# Need blues recommendations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365 "2007-03-02T22:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365/21 "2007-03-03T07:43:04Z")
Howlin Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson are the two I’ve liked best so far. I didn’t much like Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker. Robert Johnson is good, but unfortunately there’s no recordings of him with a band, so there’s a limit to what can be done. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365/22 "2007-03-03T09:34:48Z")
All of the previously mentioned artists (especially Son House and Robert Johnson) fit the bill. In the “young bands playing old blues” category is a band called [The Black Keys](http://www.theblackkeys.com/). I highly recommend them. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365/23 "2007-03-03T09:49:55Z")
Might I suggest the CD “Balling the Jack”. I don’t know if it’s what your’re looking for because it’s “new blues” All current performers. But it has an old blues spirit. And definatly dirty and sweaty. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365/24 "2007-03-03T21:00:08Z")
It might help to break down the genre into its most prominent subgenres, to make your musical navigation easier. Apologies if I leave out anyone’s favorites. _ **Pre-War** _: Characterized largely (though not exclusively) by acoustic or “country” blues. **Early Female Blues Singers** : The earliest blues recordings. Mamie Smith Ma Rainey Bessie Smith Ida Cox Victoria Spivey **Folk/Songster Blues** : John Hurt is often mistakenly lumped in with Delta blues musicians, but he wasn’t from the Delta and his playing was much more akin to a kind of ragtime/Piedmont style. John Hurt Leadbelly Mance Lipscomb Frank Stokes **Barrelhouse/Piano Blues** : From all eras. Roosevelt Sykes Otis Spann Big Maceo Leroy Carr **Ragtime/Piedmont Blues** : Heavily influenced by ragtime (from a generation earlier), emphasis on complicated fingerpicking involving a bassline played with the thumb and a melody line played with the fingers. Blind Blake Rev. Gary Davis Blind Boy Fuller Blind Willie McTell Curley Weaver Barbeque Bob **Memphis Jug Blues** : Gus Cannon Noah Lewis **Delta Blues** : Characterized by strongly percussive playing (often with a slide), and raw, “primitive” vocals. Because it is a style easily transformed into rock and roll with electrification and a backing band, it is often mistakenly considered the original blues. But the blues developed all over the South at the same time, Delta blues being but one variant. Charlie Patton (the _real_ King of the Delta Blues, IMO) Son House Tommy Johnson (from Jackson, but still counts) Willie Brown Fred McDowell Skip James Arthur Crudup Robert Johnson Bukka White Early Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker _ **Post-War** _: Characterized by electrification, the move to single-note guitar playing, and full backing bands. **Chicago Blues** : Basically Delta blues moved north, electrified, and backed with a full band. _Early_ Big Bill Broonzy Sonny Boy Williamson Tampa Red Kokomo Arnold Scrapper Blackwell _Classic_ Howlin’ Wolf Muddy Waters Little Walter Jimmy Rogers Elmore James _Later_ Otis Rush Junior Wells Buddy Guy Hound Dog Taylor James Cotton Jimmy Reed **Jump Blues** : Big Joe Turner Amos Milburn Wynonie Harris **Texas Blues** : Blind Lemon Jefferson (pre-war) Lightnin’ Hopkins Son Jackson T-Bone Walker Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown **Post-War Electric Blues Guitar** : For lack of a better term—a coalescence of styles exemplified by single-note electric guitar-playing. B.B. King Albert King Freddy King Son Seals Lonnie Brooks **West Coast** : Smoother and jazzier. Percy Mayfield Lowell Fulson Jimmy Witherspoon Pee Wee Crayton Jesse Fuller **Post-War Female Singers** : Big Maybelle Big Mama Thornton Little Esther Phillips There’s more, but that’s enough. Apologies for fudging a few categories/categorizations. Apologies also for being pedantic, but I love this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365/25 "2007-03-04T02:54:59Z")
A subject very near and dear to my heart, **Lib**. The basics have been covered well by astute Dopers, so I’ll add the addenda: For rather current bluesmen, raw and unfiltered, as well as some great independent artists; [Fat Possum records](http://www.fatpossum.com/) has a great roster, ioncluding my good mentors, the late **RL Burnside** , and **Jr Kimbrough**. The North Mississippi stuff was raw and great in the 90’s, also check out **Otha Turner** and the [North Mississippi Allstars](http://www.nmallstars.com/), fronted by Luther Dickinson, son of Jim Dickinson, master extrordinaire of Memphis/Msspi blues, \*the \* guy tapped by Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Ry Cooder, etc, etc, to get a handle on it. Luther learned it all well from his Dad, and all the blues musicians around. He and his brother Cody carry it all on today. Close to my heart, because I’ve seen it grow from an idea in a small hotel room in Meridian, MS, from the dream of a friend to support aging blues musicians and get them playing again: [Musicmaker Relief Foundation](http://www.musicmaker.org/index.php) Can’t say enough about what Tim Duffy has done here in NC. He started out on a shoestring, and plays with blues artists, supporting them in tours wordwide. He recorded a lot of forgotten artists with top-notch tech skill, and gave their languishing careers a new boost. Musicmaker also helps pay the bills for impoverished musicians in need. When I was in Mississippi, and had blues musician friends needing a hearing aid or the medical bills paid, Tim always came through with some funds. The recordings are great, too. And, last, not least; my alma mater, spent a great decade of my life with this magazine [Living Blues](http://www.livingblues.com/). Three decades old, and the source for good blues info. I’ll stop now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-blues-recommendations/394365.md?page=1)