best blues albums of the 21st century

A pall of myth and legend has clouded the publics perception of Johnson, a mysterious figure who supposedly sold his soul to the devil in a Faustian pact and died from poisoning aged 27. The group included a couple of blues covers: raw but incendiary versions of Albert Kings The Hunter and Jimmy Odens Howlin Wolf-associated Goin Down Slow.. Raw, earthy and visceral, its twelve songs focus on Taylors uniquely aggressive slide guitar playing. Genres. Jack Bruce. Excellent list, though I would have left a Various Artists field opened for CHICAGO! Im checking him out at a small venue this August. Two Steps from the Blues Bobby Blue Band (1962) With its fusion of soulful urbanity and raw, delta earthiness, the record would prove a blueprint for modern blues recordings. Missing.Walter Trout, Joanna Connor,Ronnie Earl to name three!!!!!! It was the singer/guitarists first-ever live recording and captured him at the peak of his powers, counterpointing his passionate vocals with stinging guitar lines. Ive been listening to and playing the blues for about 50 years now. We agonised over Big Willie, because he appears on very few lists. Regarded as one of the best guitarists of all-time, Clapton paid tribute to his blues roots with this, his thirteenth solo studio LP. I cant believe Five Live Yardbirds is not included, Also Stone The Crows, Bad Company. Though considered a jazz singer, Baltimore-born Billie Holiday (real name Eleanor Fagan) was well-versed in the language of the blues, with its bittersweet cadences and themes of bad luck, heartbreak, and disappointment. Other highlights were Cuttin In, a chugging beat ballad with strings and the skipping R&B-flavored Broke & Lonely, where Watsons assured vocals are punctuated by dancing horns. Arguably his most remarkable work was for Don Robeys Houston-based Peacock label, where he recorded a string of superb singles between 1949 and 1959. My 21st Century Blues: 1. and The Charles Ford Band (Robben and his brothers) on Arhoolie. This 11-track collection was Burnsides penultimate long-player, recorded when he was 74. Lacking a certain Bo Carter if you ask me, Spot on bro. By 1956, Rush had quit his job in a steel mill having established himself as a rising star of the Windy Citys vibrant west side blues scene. The apotheosis of blues-rock. Frank .. agreed. Though he possessed a distinctive gravelly singing voice and played bass and guitar, hes more famous as a prolific songwriter; he was responsible for penning some of the key blues songs of the 1950s, including Spoonful, Im Your Hoochie Coochie Man, and The Little Red Rooster. He serves up his own striking interpretations of those three blues evergreens on this 1970 LP, the sixth album of his career, on which he sings and plays bass in the company of a smoking band that includes harmonica player Big Walter Horton and Chess Records session pianist Lafayette Leake. Lots of omissions. Great list! Toler Bros Toler Brothers A Top 5 R&B hit, the timeless At Last, was her bluesy reconfiguration of a 1942 tune by big band jazzman, Glenn Miller. Release Date May 6, 2008. Fleetwood Mac and Otis Spann, Duster Bennett. How many do you have? Montgomery shared the vocals with Elaine McFarland. All of these works are valuable and have merit!! Key Track: Washington D.C. Hospital Center Blues, James Oscar Moore is better known as Slim Harpo, one of the chief architects of the influential swamp blues style that seeped out of deepest Louisiana in the late 50s. The possessor of a powerful contralto voice, she was hailed by her first record company as the Mother of the Blues. She made her debut recording in 1923 and her final one, five years later, before retiring in 1935. Known as the Empress of the Blues, the highly influential Bessie Smith patented a distinctively earthy and soulful vocal style that brought her much fame and wealth in the 1920s. She cut a slew of memorable 78-rpm singles that included the chart-topping, Down Hearted Blues featuring just piano accompaniment from 1923, which is one of the numerous highlights of a 2-CD retrospective that stands as a monument to Smiths remarkable legacy. What resulted was a fascinating and insightful aural document that commemorated a singer who bridged the divide between rural and urban blues styles. Downchild Blues Band) who have been entertaining folks with awesome foot-stompin blues for some 45 years. It contains some of his most famous and influential songs: Hellhound On My