# Recommend me some blues **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856 "2003-09-20T22:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/1 "2003-09-20T22:30:02Z")
I have recently rediscovered my love for blues of almost any kind. That includes delta blues, chicago blues and more modern stuff like Taj Mahal, for example. Can anyone recommend any lesser known blues groups or artists to me? I don’t mean the standards like Muddy Waters or John Lee Hooker, but lesser known or local acts, like say Missiipi Heat. I really want to expand my CD collection a bit. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/2 "2003-09-20T22:55:13Z")
Billie Holiday is awesome. One of her songs “Strange and Bitter fruit” is haunting. I seem to remember she was voted best singer of the 20th century or something like that ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/3 "2003-09-20T22:56:31Z")
Sorry, now I see you saying you want lesser known artists. Sippi Wallace is really awesome too. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/4 "2003-09-20T23:01:18Z")
**Still Got the Blues** - Gary Moore Most anything by Stevie Ray Vaughn Davey Graham usually has a few old American blues standards on any of his albums. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/5 "2003-09-20T23:10:55Z")
Well, Robert Johnson was one of the first recorded and best. He’s not unkown, but you will hear some honest to its roots blues. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/6 "2003-09-20T23:37:37Z")
[Robert Randolph](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006IXGI/104-4494901-2691167?v=glance) will not disappoint. “I don’t know what you come to do” is a good sample of his style. ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/7 "2003-09-20T23:40:33Z")
**Country Blues** _Delta Blues_ Charley Patton Son House Skip James Robert Johnson Fred McDowell Mississippi Sheiks Big Bill Broonzy (early stuff) _Songster Blues_ Missisippi John Hurt Pink Anderson Leadbelly Mance Lipscomb _Texas Country Blues_ Blind Lemon Jefferson Blind Willie Johnson _Ragtime/Piedmont Blues_ Blind Blake Gary Davis Blind Boy Fuller Willie McTell **Electric Blues** _Early Chicago Blues_ Muddy Waters Howlin’ Wolf Little Walter Big Bill Broonzy (later stuff) Sonny Boy Williamson I and II Elmore James _Later Chicago Blues_ Otish Rush Buddy Guy Fenton Robinson Junior Wells _Texas Electric Blues_ T-Bone Walker Clarence Gatemouth Brown Albert Collins Lowell Fulson _Modern Postwar Blues_ B. B. King Albert King Freddie King **Female Blues Singers** _Pre-War_ Bessie Smith Ma Rainey Mamie Smith _Post-War_ Big Maybelle Big Mama Thornton Little Esther Phillips That should get you started. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/8 "2003-09-20T23:54:30Z")
Thanks to all of you. I’m off to bed now since it’s almost 2AM here in Europe now. Thanks again and until tomorrow. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/9 "2003-09-20T23:55:08Z")
Not sure what they’ve put out recently but Aligator records had some pretty awesome stuff. You certainly should add Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers to **rmbnxs** pretty dang impressive list. Beware the Dog is a highly recommended album by the only 6 fingered blues guitarist I’m aware of. Malacco records also had some good stuff and Little Milton was probably their best known act. Clarence Gatemouth Brown is another pretty unique sounding guy. Again, my blues knowledge kinda stops in 1985 when I left the US. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/10 "2003-09-21T06:07:11Z")
I have some meagre blues knowledge, but some albums that I love. These would include: “Showdown” by Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, and Robert Cray, great stuff, very jangly. Anything by Robert Cray for a modern take on the blues. Bobby “Blue” Bland - very soulful blues. Sunnyland Slim - excellent old-school. Don’t know if it counts as “delta blues” but I like it. Clarence Carter - also good old-school, with a decidedly sexual edge. Lonnie Mack - Memphis-style blues, very well done. Kenny Wayne Shepard - modern blues-rock and excellent guitar playing. And I agree with China Guy; most anything on Aligator is bound to be worth a listen. Hope that helps!..Timmy ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/11 "2003-09-21T06:13:49Z")
Howyadoin, A second on the Otis Rush… “My Love Will Never Die” is essential. And every Robert Johnson song you hear, you’ll hear again a thousand times in thousands of songs from hundreds of bands. Delta blues is the bleeding umbilical cord of rock n’ roll… -Rav ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/12 "2003-09-22T13:50:53Z")
Keb Mo is one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/13 "2003-09-22T14:52:27Z")
\*\* rmbnxs\*\*, excellent list and a big doff of the hat for you mentioning Bessie Smith. That gal was a groundbreaker in her time. The only way her salacious lyrics got past the censors was that those white boys didn’t have a clue as to what she was singing about. **Tim R. Mortiss** , Kenny Wayne Shepard is one amazing individual. I saw him open with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson for the first G3 tour. The kid oozes with guitar talent. Shall we say that the big jam session at the end of the concert was pretty spectacular? (I think we shall.) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/14 "2003-09-22T14:58:28Z")
I second **rmbnxs** ’ recommendation of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey—I actually prefer them by far to Billie Holliday. As far as white gals, give Libby Holman a try, too. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/15 "2003-09-22T16:23:19Z")
[Otis Taylor](http://www.otistaylor.com). No one plays like him – dark acoustic blues, almost hypnotic. Definitely not “feel good” music, but astonishingly good. There was a good article on him in [Slate](http://slate.msn.com/id/2087662/) a few weeks ago. In concert, he is astonishing. There’s also [Deborah Coleman](http://www.deborahcoleman.com/), a fine blues singer and guitarist. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/16 "2003-09-22T16:32:47Z")
Well, my favourite song ever ever EVER is Robert Nighthawk’s Black Angel Blues. There’s something about it I never tire of…sigh. Also, try John Campbell; he was a hell-raiser who turned to blues guitar. Saw him supporting Buddy Guy in the early 90s, and went straight out and bought his album. He died (young) shortly afterwards of a heart attack, so I can’t listen to his stuff now without a twinge of melancholy. That’s the blues, I guess. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/17 "2003-09-22T19:31:03Z")
There’s lots of good blues collections out there. Chess, Alligator, Blind Pig, and many other labels put out collections from various artists on their label. That should give you a good sampling of a great many artists both old and new. I don’t recall seeing **Son Seals** mentioned but he has always been a personal favorite of mine. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/18 "2003-09-23T05:36:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\*Keb Mo is one of my favorites. \*\* Word. I also wanted to add Mississippi Hill Country Blues, or I Wish I was in Heaven Sittin’ Down by R.L. Burnside. Do start with the Robert Johnson recordings, as they’re in so many other blues songs. ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/19 "2003-09-23T05:54:41Z")
Tom Waits “Frank’s Wild Years” Curtis Salgado, pretty much anything. Robert Cray “Strong Pursuader” ---
**Author:** ![moodtobestewed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@moodtobestewed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moodtobestewed)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856/20 "2003-09-23T13:13:33Z")
The great Shanachie record label has released a number of compilations of fairly obscure blues artists from the 20s-40s. More info can be had [here](http://www.shanachie.com/artist.cfm?id=304) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blues/202856.md?page=2)