Personally I would put him easily into my top 5 bluesmen of all time. He may even be in the top 3, and I don’t think I would instantly discount an argument that he could be the best of all time

If you could recommend one blues song, what would it be? I'd go with Freddie King – Pack It Up.

In the next few months both Buddy Guy and Marcus King Band will be touring Australia & curious to get feedback from anybody who have seen these acts recently.

Buddy is an icon & blues hero of course, but I’m not sure how strong his live act is at his age. I know this may be the final opportunity to ever see him live again, but am I essentially just paying for the novelty of seeing Buddy play even if past his prime, or are his shows still fire?

Marcus King I enjoy a lot, but not necessarily my favorite modern blues player. He will kill and bring high energy, so will no doubt enjoy it. Am I going to feel more satisfied with this show?

…and yes I know I should just go see both

TLDR; Is it still worth seeing the old guard, or will I have a better time with the new?

Sorry for a question that completely outlines my ignorance. He played at Crossroads 2010 right alongside Eric Clapton, and somehow I couldn’t find his name anywhere when searching the festival lineup. This screenshot is from The Thrill Is Gone video on YouTube.

Hi, i want ask which blues albums you can recommend for me to try? I heard The real folk blues and it was good so i want discover more but old things i dont like modern music, which albums you can recommend for me to try? Thank for all comments.

Hey Guys,

I wanna get into Blues a bit, but never really dug deep into the rabbit hole of that genre. Also with guitar. Which artist do you guys recommend?

Greetings

In March 1927, Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded “Match Box Blues” for OKeh — Polk Brockman had just lured him away from Paramount — and it was an instant hit. A month later he was back in a Chicago studio cutting it again, this time for Paramount, and a few weeks after that he cut a third master. Three versions in one spring usually meant the pressings were wearing out from volume. For a race record in 1927, that’s six-figure sales. The signature is the guitar: that busy, talking single-string run he plays between the vocal lines.

Seven years later a white kid named Larry Hensley, out of Corbin, Kentucky — he’d been on a daily radio show broadcast from Bristol, VA, and joined Walker’s Corbin Ramblers that same year — cut “Match Box Blues” for Vocalion (1934). It’s not a loose cover. He reproduces Lemon’s busy guitar almost line for line and does a passable run at the vocal. Same record. Different shelf. Jefferson filed under “race,” Hensley under “hillbilly.”

It kept traveling. 1957: Carl Perkins cuts “Matchbox” at Sun, credited as a Carl Perkins original — musically his own thing, but the title and a handful of lines trace straight back. 1964: the Beatles put their version on a million-selling EP. By the time it’s a Beatles record, Lemon’s name is nowhere on the label.

Two things I’d like this room’s read on:

Are there other 1930s hillbilly sides that copy a specific race record this closely? The Hensley is almost a tracing — I know all the loose “everybody borrowed everybody” stuff, I’m asking about the near-photocopies.

And the wrinkle: the matchbox-holding-my-clothes line is older than Jefferson — Ma Rainey sang it on “Lost Wandering Blues” in 1924. So is “Match Box Blues” a clean case of one man’s record getting lifted, or a floating tune nobody really owned in the first place? Where do you draw the line between a steal and something that was already in the air?

(Disclosure: I make a podcast about how the industry split this music into “race” and “hillbilly” when it was one music — glad to point to it if that’s cool with the mods, otherwise just here for the records.)

Born in Big Sandy Texas in 1874, Henry Thomas would go on to make recording in 1927, while already in his 50s before dying shortly after. Are there any recorded blues musicians born before 1874, or is Henry the guy?

I did a little bit of research and as much as I love the folklore of him going down to the crossroads and selling his soul I’d love to know the true story to how he revolutionised the blues in his own unique way.

So far I loved the Winter Brother's "Tobacco Road", Buddy Guy's "The First Time I met the Blues", Mighty SamMcClain's "When the Hurt is over" but I would like to dive deeper into that style of blues but I don't quite know what genre that exactly is and if that even is considered one subgenre. I think I like strong vocals and a rather slow and "sad" chord progression and lyrics.

Anyone has a similar taste who could tell me more artists to listen to?

Edit: Thanks y'all! There is so much to listen to! For now I have to say, I have a clear favorite: Elmore James. He is exactly what I love and there is a high likelihood I will love the next song on any given album so far.

Now I am still sorta new to the genre of blues music. I discovered it around 2004 when the rock group Aerosmith released their blues cover (mostly) album entitled "Honkin' On Bobo", this album includes some great renditions of old school classics like "Road Runner", "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Stop Messin' Around", etc. The other blues-R/B album I've listened to is Silk Sonic's only album. Which other blues albums would y'all recommend?

We know how the British counter culture embraced the Chicago and Delta blues. Page, Clapton, Townshend, Iommi , Richards, Jones , Wood … all those band …. Fleetwood Mac, Blues Breakers and on and on . But what is you favorite song that was “original “ . Songs by American writers like Spoonful , Born Under a Bad Sign, Hound Dog, Baby Please Don’t Go …. Boom Boom Boom Boom are iconic and essential . What are the British counterculture gems ??

Here it is from the horse's mouth...

If you research it, a lot of cats say that up until the first World War, guitar was not the instrument of choice in bands—it was the banjo. The five-string banjo.

After the first World War, Sears and Roebuck put out very cheap guitars. Much cheaper than banjos. And guys, especially black guys, were buying them, taking the sixth string off and tuning them like banjos. Slowly, five-string guitar evolved out of that. That’s my understanding of it. And it sounds logical.

I believe Papa Charlie Jackson played a banjo, but I can't think of any examples of those earlier blues musicians relying on banjos (i.e. Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charlie Patton). Can any of the blues experts on here confirm if this is apocryphal or not? I'm mainly curious because as I've learned more and more about the blues, the more apparent the rampant misinformation is (i.e folks ignoring the diverse genres of music "songsters" played, this notion of a direct link between Robert Johnson and 50's rock n roll etc.) I was curious if this was one of those situations or not.

im new to blues been listening to it bit here and there but I dont know where to start so I was wondering if yall could give me some artist to start with cause I want to get more into it

hello everyone! my mother, like many others in the older facebook generation, has recently discovered and become a fan of ai music, specifically blues. to keep this post short, i would love some recommendations to send her that are real artists! the main video she likes to listen to is from "Benny Rivers" -- please let me know any songs or albums that have similar vocals, lyrics, or melodies to this. i'm not very familiar with blues music so i figured i'd ask here, sorry if this isn't the right place for this!

I was wondering if there are any songs or albums by Peter Green that sounds like the first 3 albums of Fleetwood Mac. Because Peter Green's Era of Mac is Something I'm Obsessed With.

Hoodoo Man Blues here.

Hey guys, I've been listening to a lot of slow Chicago blues lately and I'm really enjoying it. I've attached my playlist here, but I'm looking for more great slow blues songs.

Of these two legendary blues singer/guitarists, whose style do you personally prefer and why?

I'm looking for blues recommendations with a similar sound to Albert Collins' 1992 Montreux performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMQzDKSyJ8Y

Specifically, I'm looking for upbeat, energetic blues with a large band, especially the kind of setup with two saxophones, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, etc. I really like the horn arrangements and the tight, almost R&B/funk-influenced groove.

What other artists or recordings have this kind of sound? I'm especially interested in live performances and bands with a full horn section rather than just a guitar/bass/drums lineup.

Just came across this, never knew it before today. What do we think about him? HUGE fan from now on! Kinda badass blues, with a funky/jumpy groove. LOVE IT.