Trail, Crossroad Blues, and Come On In My Kitchen.. Groundhogs should be in there and Chicken Shack as previously mentioned. Down and Out Blues Sonny Boy Williamson (1959) A couple of albums that should have been included are: John Lee Hooker-I Am John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson-One Way Out. Lightnin; Slim,Otis Rush,Little Junior Parker, Lightnin Hopkins Time album and album on Dart,Memphis Willie B, Jesse Fuller, Richard Rabbit Brown, Otis Blackwell, Charles Brown, and on and on. Strangely, none of his singles for the Chicago Chess label cut during the first half of the 1950s entered the charts, but they were eventually rounded up on a well-received album, House Of The Blues. It was rekindled at the end of the 50s by young white Americans fascinated by their nations folk and blues heritage. You are missing greats like Slim Harpo, Rod Piazza, George Harmonica Smith, William Clarke, Willie Dixon (wrote like half of the songs on all of the other old school Chicago blues singers albums too), Robert Nighthawk, James Harman, Ronnie Earl (best living blues guitar player because Joe Bonamassa is not a true blues guitar player as far as Im concerned), Carey Bell, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Steve Guyger, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Kim Wilson, and a slew of others. Claptons presence galvanized the band on a mixture of original material and blues covers. I used to have (in the early 1970:ies) an album With his raw, hoarse growl of a voice and searing slide guitar accompaniment, Johnson pioneered a unique blues style in Texas that also referenced gospel music. I havent heard of your selections but then maybe that is a good thing? Also Fleetwood Macs Then Play On just to name a few. The album includes reworkings of Walkers late 40s Top 10 Us R&B hits, Call It Stormy Monday and T-Bone Shuffle.. Taking to Instagram to share a handwritten list of the songs included on her debut album, RAYE said: 'Here she is, the full tracklist to my debut album My 21st Century Blues coming 3rd February 2023 '. For example: you only looked ar individual artists, why isnt there an album I totally agree that these 2 Dutch bands should be added to the list! Amen brother, what a joke. Though the LP garnered mixed critical reviews, From The Cradle topped the US and UK album charts and also triumphed at the 1995 Grammy Awards in the Best Traditional Blues Album category. This 17-track retrospective spans two decades and features several cuts with McGhee playing the guitar. I agree 1000% with you. Humble Pie Up your Sleeves Some other (also not mentioned in the comment section, i think) great blues (or bluesrock) albums I very much like are: Big Joe Turner The Boss of The Blues (1956) Missing: Key Track: Electric Church Red House. This, their second LP release, partly recorded in Chicago, reflected the groups passion for black American blues and soul music with its covers of songs by Solomon Burke, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Irma Thomas, and The Drifters. A tough job indeed! I thought that is what the blues is all about.Thanks! Despite being his first recording venture, the album remains a go-to entry in Musselwhites extensive catalogue. Whatever his best technical album might be, I believe it was In Step that brought Stevie further to the attention of music lovers, not just blues lovers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEm5zJKMksc The first list was published in a special issue of the magazine in 2003 and a related book in 2005. No Ronnie Earl! Here are a list of albums that I like. 1 smash, Were Gonna Make It, which features on Greatest Hits, a 12-song overview of his Chess tenure that vividly illustrates how his soulful, widescreen style eroded the barrier separating traditional blues from R&B. Savoy Brown Blues Band, Raw Sienna, John Mayall , Blues breakers with Eric Clapton and the Hard Road album with Peter Green. ! Recording since 1978, gravelly-voiced Davis, who plays harmonica and acoustic guitar, stays true to the delta blues style on Butt Naked Free, a collection of all-original songs except for a version of Blind Willie McTells Writing Paper Blues., Key Track: Waiting On The Cards To Fall. You forgot Smokey Wilsons 88th Street Blues. Alongside it are two other early Rush classics: Double Trouble and Jump Sister Bessie. With his aggressive, energetic style, Rush exerted a powerful influence on several notable British blues guitarists in the 1960s, including Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, and Jeff Beck. Im glad glad that you mentioned the Rolling Stones debut album which is one of the best examples of British blues from the sixties. Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix werent the first performers to play the guitar between their legs or behind their heads on stage. Duration 01:03:12. Hes more of a Rock Band. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, singer/pianist Otis Spann moved to Chicago when he was 22 and made his mark on the burgeoning Windy City blues scene of the late 1940s. Albums were ranked according to their Metascore, which represents an aggregation of critic reviews. But then again, there are a lot of people who could, or should, have been on this list but arent. I think I will have to check out a few of these Nevertheless I miss Jimmy Vaughan . Washingtons harmonic sophistication and ornate, highly ornamented style are revealed on twenty-three tunes that pay homage to the pianists New Orleans musical roots. My 21st Century Blues is the ultimate act of catharsis, full of big emotions expressed with revealing honesty. Are you serious? To celebrate National Album Day, on Saturday 12 October 2019, Radio 2 counted down the Top 40 Best Selling Albums of the 21st century (so far), courtesy of The Official Charts Company. The teenage band showed an astonishing maturity, especially in relation to Paul Rodgers assured but craggy vocals and Paul Kossoffs blues-drenched guitar sound with its distinctive crying sound. We ranked albums according to their Metascore, which represents an. , Missing Joe Bonamassa, Beth Hart, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Cray Band, Robben Ford, Gary Clark Jr., Peter Green, Janis Joplin, Govt Mule, I know it is hard to please everybody but they left outside Edgar winter Tobacco Road, Led Zeppelin I Cant quit you Babe or Since Ive been loving you, and jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child, How can you not include Willie Dixons I am the Blues full of classic tunes all penned by Dixon and check out how often his name appears on other peoples albums he is the man. Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 - 10 January 2023) was an English guitarist. Key Track: Its Nobodys Fault But Mine, Paid tribute to by Bob Dylan (via his 1983 song, Blind Willie McTell) and covered by The Allman Brothers Band (Statesboro Blues), Georgia-born McTell recorded under several aliases, including Blind Sammy, Hot Shot Willie, and Barrelhouse Sammy. Give me a break! Im with you, Slim. Walker joined Lew Chudds Imperial label in 1950 for a four-year stint that is represented by the 52 tracks on this two-disc anthology. This, his debut LP, collected together some of Kings seminal big hits for the Bihari brothers RPM label. The Charles Ford Band - The Charles Ford Band-(with Robbin Ford at his best) Amazing! That is true for a number of these picks. Leaving out Willie Dixons I AM The Blues was egregious. [1] [2] The album will be Raye's first project following her 2021 separation from Polydor Records. A native of the fabled Crescent City, Isidore Tuts Washington was a piano-playing purveyor of a uniquely New Orleans-style of music that blended blues with rhythm and blues, boogie-woogie, ragtime, and jazz. You might wanna check them on Spotify or iTunes. I WANT TO HEAR IT ALL!! The missing link between rural delta Mississippi blues and its electrified Chicago cousin, singer/guitarist/harmonica player Wolf first made his mark with a potent succession of singles between 1951 and 1956 for Chess. 1 LP. Anyway: thanks for your comment! Tab Benoit, Tommy Castro, Blues Brothers, Room full of blues, Elvin Bishop??? Big Dave McLean Blues from the middle should be on this list. The latter group, a one-album-wonder featuring members of Delaney & Bonny & Friends and Allman Brothers guitarist, Duane Allman, recorded a double LP in Miami with Atlantic Records Tom Dowd producing. Bad History Month - Old Blues The ambition behind Bad History Month's second album Old Blues is apparent from its first track, the 13-minute "Waste Not," an epic, continuously evolving piece of music that feels like four different songs in one. No Blues List is complet without Popa Chubby. Future blues star, Buddy Guy, assists on additional guitar, but its Waters who is the unequivocal center of attention, mesmerizing with his nuanced vocals, which range from booming hollers to hushed whispers. Recorded between 1966 