# 'Must-have' Blues **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095 "2012-02-27T00:03:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/21 "2012-02-27T17:39:18Z")
[Hound Dog Taylor](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RA8NyvzIWk) ---
**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:** [February 27, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/22 "2012-02-27T17:42:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > People are always trying to Faust him on me! > > (Good recommendation.) A very good recommendation and an excellent pun. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/23 "2012-02-27T19:11:59Z")
Taj Mahal Buddy Guy Junior Wells ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/24 "2012-02-27T19:18:28Z")
Did we really get this far without mentioning B.B. King? Really? And shout-out to Willie Dixon, who wasn’t much of a performer, but he wrote all the classic blues songs. There’s a two-disk box set of his songs by various performers that’s maybe the best introduction to classic Chicago Blues. Maybe more later… ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/25 "2012-02-27T19:20:08Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Did we really get this far without mentioning B.B. King? Really? BB King is in the OP. That said, I have always felt BB was over rated. Of the great mid century electric blues men he isn’t even on my top ten. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/26 "2012-02-28T16:00:36Z")
BB King is great; but his sound is a little too ‘polished’ to my ear. To me ‘Blues’ evokes sitting in a bar comfortably cooler than the steamy night outside, sipping cheap beer, and listening to a guy or small band struggling to make a living with their music. BB King evokes the image of sitting at a table with tablecloths, and drinking a cocktail in a nice club. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/27 "2012-02-28T16:10:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > BB King evokes the image of sitting at a table with tablecloths, and drinking a cocktail in a nice club. I’ve always thought of running back into a burning Mississippi Delta bar to save [Lucille.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGsvAMRFivo) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/28 "2012-02-28T16:29:22Z")
**Jimmy Reed** - one of the most distinctive and immediately recognizable sounds in the genre. **Earl Hooker** - one of the best blues guitar players, ever. A cousin of John Lee Hooker, he was a master of the slide guitar. **Guitar Slim** - a master showman and one of the earliest guitarists to utilize distortion. Wrote the blues standard, “The Things That I Used to Do.” **Lightnin’ Slim** - quintessential Louisiana swamp blues. **Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee** - Piedmont blues. (mostly) Acoustic and folky, they had a successful partnership for 4 decades, though purportedly did not really get along very well toward the end. **"Gatemouth" Brown** - one of the great Texas bluesmen, he was proficient with the guitar, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica and drums. He had a fondness for jump blues and big-band arrangements. Along those lines, for a more modern take on big-band blues, **Roomful of Blues** is consistently excellent, featuring the considerable talents of Duke Robillard, Al Copley, and Ronnie Earl. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/29 "2012-02-28T17:20:58Z")
Johnny Winter, _Progressive Blues Experiment_, and _Nothing But the Blues_. The latter actually has a couple of Muddy Waters songs on it as well as some Winter songs backed by Muddy’s band. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/30 "2012-02-28T17:34:18Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Johnny Winter, _Progressive Blues Experiment_, and _Nothing But the Blues_. The latter actually has a couple of Muddy Waters songs on it as well as some Winter songs backed by Muddy’s band. I have a Muddy Waters disc where every backing musician is a legend. Winter produced it (IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/31 "2012-02-28T18:43:49Z")
Since all the “Standards” have already been named, I’m gonna go “Oddball”… Sue Foley, Eric Sardinas, Susan Tedeschi and of course, ZZ Top. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/32 "2012-02-28T19:39:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Welllll… Let me pull up the ol’ playlist and see what I’ve got. > > BB King, Howlin’ Wolf, Louis Armstrong (only _On The Sunny Side Of The Street_), Muddy Waters, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and T-Model Ford. (I mentioned in the [harmonica thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642706) that that’s who I’ve been listening to.) I’ve got the best of Leadbelly in my shopping cart. > > Of the musicians I have, my favourites are Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. That’s the style I really like. (I have to say though, that the boner pill commercial has adversely affected my enjoyment of _Smokestack Lightnin’_.) Screamin’ Jay… Well, who doesn’t like Screamin’ Jay? A lot of his stuff is ‘novelty’, but I like him. T-Model Ford is a bit raw. I find his music to be a bit simplistic. And that’s what I like about it. > > So who else should I get? Lots of good comments - nice list of recommendations. A couple of observations: - Muddy & Wolf = Chicago blues; i.e., electrified blues from players who came from the Delta. If you like them primarily, then folks that Dopers have listed that you would probably