the blues

[Sheridan]

I just had a relaxing night drinking some beers and listening to some old blues tunes. the complete recordings of robert johnson and a little leadbelly to boot.
who else digs the blues?
any special likes/dislikes?

[cut out]

i love the blues, but not so much rythmn and blues - although am getting into that more as i get older.... but my main man is Lightnin Hopkins... i love his early records. same riff, same lyriics, bloody great every time.

[r_v]

howlin' wolf and menphis minnie are my faves. there's something amazing about listening to all those old scratchy recordings. great stuff for nice night in.

[mdk]

im a fan of skip james in particular...

i know spandy and steev can recommend some good stuff too :)

[animal night train]

Anyone heard the new Dark Comedy album? Kenny Larkin doing a fairly good job of mixing old style blues and techno/house. Not much of it is to my tastes though.

That Robert Johnson collection is cool. Don't really know much about the genre though. Went on a downloading rampage a few months back but have yet to fight my way through it all. Got some good stuff by a guy called Blind something or other, with some really nice interview sections between some of the songs.

[Hagbard]

Yeah if you like Johnson and Leadbelly you'll definitely like Skip James..

A mate of mine has being doing a lot of digging for Blues and rag.. he's been raving about Blind Willie McTell and Blind Boy Fuller, I've only had a quick listen but will be definitely checking it out properly when I have time.

[love_tempo]

I love big bill broonzy. Robert Johnson is great but big bill had more range. Broonzy also did lots of nice instrumental rags which are nearly more fun than the blues numbers.

I just grabbed some blind willie mctell lps yesterday...I'll let you know what they're like as soon as I get around to listening to them.

I like the early 'lectrified stuff too like muddy waters. Would have loved to hear that stuff at full volume in a club way back then.

[love_tempo]

And early john lee hooker recordings are spooky they are so unique. He never totally lost it either. Even a few of the tracks he did a few years back were good.

[r_v]

son house
j.b. lenoir
for electric 60's chicago style, you can't beat a bit of buddy guy
on a ragtime tip - bessie smith.

ry cooder has to be just about the best blues guitarist there has ever been.

[love_tempo]

I'm listening to blind willie mctell - atlanta twelve string

It's really good...big fast deep thumping guitar and dark songs. 'Kill it Kid' and 'The Razor Ball' are great.

[Spandex]

yeh.. i been listening to a bit of McTell.. but I've been on a Blind Boy Fuller bender for about a month now... i like the rag stuff better than the blues tbh... favourites being "What's that smells like fish mama?" and "Get your ya yas out" :)

And.. Reverend Gary Davis... and on a similar but different trip.. Joseph Patton, geezer from the Bahamas... who forgets all the words and makes grunty wheezy noises all the way through. His version of "Yellow Bird" is possibly the funniest thing I've ever heard.

We need Rich in here.. he's learnin to play it all.

I'm learning the washboard and blues harmonica ;)

[Spandex]

btw... Rich n my current blues/rag obsession was catalysed by seeing John Renbourne in October or sommat.. mentioned in another thread about folky musics.. I tink.

if u like blues n that.. u have to go see him.. he's still alive and doesn't bump into things.

[Phil]

i like the blues brothers the film, the car chase is amazing,! how many motors they fuck up!

[seawolf]

robert johnson

bessie smith

T-model ford

also love 'nina simone sings the blues'

[love_tempo]

The blind boy wille mctell album steev referred to is "last sessions", I think. Listening it today it seems like a good one but the twelve string one has more ominous oomph to it.

the big bill broonzy albums I like so far are:

big bill broonzy sings folk songs
house rent stomp (lots of nice rags on this)

[Spandex]

Just realised.. I amalgamated Charlie Patton and Joseph Spence into "Joseph Patton". Joseph Spence is the Bahamian geezer.

[johno]

ive just recently realised i like blues. it started with robert johnson, which led to son house and charley patton. in charleys stuff you can hear him telling you the last line of his verses before he sings it, kind of off mic, totally deconstructing the song as he goes. they have the drums, bass and guitar all in one instrument.

[versis]

i more and more like blues music as time goes by, especially since i went to a "blues night" last summer. there was a berlin band called "Lars Vegas and the Love Gloves" playing something the called "deltabilly", a mix of delta blues and rockabilly - awesome!
my favorite blues song will probably ever be "baby what you want me to do" by jimmy reed (played by lots of others too, but he did it originally). also recommended: the german duo "making blues", featuring one of those few white guys that sound like black.
looking forward to the next blues night at chemnitz, and feeling sad i won't be able to go to dresden blues festival this weekend =(.

[Jeniffer Mills]

I realised yesterday after seeing the "Woodstock festival film" documentary from 1970, that it was all blues that they performed..... "10 years after" , "Richie Havens", and all....It was just a brilliant film to watch...However i`m basicly not in to that music, it all had a certain intense vibe....And i`m quite sure that alot of music today would be different without that vibe..

[nikrem]

there's a great rude blues comp out called "he got out his big 10"", with stuff like the aforementioned .."smells like fish.." and "keep on churnin' ('til the butter come)"