knivesout

Well, have you? Do you listen to the blues at all, and if so what sort? The old country blues of Leadbelly, the citified sounds of Muddy Waters, the white boy blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan, the British blues of Jeff Beck or something else altogether?

My favourite blues artists are John Lee Hooker (simply a legend!), Al Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Hendrix (blues is a part of even his rockiest work, I think) and I always enjoy those blues vamps early Led Zep keep launching into.

What are your favourite blues artists and songs?

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littlemissattitude

I love B. B. King. He keeps coming to play shows in Fresno, and I keep not being able to afford to go. Rats!

I also love Gary Moore's later, more seriously blues-based work.

But, my first real introduction to the blues came through listening to Janis Joplin back in the day. How that woman could sing. Ever hear her recording of "Summertime" (from "Porgy and Bess")? Amazing.

And, while Billie Holiday always gets called a jazz singer, what she really was doing was singin' the blues.

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erickad71

Stevie Ray vaughn is/was amazing! Takes my beath away. One of my favorites is the cadillac song, the name escapes me at the moment.

mac1

I've SO got the blues

I love every single one of the artists listed above, with the possible exception of Jeff Beck. Other blues artist I love are:-

Rory Gallagher - Classic 70's rock blues. Probably the most underated guitarist ever to have lived, and a sad loss to the world. Favorite tunes by Rory would have to be Cradle Rock, A Million Miles Away, Tattoo'd Lady, Bullfrog Blues and Walk On Hot Coals.

Cream - Clapton's 60's rock blues band produced some of the best commercially accepted blues work of the later half of the 20th century. There are far too many classics to list here, but you wont go wrong with tracks like Crossroads, I Feel Free, Tales Of The Brave Ulysses, White Room, Outside Woman Blues, Swlabr and Spoonful to name just a few.

Django Reinhardt - Along with Robert Johnson, one of the original recorded bluesmen with recordings made as early as the late 1920's. His amazing guitar work is even more impressive when you consider the fact that he lost the use of two of his fingers in a fire in 1928.

Steve Vai and Joe Satriani - Not sure where either of these guys sit in terms of genre. They have both covered many blues classics, but are truly genre spreading with everything from smooth blues, to futuristic electro-jazz to classic rock. In terms of sheer techical ability, you would be hard pressed to find a better living lead guitarist than these two.

John Mayall - I was quite surprised his name wasn't listed above as it belongs right next to John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. A classic old style bluesman.

Of the artists mentioned by others above, among my favorites would be:-

Gary Moore - 2nd only to Rory Gallagher as the greatest Irish bluesman of all time. Tracks like Parisienne Walkways (Live) make the hairs on my neck stand up straight. As mentioned on another a thread, the Wild Frontier album is a classic, but in term of Moore's blues work, my favorite Gary Moore Album would have to be Still Got The Blues.

Jimi Hendrix - Enough Said. (I can't say anything that hasn't been said a million times before in a million better ways).

Led Zeppelin - The band that defined the term "rock group" in the 1970's. Their music while being genre-spanning, was always strongly rooted in blues, Jimmy Page's modal and pentatonic playing was strongly influenced by the blues, and some of the 70's best blues tunes came from Zep. Classic Zeppelin blues tracks to check out are Since I've Been Loving You, Dazed And Confused and Bring It On Home.

knivesout

Have you heard Jimi Hendrix: Blues album? Awesome stuff. I used to trip on a lot of Mayall's older stuff, somehow his later albums are a very mixed bag, although Wake up Call was a neat blues rock blowout.

Another fave of mine is Buddy Guy. Although he's primarily an electric bluesman, I have an acoustic show he did with Junior Wells and its one of the most enjoyable blues experiences ever.

SUrely Django was more of a jazz man, at least what little I've heard?

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Foxbat

I m a fan of all of the aforementioned folk.

I've seen BB King a couple of times and he and his band are sheer class.
I'm also a fan of T Bone Walker, Leadbelly, Mississipi John Hurt and many others.

Rory Gallagher was another wonderful musician to see live, his acoustic set was awesome. He'd just sit there with his National Steel and belt out all the old classics and the audience just lapped it up.

As for Django - one of my all time favourites - I'd say he's more jazz but he did touch on the blues in many of his pieces. Considering his disability, he is just a masterful musician and the world was a lesser place when he died.

Ahdkaw

I love the Blues. And it all started with the Blues Brothers which lead me straight into Chicago Blues (still my preffered Blues). It's all good though.