like include Buddy Guy, Hound dog Taylor, Little Walter on harmonica, Otis Rush, Otis Spann (Biggest Thing Since Colossus is a great CD!), etc. - If you want to branch out from Chicago blues, then Texas Blues would be a great way to go. Albert King, Freddie/Freddy King, Albert Collins, Gatemouth Brown. [T-Bone Walker](http://www.teemings.net/series_2/issue_01/word_on_music.html) (link to my SDMB article on T-Bone) is the father of Texas Blues, but since he played fully-orchestrated Jump Blues, it is a variation of the classic, stripped down blues you might normally think of. - Checking out Jump Blues is another great branch - Louis Jordan (No Moe! The Best of Louis Jordan is essential in any music collection), T-Bone and a number of modern artists, like Roomful of Blues. - Delta/Country/Acoustic Blues is another great sub-category - Leadbelly, Son House, Skip James, Robert Johnson - all of the players rediscovered during the Folk Revival, like Mississippi John Hurt, the Rev. Gary Davis, etc… All of this is a long way of saying - well, it depends on where you want to expand your knowledge of and exposure to the blues. It has a lot of branches off its main root… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/33 "2012-02-28T20:49:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > BB King is great; but his sound is a little too ‘polished’ to my ear. To me ‘Blues’ evokes sitting in a bar comfortably cooler than the steamy night outside, sipping cheap beer, and listening to a guy or small band struggling to make a living with their music. BB King evokes the image of sitting at a table with tablecloths, and drinking a cocktail in a nice club. In other words, “Blues Night” at a jazz club. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/34 "2012-02-29T01:43:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Son Seals is another great blues performer. I saw him a few times, including a show in Pittsburgh where I got to meet and hang out with him. He was quirky. When touring he insisted on a room with two single beds; one for him, the other for his prosthetic leg. Son Seals was freakin’ awesome. I used to go see him every chance I got back in my college days. (Long before he lost his leg.) First time I ever saw him was opening for George Thorogood on his 50/50 Tour. After the Thorogood show, Son played a set at a local nightclub - anyone with a ticket stub from the Thorogood show got in free. I saw him many more times after that, and he never disappointed. That guy really knew how to work a room. ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/35 "2012-02-29T03:17:18Z")
Willie Dixon was already mentioned. Big Walter Horton is an awesome harmonica player. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR9VkVANQyw) You might dig J.B. Hutto. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TFlSK7Lg2qQ/hqdefault.jpg "Too Much Alcohol - J.B. Hutto") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFlSK7Lg2qQ) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/36 "2012-02-29T03:21:42Z")
**Bobby “Blue” Bland** - one of the all-time great blues singers. **Bo Diddley** - the one and only. **James Cotton** - great blues harp player. **Magic Sam** - a contemporary of Otis Rush and Buddy Guy, one of the great Chicago bluesmen. Tragically died young, his full potential having only been hinted at. **Lonnie Johnson** - started in the mid-to-late 1920s, was one of the most innovative guitar players of any style ever, he pioneered single-line solos with bends and vibrato. He influenced everyone who came after him. _Everyone_. Shame that he’s relatively obscure. **Jimi Hendrix** - people either don’t know or forget that Hendrix cut his teeth on the Chitlin’ Circuit playing the blues, backing up established R&B and blues acts. [Blues](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_(Jimi_Hendrix_album)) is an awesome compilation of his straight blues recordings, and I think it’s something everyone, guitar players especially, should own. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/37 "2012-02-29T13:50:02Z")
Someone mentioned it but I’ll mention Sonny Terry again. If you like blues harp you have to listen to Sonny. I had the honor of seeing Johnny Copeland play his final show at a club in New Jersey. His daughter Shemekia opened up for him and took over when he got too weak. Good guitar player, great blues voice. Shemekia Copeland is a very good blues singer too. If you can find it I recommend the album “Showdown” with Johnny Copeland, Robert Cray and Albert Collins. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/38 "2012-03-01T20:39:36Z")
I ordered the Leadbelly CD I had in my cart when I posted the OP, and also a Robert Johnson CD. ---
**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 1, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/39 "2012-03-01T21:34:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > a Robert Johnson CD. Good man. .32/20 Blues Hot Tamales Me and the Devil Blues Crossroad Blues. I don’t remember which song these lyrics are from: “Just bury me by the crossroads, So my mean old spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.” ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095/40 "2012-03-01T21:41:15Z")
another delta player: mississippi fred mcdowel You like the Wolf, so make sure you get the “rocking chair” record Alligator Records has a lot of good artists such as the previously mentioned Hound Dog Taylor - the only 6 fingered blues guitarist I know of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-have-blues/614095.md?page=3)