Art of the Blues

Listening

Pre-War Blues

Check the Library Catalog for the following musicians:

Blind Lemon Jefferson
Blind Willie Johnson
Skip James
Charley Patton
Furry Lewis
Tommy Johnson
Robert Wilkins
Bukka White
Sleepy John Estes
Son House
Robert Johnson
Mississippi John Hurt
Muddy Waters (Library of Congress recordings)
Big Bill Broonzy (earlier recordings)
Memphis Minnie
Blind Blake
Blind Willie McTell
(Blind) Reverend Gary Davis
Blind Boy Fuller
 

Post-War Blues

50 Top Blues Albums of the Past 50 Years

Source: Hadley, Frank-John. "Blues Pantheon: The 50 Top Blues Albums of the Past 50 Years." DOWNBEAT (September 2003): 61-67.

Seminal 6

Junior Wells
Hoodoo Man Blues (1965)
"Recording his first LP in 1965, Wells, 30, shows he has intimate knowledge of the pained majesty, subtleties and economy of '60s Chicago blues with every note wrung from his harmonica. Young Buddy Guy demands our attention with electrifying single-string runs. Everyone of the original dozen tracks is a marvel." - Frank-John Hadley

B.B. King
Live At The Regal (1964)
"On Nov. 21, 1964, before adoring fans at a theater in Chicago, the tape recorder caught indesputable evidence of the muse spurring King to "play a little bit" on his royal guitar and sing songs as though there were no tomorrow. Drummer Sonny Freeman kicks the small band into orbit. Every bit as inspirational is King's lesser-known 1966 concert album Blues Is King." - Frank-John Hadley

Muddy Waters
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Muddy Waters (1999) [Compilation]
"Piercing sadness and redemptive bliss combine in the singing and guitar work of Waters, in the accompaniment of Little Walter, pianist Otis Span and drummer Fred Below and in the songwriting of Willie Dixon. This collection of of Chess singles from the early '50s set the high-water mark for electrified Chicago blues." - Frank-John Hadley

Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf / Moanin' in the Moonlight (1986) [Compilation]
"Combined on a single CD, the two earliest Wolf albums, from 1959 and '62 respectively, have his ferocious one-in-a-million voice tearing into "Smokestack Lightnin'", "The Red Rooster" and other songs of inestimable worth." - Frank-John Hadley

Bobby Bland
Two Steps From The Blues (1961)
"Bland's outstanding voice, whether tough or tender, is set to Joe Scott's arrangements on "I Pity The Fool", "Cry, Cry, Cry" and other priceless tracks compiled on this album. Among the stellar sidemen are guitarists Clarence Hollimin and Wayne Bennett." - Frank-John Hadley

Little Walter
Best Of (1958) [Compilation]
"The most advanced Chicago blues instrumentalist plays a little bitty harmonica (on 'Blues With A Feeling', 'Juke' and 10 more first quality singles assembled for an LP issued in 1958). Little Walter's huge tone, swinging rhythm and agile, imaginative playing should inspire all blues and jazz players." - Bob Margolin (Telarc recording artist)

The Other 44

LaVern Baker
Sings Bessie Smith (1959)
"Vocalist Baker really captures the spirit of Smith, with a great band made mostly of members of the 1950s Count Basie Band. The arrangements are exceptional." - Lavay Smith

Big Maybelle
The Complete Okeh Sessions 1952-'55 (1994) [Compilation]
"Maybelle's gravelly bellow was a force of nature, in the tradition of Bessie Smith, and the excitement she conveyedto audiences on the chitlin' circuit translates well to the studio." - Frank-John Hadley

Clarence Gatemouth Brown
The Original Peacock Recordings (1994) [Compilation]
"The then-young Texas guitarist authoritatively constructs his style on the bedrock of T-Bone Walker's with 'Okie Dokie Swamp' and 11 other entertaining sides cut for Don Robey's Houston based label in the '50s." - Frank-John Hadley

