Want to learn more about the blues. I am absolutely in love with this music to the point I can't stop humming twelve-bar blues in my head I especially dig the more rockish kind of blues, you know... when you have electric guitars dueling over a solid backing band.... that stuff is simply AMAZING

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For instance, my favorite blues album that i've listened to is Derek & The Dominos' "Layla". In it you find two guitar gods (Eric Clapton and Duane Allman) dueling each other over these beautifully composed songs (though some of them are covers). There's also the whole backstory to it about Eric being in love with Patti Boyd, then George Harrison's wife. But I don't think the quality of this record had much to do with Eric more than it had to do with these brilliant musicians (Jim Gordon on drums, Bobby Whitlock on keyboard and backing vocals, Carl Readle on bass, Eric & Duane) all being together, recording in the same room.

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Well, anyway. Enough about Derek & the Dominos and let's focus on making a nice list of blues I can dig

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BB King

Eric Clapton

Taj Mahal

Howlin' Wolf

John Mayall

Allman Brothers Band

Bob Dylan

Jimi Hendrix (some of his songs)

....

???

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Keep 'em coming!!

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If you love electric guitar/vocals, I would go for Buddy Guy. Jimi and Clapton stole a lot of his licks. Albert King, Freddie King, Ike Turner and Luther Allison are guitar greats too. For the modern stuff, Doyle Bramhall and Gary Clark Jr. are cool also.

My very favorite is Esther Phillips.


Originally known as "Litter Esther," the singer got her start with the Johnny Otis at the age of 14 and was part of his review act, the California Rythm and Blues Caravan, in 1949. Her fist hit record was "Double Crossing Blues" in 1950. By the middle of the decade, Phillips was chronically addicted to drugs. She was also in the same room when Johnny Ace shot himself (accidentally) on Christmas Day, 1954. While she was living in Houston, in and out of hospitals because of her addictions, she started performing in clubs again and was eventually re-discovered by Kenny Rogers in 1962 and he got her signed to his brother's label, Lenox.


"Release Me" was a country tune she recorded that re-established her career that year, and other successful songs soon came: "And I Love Him" (a Beatles cover) and "Try Me." Throughout the decade her dependence on heroin worsened, but she continue to sign with various labels and release music. This pattern continued throughout the 70's and early 1980's - with Phillips recording her final single in 1983, "Turn Me Out."


A career highlight came in 1972, when she was with Kudu records and her debut album, "From a Whisper to a Scream," featured the lead track, 'Home Is Where the Hatred Is,' written by Gil-Scott Heron. A song about addiction, it went on to be nominated for a Grammy. When the winner of the category was announced, Aretha Franklin, she presented it to Phillips and said she "should have won it instead." Esther Phillips has been nominated 4 times fro Grammy Awards between 1970 and 1975 - but has never won. Phillips has since been nominated twice for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986 and 1987, but has failed to get in.


Esther Phillips died at the age of 48 in 1984 from liver and kidney failure due to drug use. Her funeral services were conducted by Johnny Otis and she is buried in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. To hear Esther Phillips, the listener can hear the pain in her voice when she sings the blues. There is a crackle - a vulnerability - much like that of Billie Holiday. To fully understand her pain, all one has to do is listen to a song like "Home Is Where the Hatred Is."

"Home is Where the Hatred Is" youtube link:

https://youtu.be/iz8Y6i--UM4

"How Blue Can You Get" youtube link:

https://youtu.be/9FC369W7wdg



"No Headstone On My Grave" youtube link:

https://youtu.be/r5ygC61CCDo

Footage of the benefit by Etta James, Carmen McCrae, and others to raise money for a headstone on Phillips' grave. She died penniless the year before this footage. [This can make you cry!]
https://youtu.be/FM4M1ZWaw1A

[Edited 3/17/16 18:46pm]

[Edited 3/17/16 18:54pm]

Is Bob Dylan a blues singer?

I liked many mentioned, and also Bobby Blue Bland.

Gil Scott-Heron had some bluesy pieces too.

I don't have as deep a knowlege of blues singers as I would like to have, and have picked up on a few, some whose recordings I've collected. Robert Johnnson has some titilating lyrical content. I like John Lee Hooker for his complete disreagard for meter and rhyme, but he's sure enough going tell you what is on his mind and make sure it is understood. Johnny "Guitar" Watson is a mighty slick modern blues/ heavily R&B cat who has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Muddy Waters is cool.

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Happy hunting in the Blues House!

Thank y'all very much for these recommendations. Looks like I got tonnes of stuff to groove my way through

214 said:

Is Bob Dylan a blues singer?

Umm... yes

As you can see, here are some examples of Bob's bluesy side. He's made plenty of blues songs... I'm beginning to wonder if you've ever even listened to a Bob Dylan album

teezee said:

214 said:

Is Bob Dylan a blues singer?

Umm... yes

As you can see, here are some examples of Bob's bluesy side. He's made plenty of blues songs... I'm beginning to wonder if you've ever even listened to a Bob Dylan album

Bitch please, don't come to me with this, of course i have, o love Dylan: Imagine, A Day in The Life, In Mmy Life and so on.

214 said:

teezee said:

Umm... yes

As you can see, here are some examples of Bob's bluesy side. He's made plenty of blues songs... I'm beginning to wonder if you've ever even listened to a Bob Dylan album

Bitch please, don't come to me with this, of course i have, o love Dylan: Imagine, A Day in The Life, In Mmy Life and so on.

-

Ella

Nina Simone

teezee said:

214 said:

Bitch please, don't come to me with this, of course i have, o love Dylan: Imagine, A Day in The Life, In Mmy Life and so on.

In all seriousness, i love Dylan but i don't think of him as a blues singer.

Bobby Rush's backup dancer Miss Lowe is always good to watch