your favorite blues vocalists
alieNDN
2,181 Posts
i was taking a trip down memory lane and in my cabinet i found a picture of magic sam. who's magic sam? read about him here http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/MagicSam.htm
anyhow back to my flashback...in grade 8 i just recall being really into cypress hill and funkdoobiest and the first house of pain album (the only hip hop i listened to back then, seemed out of left field compared to everything else), and i hated rock(at that age i thought rock only consisted of groups that sounded like guns n roses and skid row and slik toxic if you're canadian...haha please tell me someone knows who they are), and that's when i found my local library and would borrow cassettes cause i couldnt really afford any so i thought i'd experiment and i started taking out blues albums.
my first blues album and my favorite to this day:
godamn, u guys know when u hear a voice and for the first time in your life it feels like a religous experience? well that's what it felt like for me when i heard magic sam on this amazing album(really a collection of songs recorded in his basement, and so low fi, u can hear his children in the background as well as appliances)...and the dude's voice, god, so much soul, killed it for me on this album way more than his refined west side soul which is still very nice.
here are some tracks if u wanna hear what im talking about, from that album
http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3LZA4R6R1WDHH2VIW26EJWQB53
http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3N0YIRHHUVS6Y1X1R8SSJHZ83H
http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CD6VDSNJLKBN323917769XYS7
so yeah, i was hit hard by various blues albums , and echos of cypress hill guitar riffs and ish laced my mind while id listen to blues albums i borrowed all day while assembling ugly ikea shelves. one of my fave artists were some duo named big _____ and small ____, i wish to god i remembered their names but i don't, i'm a phucking moron cause i listened to it all summer and left my radio off for the first time. howling wolf, leadbelly and muddy killed me too, so know im jonezing for that feelin that all those nameless dudes gave me,that i can't recall, and i'd appreciate if you guys could mention some lesser known blues vocalists that are really intense and unique and have soul as hell.
peaceNadvance.
anyhow back to my flashback...in grade 8 i just recall being really into cypress hill and funkdoobiest and the first house of pain album (the only hip hop i listened to back then, seemed out of left field compared to everything else), and i hated rock(at that age i thought rock only consisted of groups that sounded like guns n roses and skid row and slik toxic if you're canadian...haha please tell me someone knows who they are), and that's when i found my local library and would borrow cassettes cause i couldnt really afford any so i thought i'd experiment and i started taking out blues albums.
my first blues album and my favorite to this day:
godamn, u guys know when u hear a voice and for the first time in your life it feels like a religous experience? well that's what it felt like for me when i heard magic sam on this amazing album(really a collection of songs recorded in his basement, and so low fi, u can hear his children in the background as well as appliances)...and the dude's voice, god, so much soul, killed it for me on this album way more than his refined west side soul which is still very nice.
here are some tracks if u wanna hear what im talking about, from that album
http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3LZA4R6R1WDHH2VIW26EJWQB53
http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3N0YIRHHUVS6Y1X1R8SSJHZ83H
http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0CD6VDSNJLKBN323917769XYS7
so yeah, i was hit hard by various blues albums , and echos of cypress hill guitar riffs and ish laced my mind while id listen to blues albums i borrowed all day while assembling ugly ikea shelves. one of my fave artists were some duo named big _____ and small ____, i wish to god i remembered their names but i don't, i'm a phucking moron cause i listened to it all summer and left my radio off for the first time. howling wolf, leadbelly and muddy killed me too, so know im jonezing for that feelin that all those nameless dudes gave me,that i can't recall, and i'd appreciate if you guys could mention some lesser known blues vocalists that are really intense and unique and have soul as hell.
peaceNadvance.
Comments
Try these two gentlemen on this poster, both of whom recorded lowdown swamp blues for the Excello label. A good Lightnin' Slim elpee to start with would be Rooster Blues(reished on CD); as far as Harpo, any compilation ought to get it.
Little Mack Simmons was The Man. What other bluesman would attempt harmonica versions of "Skin Tight" (the Ohio Players song) and "Thriller" (yeah, THAT one!). But on the serious blues tip, check out "Come Back" (a 45 on the Bea & Baby label that turns up on a few Chicago blues anthologies) as well as a CD called something like The PM/Simmons Anthology, which collects a grip of his soul-blues singles from the 70's, including Arelean Brown's "I Am A Streaker," which he played harmonica on.
Just on pure vocals, I gotta go with Bobby Bland. "Two Steps" is probably my favorite proper LP from him, but the best material I have is on a Charly LP called "I Woke Up Screaming!" that collects his earliest sides, before he smoothed out at all, and was keepin' it raw.
Also, in the jump blues arena I goota mention Louis Jordan - not your typical Blues vocals, in that his material was generally upbeat and fun, but still, "Blue Light Boogie" is just about as good a vocal performance as I know. And he played a mean sax as well!
One more - Amos Milbourn. Master of the booze blues, and possessor of one of the most heartbreaking voices in popular blues.
and
Son House[/b]
and with Charles Patton.
damn!
co-scion.
on the raw side- ya can't front on lightning hopkins !!!
Um, you mean Mr. Bobby "Blue" Bland. Yes, yes though. His Duke output is the shit.
As stated Bobby Bland is kind of the pinnacle. You are hip to Wolf, Muddy and Leadbelly, who are right up at the top too. And you are coming from a smoother soulful Magic Sam place.
All the real blues singers, were singers. It's not like rock music where anyone can claim to be a singer, you had to bring it or you werent going to get noticed.
Nobody has mentioned Jr Wells yet, so let me be first. If you like Magic Sam you will like Jr Wells. I am a fan of Robert Cray who is strongly influnced by Magic Sam. Since I am mentioning Portland guys try to find a Paul deLay record. His recent stuff '91+ since he started writing is killer, and he can sing.
Esther Phillips and Etta James (on Chess) are always tops. Aretha ventures into the blues on Spirit In The Dark, and you know that's a treat.
Big Maceo (Dead Presidents) is always good. Andrew Odum has a record on BluesWay, and he can REALLY sing. Plus he has the best asides; "You can cut my head off and call me shorty" "I asked my buddy for $20.00, he told me to get a job, and he knows I don't like to work".
Johnny Taylor's Raw Blues, James Carr and OV Wright should all make you happy as well.
Dan
You gots lots of listening to do.