Could we start a Blues Thread?

Doesn't get much better than that Graham. Happy Easter!

Or this

Or this

And this is a corker

I guessed that 'Live at the Regal' would be first up on this thread.  I resisted posting it myself as I racked my brains/collection for a better popular example.....can't think of one.  Although BB is derided by some as too mainstream, and I see what they mean, that album ( and Cook County) does strike a chord and pull you in to the performance......woke up this mornin'.....etc, etc. G

John Lee Hooker at Newport collection from the early 60's might appease the 'purists' more. G

Did anyone subscribe to The Blues Collection magazine published by Orbis/De Agostini Group in the 90's?

There was  I think a monthly CD of a blues artist with an accompanying magazine documenting the artist.

I stopped my subscription after no. 41.

Never found out what no. the full collection finished at. Does anyone?

 Just done a bit of research; apparently there were 90 issued between 1993-97. Also released on tape by all accounts.

A couple of examples here:

If you Google; http://igalerie.cz/cs/music/po...the-blues-collection 

it gives the full list including tracks.

Hi Graham,

The Blues is such a large genre it's hard to know where to begin. Folk Blues, Delta Blues, Chicago Blues, West Coast Blues, '60s British blues...... I'll give it some thought and post soon. 

ATB

Steve

Steve,  The Blues Collection pretty much covered it all.

It barely scratched the surface Graham. From memory it centred on the popular well known artists. I'll bet it didn't include artists such as Furry Lewis, Al Gunter, Lazy Lester, Silas Hogan, Earl Hooker, Lonesome Sundown etc etc.

ATB

Steve

I was referring to the list in your first reply. Clearly I have a lot to learn Steve. Maybe this topic will help. Furry Lewis is listed.

Hi graham, 

I got up to no. 31, then ran out of steam, money, interest cannot remember? Also have the magazines that came with the CDs under the stairs somewhere. Might get them out and have a read. From what I remember,they contained some good information on the artists featured.

The Old Grey Whistle Test 'Blues' collection is pretty good.  Alexis Corner's 'Bootle Him' collected recordings also worth having.  G

Graeme the album is called 'Bootleg Him'. I'm currently listening to this from Alexis Korner;

This one below I think is my favourite AK LP.

With Chris Barber Alexis Korner was one of the earliest pioneers of the Blues in Britain.

Steve

How could I miss the 'g'.....G!

You also missed the K in Korner but that's excusable. 

  Clearly not thinking straight! G

I really think that a person who wants to appreciate the blues needs to start with the delta blues/work songs and work up the river to the Chicago blues scene and beyond. Listen to some Robert Johnson, Sun House, Bukka White, and especially Big Joe Williams. Then work into some Muddy Waters, Willy Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williams, et al; these guys and others took the stripped down delta style into the electric era, and then get into the sixties with Paul Butterfield,Buddy Guy, Peter Green, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, even Johnny Winter..., and later Clapton, Vaughan, and Joe Bonnamassa.

Cheers,

BBM

Happy Easter to all...

It must have been just me who bought the complete collection then.

I first got into the blues by borrowing a Fleetwood Mac LP from the local library. I didn't know much about them and expected the "LA" Fleetwood Mac sound but was blown away by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. The album was "The Pious Bird of Good Omen". Still a favourite of mine.

So many more we could add - let's not forget the "Master of the Telecaster" Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, T-Bone Walker, Freddie King, Mississippi John Hurt, The Allman Brothers, the Gales Brothers, Tab Benoit, and many others.  Then for "Brit" blues Rory Gallagher, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall (as already mentioned) - there is almost no end to the great blues players we could discuss!

I really like Son House. His strong emotional vocals, very direct in their message, and his excellent guitar accompaniment are what I would call compelling. You can't help but be moved. Big Joe Williams' Piney Woods Blues, Nine String Guitar Blues, and Blues on Highway 49, all on the Delmark label are recordings I would rate as outstanding. I saw John Hammond in a church in the city about a month ago, and learned more in 2 hours than I could have learned in 2 years had I not seen him. It was like taking a specialty course in college. Charlie Musselwhite Stand Back is in another style that I just can't stop listening to, and Tennessee Woman is another excellent record from CM. Out here in Alberta, we've got a radio station that plays really great blues on Saturday afternoons; there is so much to hear.

BBM

It is considered one of the greatest and most influential blues releases ever.

A really great boxed set of Chicago blues:

A phenomenal live-in-studio session with Stevie Ray Vaughan at the top of his game, alongside his idol, Albert King:

Very hard to find now but well worth the effort, this features six previously unreleased versions of Jimi Hendrix playing the blues Red House, all different and all incredible:

For the best sounding RJ album you need this...

atb

kk

For anybody interested in British Blues I can recommend this book by Bob Brunning (original Fleetwood Mac member, Savoy Brown and Brunning Sunflower Blues Band). It's an excellent description of the British Blues explosion in the '60s and chronicles all the leading players and groups. I bought my original copy in the '80s but had to replace it after I lent it to Alan Fish (bass player with the Groundhogs late '80s-'90s).