Best Blues Albums

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All About Blues Music

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Essential Albums If you were to own only 10 Blues albums, which would they be?
Let us help you decide. Here is our list of the BEST BLUES RECORDS ever. These albums, as well as being the greatest music ever heard, also tell a story. Before the 60s, most Blues records sold as singles, so most of the selections here are compilation albums. After the 60s we have selected the outstanding album or the live set which shows the best of the artists talents. Our list covers all ages of the Blues, from the early Country Music styles through to the electric Blues of the City. The Blues has travelled around the world and back again, and our list reflects this. Sonny Boy Williamson may have stated These white boys want to play the Blues so bad and they do! but to our ears they sound pretty good. In no particular order of preference THE CHESS BOX MUDDY WATERS Why you should own; Modern electric Blues starts here. Born in the Delta and Buy from Amazon

recorded at Stovells Plantation by Alan Lomax, Muddy was a revelation when he got to Chicago and plugged himself in. This 3 album set covers his work from 47 to 72, and mixes the essential singles with rare unreleased tracks to give a comprehensive chronicle of the King of Electric Blues.

BESSIE SMITH THE ESSENTIAL BESSIE SMITH.

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Best Blues Albums

http://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com/essential-albums/

Why you should own; The Empress of the Blues, Bessie was a genuine superstar in the 20s and a Force of Nature all her life. She put the Blues on stage and proceeded to knock em in the aisles. From her first recordings in 1923 to her final sessions, this fully rounded collection includes collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Goodman. Buy from Amazon

WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT ? THE ESSENTIAL LEADBELLY LEGACY. Why you should own; Leadbelly is the quintessential old-time travelling songster, with

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an enormous and varied repertoire of folk, blues, ballads, work songs, prison songs, political songs and childrens ditties. His career fully spanned the first half of the twentieth century, from the cat-houses of Shreveport to the stages of Paris. More of the same fantastic quality on a second volumeBourgeois Blues.

THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS ROBERT JOHNSON. Why you should own; King of the Delta Blues. Legend Buy from Amazon says this haunted young man sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his extraordinary skills on guitar. His complex, polyrhythmic technique influenced every generation of guitarists and he wrote some enduring Blues classics. His total recorded output was confined to two sessions in Texas in Nov. 36 and June 37.

BIG BILLS BLUES- BIG BILL BROONZY Why you should own; Buy from Amazon Big Bill was the Main Man on the Chicago Blues scene in the inter-war years, encouraging many players arriving from the

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Best Blues Albums

http://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com/essential-albums/

South to adapt to life in the city, and fostering the transition from rural to urban Blues. His own considerable skills and huge repertoire reflect this change, and made him a star of the folk/blues revival.

HIS BEST SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II Why you should own; Rice Miller hung around Mississippi with Robert Johnson, yet his career lasted long enough

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to see him play with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. In between he drank a lot of whiskey, was a radio DJ for 15 years and wrote and played some of the finest harmonica Blues ever recorded. A consummate showman with a bag full of juke-joint tricks, these 20 tracks from the sly, laconic maestro include backing from Robert Jnr. Lockwood and Buddy Guy.

LIVE AT THE REGAL BB KING Why you should own; Buy from Amazon If you plan to own just one live Blues album, this IS the one. Nuff said.

BLUESBREAKERS with ERIC CLAPTON Why you should own; Known as The Beano Album, this opened up the Blues to a new young audience on both sides of the Atlantic. Eric left the Yardbirds because he thought they were going commercial and this album, recorded with John

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Best Blues Albums

http://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com/essential-albums/

Mayalls superb band, is a statement of intent. Powerful stuff.

IRISH TOUR RORY GALLAGHER Why you should own; And if you plan to own just two Buy from Amazon live Blues albums, this is the other one. The energy positively crackles as Rory plays to his home-countrymen, even in the acoustic numbers. Combining some of his own best songs with masterly versions of some classic Blues, Rory brings it home in style.

TEXAS FLOOD STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN Why you should own; Recording over three days in 1982 with his band Double Trouble, Stevie Ray doesnt try to

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hide his influences, he positively celebrates them. This fiery blues-rock album spent six months in the charts, giving the Blues to a new generation, and showing how an established genre can be re- interpreted as something fresh and personal.

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