R.L. Burnside
Too Bad Jim (1994)
"Superior juke joint blues from northern Mississippi played with the conviction and unbridled spirit of modern slide guitar master who learned his modal rhythmic rumble from neighbor Fred McDowell." - Frank-John Hadley

Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
To surprise of many in the mid '60s white harmonica player Butterfield and his integrated band proved they could play an electrified blues good enough to have originated in the taverns on Chicago's South Side." - Frank-John Hadley

Albert Collins
Ice Pickin' (1978)
"The idiosyncratic Texan used sustained high notes, minor-key tunings, echo and an attack and note selection allied with jazz to make his Alligator debut the highlight of his discography." - Frank-John Hadley

Robert Cray
Strong Persuader (1986)
"Cray shot to stardom with an album whose genre-bending music went outside the formal bounds of blues and soul into pop without losing anything in musical honesty. His Sam Cooke-ish tenor, concise guitar lines and strong songs on male-female entanglements are a powerful combination." - Frank-John Hadley

Champion Jack Dupree
Blues from the Gutter (1958)
"This Jerry Wexler-produced session has the New Orleans blues and barrelhouse pianist in magnificent form on the warhorse 'Stack-O-Lee,' the aptly titled 'Nasty Boogie' and the rest of the program." - Frank-John Hadley

Snooks Eaglin
Baby, You Can Get Your Gun (1987)
"This album finds the New Orleans guitar virtuoso and vocalist on top of his eccentric game, shifting from penetrating sadness to redeeming joy on everything from funk blues to Percy Mayfield r&b." - Frank John Hadley

Eddie 'Guitar Slim' Jones
Sufferin' Mind (1991) [Compilation]
Chris Vachon from Roomful Of Blues has thisd to say about this collection of recordings from 1953-55: 'Slim had a very raw and raucous guitar style with a voice to match, and his unpredictable sense of time and meter were almost unnerving at times. Real tortured blues.'" - Frank-John Hadley

Jessie Mae Hemphill
Heritage Of The Blues: Shake It Baby (2003) [Compilation]
"This compilation packages tracks recorded between 1979-88. Guitarist and producer Fred Jamesdescribes Hemphill: '[She's like] someone from another place trapped in a time warp. Her Minnie Mouse speaking voice, which sounds so sweet and pure when she sings along with her droning guitar style, makes her one of the greats.'" - Frank-John Hadley

John Lee Hooker
Plays And Sings The Blues (1961)
"The simultaneous bleakness and resilience in Hooker's mile-deep singing voice and guitar rhythms was at its most potent in the early '50s." - Frank-John Hadley

Lightnin' Hopkins
The Herald Recordings: 1954 (1989) [Compilation]
"I love all Lightnin', but those albums-including The Herald Recordings, Vol. 2-are the pinnacle of his playing and his singing. Some of the songs were almost like the first rock & roll songs ever. His guitar was electrified and distorted." - Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys

Son House
Original Delta Blues (1998) [Compilation]
"On the condensed version of the double disc Father Of The Delta Blues, House sings and plays a steel bodied National guitar with unwavering urgency on 'John The Revelator' and 10 more anthems in the studio." - Frank-John Hadley

Alberta Hunter
Amtrak Blues (1978)
"Even at age 83, her time asan internationally acclaimed singer long past, Hunter still uses timing, phrasing and swaggering attitude to imbue song-stories with significance on a John Hammond-produced recording date." - Frank-John Hadley

Mississippi John Hurt
Today! (1966)
"The classic folk blues of John Hurt-it doesn't get any better than this. This man's music never gets old." - Alice Stuart (Burnside recording artist)

Elmore James
The Sky Is Crying: The History Of (1993) [Compilation]
"James was the preeminent Chicago-based slide guitar player of the '50s and early '60s as this excellent survey of his 12-year run as a recording artist makes crystal clear. His influence on ensuing generations of blues and rock guitarists is inclculable." - Frank-John Hadley

