“Last Kind Word Blues” by Geechie Wiley. It’s on a bunch of compilations, but the “Crumb” CD is a nice one to get, since it has a fantastic guitarist named Craig Ventrusco playing very obscure music from old Edison Rolls, as well as an incredible pianist named David Boedinghaus who’s version of “Ragtime Nightingale” by Joseph Lamb makes me want to go back to the 20’s.
The Red Devils: King King.
(Give as this is supposed to be a conglomeration-type thread, I don’t think this counts as reviving a zombie.)
Just to add on to the Eric Clapton vein, Cream’s cover of Sitting on Top of the World is darn impressive.
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For some Blues that have a modern feeling or that only are blues-esque, I would recommend Galactic and Phish (only some of Phish is particularly bluesy, but it definitely is in there.) Not sure how these will hold up over the years, of course, but as a position to work back from.
The Tiger Lillies’ Clown contains some of the darkest and best blues singing I know.
And…Yoko Kanno’s Blue from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack is beautiful.
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