Anyone got some Blues suggestions?

Hi all,

I have recently been exploring some contemporary 'Blues' artists. The ones that have already passed into my list of favourite albums are:

• Lee Sankey - My day is just beginning
• Tommy Castro - Guilty of Love
• Mark Selby - More storms comin'
• Popa Chubby - The good, the bad and the chubby

Given that, does anyone here have any suggestions of other artists that I should try?

TIA,

_

[James45]

maybe not contemporary but THREE words...

John, Lee and Hooker

there is a reason this man is a legend

[karkus30]

Originally posted by James45
maybe not contemporary but THREE words...

John, Lee and Hooker

there is a reason this man is a legend

I was waiting for someone to reply to this post. I sudenly realised I know exactly diddly squat about contemporary blues, jazz yes, blues no.

This is a shame because its where most modern day rock music has its roots, yet I have never listened to anything from that era, shame on me

I will have to consult with Gambit to ensure its not pirate music, obviously

[James45]

watch it!

seriously though, JLH makes quality music... doesn't matter if you don't know anything about blues... if you like good music you will like JLH and he is a perfect place to start if you want to start listening to the blues.

I got his best of cheap and its fantastic!

[karkus30]

Originally posted by James45
watch it!

seriously though, JLH makes quality music... doesn't matter if you don't know anything about blues... if you like good music you will like JLH and he is a perfect place to start if you want to start listening to the blues.

I got his best of cheap and its fantastic!

Yes I have Boom Boom Boom, but its not really contemporary blues.

A lot gets sampled by people like Moby, so you get to hear snatches of music.

[minimad]

Don't know what type of Blues it is, but check out a guy called Eric Bibb.

Apparently he did a few gigs down in Portsmouth. A mate went and got the CDs. Played them to me once and I loved 'em.

[cessquill]

It's always quite hard to define contemporary, since it dips into so many of the other sub-styles (chicago, electric, delta, country, acoustic, jazz.....), but I'll have a blind stab and probably get it all wrong...

Some of the Taj Mahal stuff (UK Best Of is varied and doesn't represent his more recent stuff)
Keb Mo' has some great laid back stuff
The Blues Band had some great blues (or Rhythm & Blues) albums in the late 70s/early 80s (Bootleg album and Ready)
Take a look at Koko Taylor for some great souful shouting stuff
All the standards (B.B. King, Howlin Wolf, Elmore James, Albert Collins, etc.) are standards for a reason (although I personally don't like John Lee Hooker).
Eric Clapton went through phases of doing great blues stuff.
The early stuff of Big Joe Turner and the likes are all worth a look (some of the earlier stuff - pre 1940s - can be a bit harder to get into)
Stevie Ray Vaughan, if you go for the electric driving stuff
Etta James for that I Just Wanna Make Love To You sound
Ry Cooder for some laid back slide guitar
John Hammond, who is on my list to explore
Duke Robbilard (who is sometimes a bit hit and miss in my book, but there you go)
Robert Cray (who I'm not so fond of myself, but that doesn't matter)
Listen to Radio 2 on a Thursday Evening (Paul Jones, about 8pm?) to see what rocks your room

There's so much more to take a look at that I have no idea about, but there's some good starters there. It wastn't supposed to be that long - sorry, but the beauty of it is that there's enough of it to please everyone. Good luck.

Maybe somehere in the middle of contemporary and classic blues in Robert Cray. Well worth a listen as are Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Bo Diddley

Thanks all for your suggestions. I already have a selection of traditional blues - John Lee (one of whose final recordings was guesting on the title track of the Tommy Castro album I mentioned), Robert Johnson, Elmore James, early Robert Cray, early Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Eric Bibb (Yes, the last two are contemporary but their style is traditional), B.B.King, Luther Allison and Bernard Allison. I will try out some of the other artists you suggest, and have a listen to R2. I have listened to some of the Blues slots on Jazz FM, but it seems to be more soul than blues.

Thanks again,

_

Sounds like a great collection you've got there Underscore.
If you fancy going a little down the Jazz Funk/bluesey route, give Ronnie Laws a listen. He's a sax player. Might I suggest "Fever" or "Solid Ground"
Cheers