Skip James
Today! (1964)
"After decades of self-imposed obscurity, the great Delta country blues player resurfaced at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964. His falsetto voice on lyrics about the oppressive southland is haunting in its beauty." - Frank-John Hadley

'Big' Jack Johnson
The Oil Man (1987)
"One of the upbeat blues stories of the '80s was Delta juke joint and house party band Jelly Roll Kings achieving international recognition. On his own, Johnson's abrasive guitar and robust singing bespeak a world of bad fortune and good times." - Frank-John Hadley

Junior Kimbrough
Sad Days, Lonely Nights (1993)
"Singer and guitarist Kimbrough, whose contribution to Robert Palmer's 1991 film Deep Blues brought him a measure of fame beyond Mississippi juke joints, packs tremendous sensuality into his raw, trancelike electric blues." - Frank-John Hadley

Albert King
Born Under A Bad Sign (1967)
"On the title song and other singles brought together on his first Stax album, King's guitar attacks backs off attacks again, creating and resolving tension at will. And then there's his glorious singing." - Frank-John Hadley

Freddie King
Let's Hide Away And Dance Away (1961)
According to journalist and reissue producer Bill Dahl, this is 'the most important all-instrument album of the post-war era. King knew how to construct instrumentals and each chorus and every note counted on 'Hide Away,' San-Ho-Zay' and 10 more from the early '60s'" - Frank-John Hadley

Magic Sam
Live (1981)
"Sam's my spiritual guide. He was an unbelievable guitar player. I listened to this record since I was 18 and I still hear things that I can't believe someone can do." - Guitarist Ronnie Earl

Magic Sam
West Side Soul (1967)
"As forceful in the studio as in live performance, Sam's voice and guitar slash right to the heart of 'I Need You So Bad,' 'Sweet Home Chicago' and the rest on a Bob Koester-produced album that is an American masterpiece." - Frank-John Hadley

Percy Mayfield
Memory Pain, Vol. 2 (1992) [Compilation]
"In describing this 25 gem album, which includes a take of the 1950 smash hit 'Please Send Me Someone To Love,' Rick Estrin of Lil' Charlie and the Nightcats said 'The 'Poet of the Blues' was a deep songwriter and super expressive singer, swingin' to pitiful and everything in between. He's a constant source of inspiration.'" - Frank-John Hadley

Charlie Musselwhite
Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band (1967)
"The upstart harmonica player from Mississippi by way of Memphis joins fellow white hopefuls Harvey Mandel on guitar and Barry Goldberg on keyboards in establishing their credibility as Chicago blues musicians." - Frank-John Hadley

Robert Nighthawk & Houston Stackhouse
Masters Of Modern Blues (1993)
"Everyone needs to hear slide guitarist Nighthawk's 'Bricks In My Pillow,' an uptempo number full of pathos, to really understand the blues. This recording includes the harmonica playing of John Wrencher, one of the most under-appreciated Chicago blues players." - Steven Dolins (The Sirens Records)

Professor Longhair
Crawfish Fiesta (1980)
"The avatar of New Orleans r&b piano playing revives 'Big Chief' and other anthems with astonishing arpeggios and boogie-woogie bass lines that fuse Cuban dance music with Delta blues and ragtime." - Frank-John Hadley

Jimmy Reed
The Legend - The Man (1965)
"This is a compilation but the great thing is that you get his between-track dialogue as well as the hits, including 'Big Boss Man' and 'Bright Lights, Big City'" - Bob Merlis (Memphis International Records)

Fenton Robinson
Somebody Loan Me A Dime (1974)
"Appreciated mainly by blacks in the Midwest, Robinson bridged country blues and the jazz-streaked blues of T-Bone Walker in a guitar style that found its match in his stirring baritone voice." - Frank-John Hadley

Jimmy Rogers
Chicago Bound (1976)
"Guitarist Rogers, an overlooked hero of Chicago blues, is heard in his glory on sides mostly from the early '50s. He keeps fast company with Muddy Waters, Otis Span, Willie Dixon, Big and Little Walter and Fred Below." - Frank-John Hadley

