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Got any good blues records lately?


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Two Men with the Blues (Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, with wynton's band... live) is a great great album. but it's very diverse, not all blues.

 

doesn't John Lee Hooker have a new one out that's been getting great reviews? not sure...

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As far as recent stuff, I can't say.

But, in general, these are my all-time favorite blues records, in case you haven't heard them before. (Although you probably have.)

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I have some taj mahal but not that one. Off topic; I just watched the An Idiot Abroad episode where Karl Pilkington visited the Taj Mahal. So funny.

 

I once learned most of Hesitations blues. Sounded so lame. Gimme ten years of 'hard livin' and I might try it again.

 

Thanks I'll check out those other records too.

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Muddy Waters - Unk In Funk

 

A 1974 session with classic Muddy lineup (Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, etc). Somehow, I'd never heard of this one until recently, and after downloading, I realized it had some tunes that were unfamiliar to me. Not the best Muddy record of all time, but a worthwhile entry in the catalog, and definitely gave me a few songs to add to my iPod.

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Two Men with the Blues (Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, with wynton's band... live) is a great great album. but it's very diverse, not all blues.

 

doesn't John Lee Hooker have a new one out that's been getting great reviews? not sure...

 

I've not heard this. Most anything "new" from the old legends is usually just another greatest-hits repackaging.

 

As far as recent stuff, I can't say.

But, in general, these are my all-time favorite blues records, in case you haven't heard them before. (Although you probably have.)

51aNteQlbgL._SL500_AA300_.jpg51uwWAnXmCL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

 

Magic Sam. Stellar.

 

And now my favorite blues records. I don't buy many new ones.

  • Muddy Waters, Folk Singer
  • B.B. King, Live in Cook County Jail
  • John Lee Hooker, Live at Sugar Hill, Vol. 2
  • T-Bone Walker, Good Feelin'
  • Jimi Hendrix, Blues
  • Mike Bloomfield, Live at the Old Waldorf
  • Albert King, Born Under a Bad Sign
  • R.L. Burnside, First Recordings
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Sky is Crying (and just about everything else of his)
  • John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton
  • Little Walter, His Best
  • Otis Rush, Good Un's

That's a few of 'em.

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Sorry, just to add something about that Magic Sam:

You know the song "Sweet Home Chicago"? Yes, it was written by Robert Johnson, but the version that you have heard a million times and gotten so sick of that you think that you are going to puke? ALL of those people's versions are their takes on the Magic Sam version of the song (which appears on the record that I recommended). So, know that when you hear the song, that you are hearing the original.

 

Okay, now for another blues rec:

Steve James - Two-Track Mind

A 1993 release, this one is pretty cool acoustic resonator guitar fingerstyle picking. He hits on a few different acoustic blues styles, including bottleneck and ragtime. Great playing all-around and some very good songs.

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Not exactly a blues record but the complete works of Henry Thomas on Yazoo is something I had not had before and enjoying.

 

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As long as we are talking about Magic Sam, this additional Delmark disk of live material is also quite good.

 

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Like every other musician, John Lee Hooker can certainly have a new album out despite being dead for several years.

 

LouieB

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As far as new blues players go, Left Lane Cruiser do the two man dirty, hill country style pretty well. Patrick Sweany also has a few good records. I think they both are associated with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and have a similar style. I find alot of new blues records overproduced and glossy for me. I always compare to the great country blues players of the 20s and 30s and then the Chicago records of the 40s-60s. I highly recommend "I don't play no rock and roll" by Mississippi Fred McDowell. Lastly the Henry Thomas record above is great.

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For your folk blues fix, pick up any of the anthologies/collections of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell or Mississippi John Hurt.

Both the Yazoo and JSP sets are both good. JSP not so good on notes, but Yazoo is excellent all around.

 

LouieB

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You have any Ike Turner?

This collection has a really great bunch of tunes, including more than a few that you could solidly place into "the blues":

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Here's some of my most recent blues purchases:

 

 

Robert Wilkins - The Original Rolling Stone

 

Great early acoustic blues. The Rolling Stones pretty much ripped off "That's No Way to Get Along" in "Prodigal Son."

 

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Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Bogaloosa Boogie Man

 

Picked up the reissue of this recently, forgot how great this record is. Not strictly a blues record, but if your tastes run eclectic this one is a must have.

 

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Otis Rush - Right Place, Wrong Time

 

Solid from start to finish.

 

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