recommend some good blues songs please

  • Thread starter Thread starter dassy
  • Start date Start date
Eric Clapton's got some great stuff if you drive a Volvo and work at a bank. Barforama. (hey, what's a blues thread without some controversy)
Click to expand...

Ah, Slack, my friend... while I can certainly understand why people feel this way, have you ever listened to stuff from his prime? Since we're talking blues, of course there's the stuff he played on the "Beano" album during his brief stint with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Of course a lot of Cream stuff was blues but I'll ignore it for now. Then there was the stuff he played on the The London Howling Wolf Sessions -- just the sassiest, most assured, perfect stuff (in particlular the solos on "I Ain't Superstitious" and "Rockin' Daddy"). Then of course there's "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, perhaps the most emotion-filled, powerful blues guitar playing I've ever heard. Sure, since then it's been dullsville mostly. But that stuff alone is enough to keep a good feeling in my heart towards him.
 
c7sus said:
Janis Joplin's CHEAP THRILLS.

Doors LA WOMAN

Bob Dylan UNPLUGGED, LOVE AND THEFT, TIME OUT OF MIND. Great blues on all three discs.

Derek & The Dominoes LAYLA. Probably the best blues ever performed by white boys.

Jerry Garcia Band HOW SWEET IT IS

For country blues........ John Hartford's AEREOPLANE, or just about anything by Doc Watson.
Click to expand...


I thought dassy wanted some BLUES recomendations....Janis Joplin is the closest thing to blues in this list, and even Joplin is an incrdible rock singer who had soul (and could sing some fine blues)...backed by a kind of souless "white hippy guy" band.
But listing "LA woman", as blues, is REALLY stretching it.

Don't get me wrong. The west coast rock scene of the 1960's produced some great music THAT I LOVE. Ditto oh John Hartford, doc Watson, and Dylan, but its not what I would consider a really good example of "blues", to use in introducing a novice to blues.

Albert KIng, BB King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Freddie king, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf, Bobby Blue Bland, Albert Collins, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, T-Bone Walker, Robert Cray, Leadbelly, Robert Johnson....this list would get one STARTED on the blues highway.
 
Last edited:
Jimi is right, now that I think about it Johnny Winter couldn't really play the blues :rolleyes:
 
dragonworks said:
Jimi is right, now that I think about it Johnny Winter couldn't really play the blues :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Johnny Winter is KILLER!

One of my biggest influences on blues guitar.
 
jimistone said:
Johnny Winter is KILLER!

One of my biggest influences on blues guitar.
Click to expand...

Thank you jimi, your namesake thought the same. They played many jams together and he was a pallbearer at his funeral. Seeing as Jimi liked to tape many of his jams there are probably a lot of cuts of those two floating around somewhere?
 
If you are just starting out, get the crossroads DVD. It has many of the names above and is all blues. My personal favorite blues song is the healer by John Lee Hooker playing with the Santana band. Carlos plays lead and John Lee sings. It's blues with that south of the border rythem section. Very hot song, and shows just how versitile blues is.
 
If you are talking about the Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD, it would have been very difficult for John Lee Hooker to have appeared... do you mean that oild movie Crossroads with Ralph Macchio and Steve Vai as the devil?
 
A Fool for Your Stockings, Jesus Just Left Chicago, 2000 Blues, I Need You Tonight, It's So Hard and Old Man all by ZZ Top...GO! GO! GO!

And get the rest of their stuff while you're at it! :)
 
AlChuck said:
If you are talking about the Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD, it would have been very difficult for John Lee Hooker to have appeared... do you mean that oild movie Crossroads with Ralph Macchio and Steve Vai as the devil?
Click to expand...

No, no, I was saying that the John Lee song was my favorite blues song, but he did not appear at the crossroads festival. lol, you are correct when you say it would have been dificult for him to do that. For what it's worth, I am seeing Johnny Lang next month. Looking forward to that one.
 
Toki987 said:
Jimmy you ever listen to Roy Buchanan much?
Click to expand...
yes, Roy Buchanan was awsome....I haven't listened to alot of his stuff though
 
dragonworks said:
Thank you jimi, your namesake thought the same. They played many jams together and he was a pallbearer at his funeral. Seeing as Jimi liked to tape many of his jams there are probably a lot of cuts of those two floating around somewhere?
Click to expand...


I think I have every album that johnny winter released. I cut my blues guitar teeth on Johnny Winter and Albert King (2 awsome guitarists with styles 180 degrees apart).

Hendrix had a bad habit of getting wasted and leaving his tape machine where he had jammed....he took the final mixes of "axis, bold as love" to a party and even lost them...Eddie kramer had to completely re mix the album. (he was pissed). they got everything mixed except "if 6 was 9" (they never could get it mixed like they had it the 1st time), and ended up using a recording of the mix that Noel redding had dubbed onto his chessy mini reel to reel. Eddie Kramer said that Noels tape was so wrinkled that they had to iron it before they used it.

Eddie Kramer said that people were telling him, after "axis" came out: "man, "if 6 was 9" is awsome...how did you get that sound?"

He said he would tell them "if you only knew"
:D
 
Fantastic_Mad said:
Start with "The Sky is Crying" album and go from there. Also, if you're into Hendrix at all, he released a blues album simply called "Blues", check it out for sure, it was the greatest use of $16 in my case, great guitar playing.
Click to expand...

Great recommendations. Also check out early ZZ Top for some killer white boy blues licks.
 
Lots of great blues history in the players suggested.

Although not pure blues, can I suggest throwing Sam Cooke into the mix??
 
spoonie g said:
kudos on that one. definitely one of my favorite songs to play.
Click to expand...


Haha... me too! Since I've Been Loving You is so fun to play. I'm normally not the kind of guy to toot my own horn... but I can do that song justice. My band has a female singer who can hit all the notes. It rocks!

Good times!
 
Two of my playin' favorites are "Send Me To The 'Lectric Chair", which has been recorded by Bessie Smith, David Bromberg and others, and "I'll Take You Back" by Charlie & The Nightcats.
 
Do a search on the top 100 blues songs. I don't remember the site, but it has some really classic stuff, a good history in those 100 songs. It's a list, but you can pick any of the songs and performers/writers and go from there.

I love to listen to T-Bone Walker because you hear Chuck Berry's influece right there, except T is way better and jazzier, infinitely more interesting guitar to listen to, but it's not rock n roll yet. I could go on....
 
There's been a lot of the greats mentioned here already, but I don't I've seen anyone name Robben Ford yet. He'll drop your jaw quite a bit. The "Talk to Your Daughter" album is very inspiring.

I know someone's mentioned B.B., but I just have to second the fact that his early stuff was just pure magic. One of the greatest blues singers ever, and a pretty good guitar player too! :)

Yeah and Robert Johnson. That stuff will give you chills. He must have bled blue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top