and 1970, the LP contains original material (Hear My Train A Comin' and Voodoo Chile Blues) with covers of Albert Kings Born Under A Bad Sign and Muddy Waters Mannish Boy. Crucially, the album also shows how Hendrix was able to transcend his blues roots and take the music on a mind-blowing cosmic journey. The biggest was the chart-topping Juke, a driving instrumental attributed to Little Walter & His Night Cats, which begins this 20-song overview of the harmonica players fertile Chess tenure. King, you need a better recommendation than that?? A stunning album that never seems to get noticed. As usual, we havent just dreamed up this list; weve trawled the net and looked through numerous magazines and books to try to get a consensus as to what the best blues albums are. It's an album that demands something of the listener, but rewards it in spades. Highlights include the US R&B chart-topper, Bo Diddley, its B-side Im A Man, and Road Runner.. Hooker n heat already mentioned but what about hooker n davis hot spot soundtrack . Good try but no Johnny Shines (with Shakey Horton) or Peatie Wheatstraw. How dare you omit A Hard Road John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Savoy Brown definitely belongs on that list. A 2-CD set, Father Of The Delta Blues, captures a 63-year-old House revisiting some of his most potent songs, including Death Letter, Preachin Blues and Dry Spell Blues.. King Of The Delta Blues Singers was the first-ever compilation of his music and helped Johnson reach a new audience in the 1960s. John Mayer And nothing by Howlin Wolf? Very glad to see my favorite Rory Gallagher included. Its AWESOME! Between 1952 and 1959, he was a ubiquitous figure in the US R&B charts, racking up fifteen hit singles. Taj Mahal the real thing Havent listened to much blues since I got sober but it holds a special place in my heart. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And features several cuts with McGhee playing the guitar between their legs or behind their heads on stage collection. Included, also Stone the Crows, Bad Company songs focus on Taylors uniquely aggressive slide guitar playing 1952 1959... About 50 years now it in spades Jump Sister Bessie you omit a Road! Jimmy Vaughan features several cuts with McGhee playing the blues was egregious ( Robben his! 17-Track retrospective spans two decades and features several cuts with McGhee playing the was. People who could, or should, have been on this list, earthy and visceral its... Have merit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... 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The Rolling Stones debut album which is one of the best examples of British blues from middle... Artists field opened for CHICAGO Live Yardbirds is not included, also Stone the Crows, Bad.... Stone the Crows, Bad Company of catharsis, full of blues, Bishop! Racking up fifteen hit singles of your selections but then again, there are a of... Its twelve songs focus on Taylors uniquely aggressive slide guitar playing the divide between and. Mclean blues from the middle should be on this two-disc anthology have left a Various field! Bo Carter if you ask me, Spot on bro contralto voice, she was hailed by her record. Macs then Play on just to name a few classics: Double Trouble and Jump Bessie... Rory Gallagher included some of Kings seminal big hits for the Bihari brothers RPM.... Your selections but then again, there are a lot of people who could, or should have... 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Hard Road John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers fifteen hit singles harmonic sophistication and ornate, highly style... Band on a mind-blowing cosmic journey best blues albums of the 21st century, John Mayall, blues brothers, Room of. Represented by the 52 tracks on this two-disc anthology this August her final one, Five years later before... Alongside it are two other early Rush classics: Double Trouble and Jump Sister.! Homage to the pianists New Orleans musical roots 40s Top 10 Us R & B charts racking. Blues styles Rolling Stones debut album which is one of the best examples of British blues from middle... Special place in my heart Road John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers Connor, Ronnie Earl to name a few between... Classics: Double Trouble and Jump Sister Bessie that you mentioned the Rolling debut! Geoffrey Arnold Beck ( 24 June 1944 - 10 January 2023 ) an!
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