtChxhCic?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vknB3yWsAaY/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/vknB3yWsAaY?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/43 "2008-03-21T20:23:43Z")
No one has yet mentioned the best of contemporary electric blues: Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers. Just awesome. Smokin’ Joe Kubek. Also awesome. Blue by Nature Debbie Davies Gary Moore Joe Bonamassa Kenny Wayne Shepard Jonny Lang Sue Foley Tinsley Ellis Susan Tedeschi Walter Trout And the absolute must-have contemporary blues band: **Indigenous**. If you get nothing else, get the album “Circle” by Indigenous. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/44 "2008-03-21T21:40:37Z")
I was just enjoying one of my favorite Ry Cooder tunes and had to include a link here. [Ry Cooder - Vigilante Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoGkPTjZoBg) from 1973 Might as well make it a twofer - Something fitting for the weekend [Ry Cooder - Jesus on the Mainline](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2FrFBceLuY) ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/45 "2008-03-21T22:36:07Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] No one has yet mentioned the best of contemporary electric blues: Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers. Just awesome. Smokin’ Joe Kubek. Also awesome. Blue by Nature Debbie Davies Gary Moore Joe Bonamassa Kenny Wayne Shepard Jonny Lang Sue Foley Tinsley Ellis Susan Tedeschi Walter Trout And the absolute must-have contemporary blues band: **Indigenous**. If you get nothing else, get the album “Circle” by Indigenous. [/QUOTE] Just in case this is up anyone’s alley, here’s a video clip of a local band in my neck of the woods: [The Alastair Greene Band.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJdsbFjyM24) He has a couple albums you can find on Amazon, as well as his own website ([www.agsongs.com](http://www.agsongs.com)). Definitely one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/46 "2008-03-22T02:48:25Z")
What, no love from Dopersville for \*\*the \*\ ***Iceman** yet? I mean Mr Albert Collins. That man could make a guitar weep and moan and snarl and howl like a whole zoo in heat. And I’ll throw in my votes for John Lee Hooker and Muddy and the Wolf too, seeing as they’ve been mentioned already. Charlie Musselwhite and Little Walter for harp-blowin’ finesse. Koko Taylor. Etta James. Little Milton. Robert Cray. Big Mama Thornton.They’re all great. The James Cotton Band is, too. My poor sweet lady Janis Joplin, was one of the finest voices of her day when she was alive. She sang it hot and raw and full of heart. And lastly there’s the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag if you’re into reaching way back into the 1960s vaults. Both featured the incredible Mike Bloomfield on guitar, and oh boy could he play it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/47 "2008-03-22T03:09:02Z")
[QUOTE=DLuxN8R-13] My poor sweet lady Janis Joplin, was one of the finest voices of her day when she was alive. She sang it hot and raw and full of heart. [/QUOTE] Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![AuntPam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@AuntPam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntPam)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/48 "2008-03-22T03:37:13Z")
And contemporary players: do NOT miss Little Toby Walker. I own almost every album mentioned in this thread either on vinyl, or on CD–and I now own every single album Little Toby Walker has recorded. Plus I’ve seen him in person about four times. Just fabulous playing; great GREAT blues. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/49 "2008-03-26T18:37:22Z")
[QUOTE=KidScruffy] Just in case this is up anyone’s alley, here’s a video clip of a local band in my neck of the woods: [The Alastair Greene Band.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJdsbFjyM24) He has a couple albums you can find on Amazon, as well as his own website ([www.agsongs.com](http://www.agsongs.com)). Definitely one of my favorites. [/QUOTE] Ok, those clips are smokin’. I’m heading over to Amazon to buy an album. Thanks for pointer! ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/50 "2008-03-26T18:56:32Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] Ok, those clips are smokin’. I’m heading over to Amazon to buy an album. Thanks for pointer! [/QUOTE] No problem! He also played a couple solo’s on a recent Alan Parsons album, although I can’t remember which off-hand - in case you want to hear some of his non-blues stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/51 "2008-03-27T02:43:21Z")
[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl] Man, don’t leave out the wimminfolk: Contemporary: Bonnie Raitt (slide guitarist) Janis Joplin [Shemekia Copeland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui2hJLaqsKM) (Oh my! What a voice!) And if want a really good intro to the blues covering all the above artists and more, check out [this PBS Series](http://www.pbs.org/theblues/index.html). [/QUOTE] …and Rory Block. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/52 "2008-03-27T02:57:32Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] …and Rory Block. [/QUOTE] Does her voice always sound like it does on _The Lady and Mr. Johnson?_ ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/53 "2008-03-27T05:26:11Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Does her voice always sound like it does on _The Lady and Mr. Johnson?_ [/QUOTE] No. Her earlier vocal stylings are a lot less ‘growly’ and higher and ‘sweeter’ in pitch. Still like her an awful lot, though. I saw her in concert and wow… what one voice and one guitar can do. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068/54 "2008-03-27T12:42:08Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] No. Her earlier vocal stylings are a lot less ‘growly’ and higher and ‘sweeter’ in pitch. [/QUOTE] I got the impression she was trying to sound like Robert Johnson. Her guitar sure as hell sounds ike his. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-like-to-like-the-blues/442068.md?page=2)