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Howlin' Wolf/Moanin' in the Moonlight
(more) »rank: 16640by: Howlin' Wolf
: :This package combines blues giant Howlin' Wolf's first two albums, themselves compilations of his singles released between 1951 and 1962. Apart from two tracks cut in Memphis with Ike Turner, these Chess Studios recordings are landmarks in the development of electric Chicago blues. The Mississippi Delta native's gruff persona towers over 'Smokestack Lightnin',' 'Red Rooster,' 'Spoonful,' 'Evil,' 'Wang Dang Doodle,' 'Back Door Man,' and others that have become standards since being 'discovered' by the Rolling Stones, Clapton, The Doors, et al. Almost as influential as Wolf's bottomless growl are the guitar playing of Hubert Sumlin and the writing and direction of ...
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Wander This World
(more) »rank: 7421by: Jonny Lang
: :One would think that jumping into the pop-rock marketplace after being branded a blues player might confuse a 17-year-old guitar whiz. No way. Jonny Lang, with the lucid advice of ace producer David Z, understands the role of the blues as solid ground for someone who wants to take flight with intelligent, well-crafted music that has a wide audience. His second album's strengths lie with his gruffly appealing singing voice and his lean, razor-edged guitar phrases. The material is solid, with songs that range stylistically from the ingratiating funk number 'I Am' (a hitherto unrecorded David Z and Prince composition), to ...
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Born Under a Bad Sign
(more) »rank: 24680by: Albert King
:Amazon.co.uk:Born Under a Bad Sign dates back to a time when albums were collections of singles, and when singles, designed for radio and jukebox play, seldom ran more than three and a half minutes. That limitation meant that artists had to make an impact quickly and firmly. In blues, the tendency of songs to go on a bit had to be curbed to produce performances with punch and point. There are few better examples of this process in action than Albert King's 1960s tracks like 'Crosscut Saw,' 'Born Under a Bad Sign,' and his story of hot whispers during the hot-wash ...
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Full Tilt
(more) »rank: 1869by: Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials
:Album Description:Lil' Ed Williams is an awe-inspiring master bluesman. He and his blistering, road-tested band, The Blues Imperials--guitarist Mike Garrett, bassist James 'Pookie' Young, drummer Kelly Littleton--are celebrating 20 amazing years together. Live, Lil' Ed And The Blues Imperials simply can't be beat as Ed breaks out the deepest back-bends, the highest toe-walks, and the most authentic electric slide-guitar blues being played today. Not since the heyday of Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers has a Chicago blues band made such a consistently joyous, rollicking noiseOn their new Alligator album, FULL TILT, Lil' Ed's romping, sizzling guitar and rough-hewn vocals, Young's ...
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From the Cradle
(more) »rank: 21905by: Eric Clapton
: :The full-tilt blues album that Clapton had been promising for years, From the Cradle proves the guitarist's enduring devotion to a form he had long relegated to merely a flavor in his music rather than the main ingredient. Clapton's singing on the album is somewhat mannered; he tries to compete with original versions of these songs by Muddy Waters, Charles Brown, and others, and there's no way he's going to win that battle. Still, you can feel the emotional connection Clapton has with these songs, and guitar aficionados will swoon over his fretwork on songs such as 'Third Degree,' 'Someday After ...
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La Bamba: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(more) »rank: 23517from: Warner Bros / Wea
: :The full-tilt blues album that Clapton had been promising for years, From the Cradle proves the guitarist's enduring devotion to a form he had long relegated to merely a flavor in his music rather than the main ingredient. Clapton's singing on the album is somewhat mannered; he tries to compete with original versions of these songs by Muddy Waters, Charles Brown, and others, and there's no way he's going to win that battle. Still, you can feel the emotional connection Clapton has with these songs, and guitar aficionados will swoon over his fretwork on songs such as 'Third Degree,' 'Someday After ...
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Can't Quit the Blues
(more) »rank: 2664by: Buddy Guy
: :Robert Cray says that Buddy Guy's guitar solos sound like laughter from space, but they can also peal like the cries of lost souls attempting to cross the River Styx. If these 47 songs on three CDs plus a DVD boasting a new 75-minute documentary and six performances from the Montreux Jazz Festival prove anything, it's that Guy is one of the most dynamic, diverse, expressionistic, and emotional guitarists--in any genre. The set neatly examines the 70-year-old Chicago blues legend's half-century career, starting with a ragged but soulful 'The Way You Been Treating Me' cut in 1957 at a radio station ...
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The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1969, Vol. 3
(more) »rank: 14618starring: Muddy Watters, Big Mama Thornton, Bukka White, Memphis Slim
:Description:Tracklistings 1. BIG MAMA THORNTON- Hound Dog 2. ROOSEVELT SYKES- Gulfport Boogie 3. BUDDY GUY- Out Of Sight 4. DR. ISAIAH ROSS- Feel So Good 5. JOE TURNER- Flip, Flop & Fly 6. SKIP JAMES- All Night Long 7. SKIP JAMES- Crow Jane 8. BUKKA WHITE Got Sick & Tired 9. SON HOUSE Death Letter Blues 10. HOUND DOG TAYLOR Wild About You 11. KOKO TAYLOR Wang Dang Doodle 12. SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE McGHEE-Stranger Blues 12. SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE McGHEE- Burnt Child (Afraid of Fire) 14. SONNY TERRY & BROWNIE McGHEE-Gonna Move Across The River 15. HELEN HUMES- THe ...
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Live in Cook County Jail
(more) »rank: 6433by: B.B. King
: essential recording:One of the greatest concert recordings of all time. How could it be less, with B.B. King performing some of his best material before a literally captive audience in an Illinois prison? 'Worry, Worry' and 'How Blue Can You Get' take on deeper meanings here, although King works the latter's camp lyrics as if he were in a juke joint. His mix of down-home humility and commanding stagecraft is instantly appealing. And his guitar barks, sings, and squeals with such authority that this is a bravura performance from the first bent, soul-searing note. A true desert-island disc. --Ted Drozdowski
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West Side Soul
(more) »rank: 3315by: Magic Sam
: :Many believe this 1967 landmark, Sam Maghett's first full-length studio recording, is the greatest blues album ever made. While that assertion is awfully difficult to substantiate, these 11 gems (plus one alternate) certainly deserve hyperbolic praise. These cuts have a dramatically direct emotional appeal, a blunt, unfiltered artlessness that's rarely been achieved in an electric setting. Sam's spirited vocals come from his heart and his belly, not his brain. His guitar work is smoothly melodic, Ã la B. B. King with a bit more bite, frenetic and energetic like Buddy Guy, but with more taste. Since this Mississippi native died at ...