Otis Rush
Right Place, Wrong Time (1976)
"Withheld from release for five years, this studio recording from the Chicago-based guitarist and a band with horns surfaced in 1976 and promptly astonished listeners for Rush's command of inflection and vibato, not to mention hid fervid vocals." - Frank-John Hadley

Jimmy Rushing
You And Me That Used To Be (1972)
"There are more blues-oriented sessions by 'Mr. Five-By-Five' available, some wonderful, but this swinging date from shortly before he expired in 1972 has all the joy and pain of a lifetime distilled in his remarkable tenor voice." - Frank-John Hadley

Son Seals
Midnight Son (1976)
"On his sophomore Alligator release, the 33-year-old former drummer with Albert King sings powerfully and lets his guitar licks dangle dangerously like exposed live wires as his backup gang works hard." - Frank-John Hadley

Otis Spann
Is The Blues (1960)
"With Nat Hentoff supervising this record date, Muddy Waters band pianist Spann brings a stunning emotional authenticity and his great technical gifts to bear on blues and boogie standards as Robert Jr. Lockwood plays guitar." - Frank-John Hadley

Hubert Sumlin
Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party (1986)
"This session, nominally led by the former Howlin' Wolf guitarist, becomes something far greater when singer Mighty Sam McClain and former Roomful Of Blues guitarist Ronnie Earl both dig deep inside on the rousing slow blues 'ASoul That's Been Abused.'" - Frank-John Hadley.

Hound Dog Taylor
Beware of The Dog (1975)
"Boogie blues raises the temperature in a Cleveland bar and in the Northwestern University student union to dangerous levels when the Elmore James disciple uses his little metal tube to assault the strings of his bargain-basement Japanese guitar in celebration of libido and partying." - Frank-John Hadley

Koko Taylor
I Got What It Takes (1975)
"Taylor, whose recording career started with Chess in the '60s, sings extra mighty on her Alligator debut. As the new 'Queen Of The Blues,' she benefits from superior material and tnhe grit shoveled by accompanists like Sammy Lawhorn on guitar." - Frank-John Hadley

Big Joe Turner
The Boss Of The Blues (1956)
"Singer Turner was particularly commanding in the studio for this session when supported by stellar instrumentalists and when reunited with Pete Johnson's piano." - Frank-John Hadley

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
Kidney Stew is Fine (1969)
"This special session finds the singer-alto saxophonist in a french studio along side pianist Jay McShann guitarist T-Bone Walker and tenor player Hal Singer." - Frank-John Hadley

T-Bone Walker
The Complete Imperial Recordings:1950-54 (1991) [Compilation]
"The vastly influencial guitarist from the Lone Star State had complete mastery of melody, control, tone and dynamics. His jazzy chord voicings at the start of a slow blues are the stuff of miracles. More than 50 tracks document a particularly rich time in his musical life." - Frank-John Hadley

Muddy Waters
At Newport 1960 (1960)
"Finally getting noticed by white audiences in the States, Waters leads his combo with Otis Spann, guitarist Pat Hare and harmonica player James Cotton through a reserved but powerful set." - Frank-John Hadley

Sonny Boy Williamson
The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson [MCA - 2CD Box Set] (1993) [Compilation]
"In discussing this sublime 45-track, two CD collection, Scott Billington of Rounder Records said, 'In his songwriting, singing and harmonica playing, Sonny Boy was endlessly spontaneous and inventive, especially with his small swinging combo included the jazzy accompaniment of guitarist Robert Jr. Lockwood.'" - Frank-John Hadley

Jimmy Witherspoon
The Concerts (1959)
"Recouping from a downturn in his career, Witherspoon unleashed his rich voice on staples from the repitoires of Bessie Smith, Joe Turner and Count Basie at the Monterey Jazz Festival and in a Los Angles nightspot." - Frank-John Hadley