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Hi there, Id like to dig into proper blues, from the 50s to the 90s, Id like to know which are for u the top 5 must know blues tunes and specially some really good live versions, I enjoy a lot playing over live videos on youtube, I really appreciate the swing feel those musicians have when they play live, I think its a great school to play over then rather than backing tracks
Id recommend a classic 'Rock me baby', simple, really nice live versions out there with different guitarist and awesome groove-swing feels, sometimes faster, sometimes slower.
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02-11-2013 06:39 PM
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Haha. Jimmy Vaughn at 3:04. That's how it's done.
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The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East---Stormy Monday, Statesboro Blues, Must've Done Somebody Wrong, the list goes on...
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Hey Mark thanks m8, I love that concert, I just watch it complete right now for the first time and I have to say its a proper blues rock lesson.
I like blues progressions with some little changes like II V i or similar, like this example
A7 / D7 / A7 / Em7 - A7
D7 / D#dim / A7 - Ab7 / G7 - Gb7
Bm7 / E7 / A7 - F#7 / Bm7 - E7#5
I know some people call that brit blues, and would be great some minor blues tunes as well like this one
but Im looking for proper blues or swing blues rather than rock, Ive been playing rock all my life LOLLast edited by Mike Licks; 02-12-2013 at 12:18 AM.
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Freddie King
Hideaway
The Stumble
San Ho Zay
Albert Collins
Frosty
Gatemouth Brown or Cornell Dupree
Okie Dokie Stomp
Bill Doggett
Honky Tonk Part 1 & 2
T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Shuffle
Guitar Slim
The Things That I Used To Do
Bill Jennings
Big BoyLast edited by monk; 02-12-2013 at 12:49 AM.
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Great list. Some Louis Jordan is worth checking out--who doesn't love jump blues? "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," "Saturday Night Fish Fry," "Five Guys Named Moe"....
Originally Posted by monk
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I'm not sure what you mean by "proper". The earliest blues didn't have chord changes That came later with the invention of the 12 bar progression. Originally Posted by Mike Licks
The chord progression you wrote out looks like a swing blues progression, before bebop and tritone subs.
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Your historical perspective of the blues is somewhat skewed. Originally Posted by kofblz
Blues had been a popular urban style of music predominantly performed by female singers with bands, touring and making records for nearly a generation before Charlie Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson ever made a recording.
W.C. Handy's initial inspiration came from a guitarist that he heard playing "three four-bar stanzas". Jelly Roll Morton also said that the music played by bands and pianists in New Orleans in the early part of the 20th Century was rags and blues.
Read Elijah Wald's Escaping The Delta. It's one of the best researched books on the blues in recent decades and goes a long way toward debunking the romanticized mythologies that were concocted by record company marketing departments for album liner notes.
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This is mostly true. Originally Posted by kofblz
The stuff the evil record companies fed us early on was good music, but not blues so much. Robert Johnson was a guitar wiz who could play just about anything. He preferred the pop music that was on the radio at the time. Leadbelly loved folk music. Lots of 3/4 time. He was also a wiz who could play many kinds of music.
It's tough to get a handle on blues before recording became common practice. Chess Records later on had a great lineup of musicians and some had a strong connection to earlier music.
When Bonnie Raitt was looking for a guitar teacher I'm sure she considered everyone. She found Fred McDowell.
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Very interesting. I'm on the way to the library. Thanks. Originally Posted by monk
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+1, both for Louis Jordan and jump blues. How about Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Champion Jack Dupree? Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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It's called a shuffle, not swing, that's a whole 'nuther groove. Originally Posted by Mike Licks
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Straight-ahead blues is a whole world unto itself, well worth studying. I was pretty saturated in the stuff in my late teens and early twenties. Very difficult to narrow down to just 5 essential tunes. Monk provided an excellent list of tunes to check out there, and I also second his endorsement of that Elijah Wald book. And another + on Mark Rhodes mention of Louis Jordan.
I could add a lot to the stuff already mentioned, but I'll try to limit it. I highly recommend checking out the sidemen type guitar players, guys like Hubert Sumlin with Howlin' Wolf, Robert Lockwood Jr. and some of the other guys who backed up Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson. Playing with a blues harp player is a really important part of the vocabulary. All the little riffs, grooves and fills these guys created are a wealth of stuff. Eddie Taylor was another great player-played with Jimmy Reed and with his own bands. And theres the so-called "west side school", guys like Otis Rush and Magic Sam. Just amazing playing and singing. And then there's the great slide players like Elmore James. Jeez, I could drone on all day about this stuff.
Blues guitar playing is at least as much (probably more) about groove and the big picture as it is about flashy solos. Many of the greatest blues guitar players were also great singers-probably no coincidence. I believe for them there wasn't much separation between their playing and their singing.
To get back to the OP, if it's classic tunes, maybe focus on Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters. In addition to being two absolute titans and pioneers of the music, much of their fifities repertoire was put together by Willie Dixon, a great writer and behind the scenes guy (as well as a fine bassist and adequate singer)-if you were to get the Chess box sets of both of these guys, you'd have a great blues repertoire starter kit right there, with a nice variety of grooves. Jimmy Reed is another great source of classic tunes.
Okay, I better stop before I get out of hand here.
Matt
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Thanks guys, really good songs to study! love them!
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I like Rock Me Baby especially Jeff Beck playing with B.B. King
Also Hideaway is a favorite, Eric Clapton with John Mayall.
John Mayall did a lot of great blues with different guitartists.
Also like Emily Remler Blues in A, Blues for Herb
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This is from the 50th anniversary Strat concert in England. Never really loved this song, so when this guy came on stage I thought "oh great, Red House again, and another SRV clone, and an old one at that!" (although he's about my age). But his intensity and rip-your-face-off tone won me over. This guy can crank out the blues. Gary Moore. Listen to that sweet tone he's getting about 5 minutes in.
This is just one style, of course, but it's a style that got another generation listening to the blues. SRV brought a lot of new fans into the fold.
edit: I added the T-Bone video to my previous post. check it out. Albert Collins has a razor-sharp tele tone. The guy's playing just slays me! That's Albert and Robert Cray trading off vocals. I just noticed for the 1st time that Robert threw in some Rock Me Baby lyrics. Showdown has always been one of my favorite blues CDs.Last edited by kingbiscuit; 04-27-2013 at 01:37 PM.
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that is a wicked example of his playing (and singing!). just haunting. he's the inspiration for most of my slide playing. I got me a big ol' national resonator after hearing his (and wife's) Amazing Grace album. A little off-topic, but I urge anyone interested in some real country/blues gospel to check that one out. Amazon.com: Amazing Grace: Mississippi Delta Spirituals By The Hunter's Chapel Singers Of Como, Miss.: Fred McDowell, Fred McDowell: Music Originally Posted by Stevebol
Last edited by kingbiscuit; 04-27-2013 at 04:39 PM.
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