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The wonderful writer Albert Murray, who is a jazz historian and a friend of mine among other things, told me that during the era of slavery in this country – an atrocity from which we can never fully recover – the suicide rate per capita among slave owners was much higher than the suicide rate among slaves.

Murray says he thinks this was because slaves had a way of dealing with depression, which their white owners did not: They could shoo away Old Man Suicide by playing and singing the Blues. He says something else which also sounds right to me. He says the blues can’t drive depression clear out of a house, but can drive it into the corners of any room where it’s being played. So please remember that.

Kurt Vonnegut

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I've been getting into blues lately. Does anyone have any recommendations for good blues musicians I might listen to?
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
The best blues CD I own is this one. It's Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, acoustic. I can listen to it for hours. But I'd also check out Robert Johnson, who's considered the gold standard for Blues guitarists. Or, if you prefer, Clapton has a CD called Crossroads which is all covers of Robert Johnson songs.

Fats Domino, Dr. John, W.C. Handy, John Lee Hooker, BB King, Muddy Waters, Charlie Patton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan are all excellent musicians who are mostly blues people.
 

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Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
There's a Hendrix blues compilation album. I really dig it.
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Leadbelly is an early bluesman who isn't to be missed. Albert Collins (now dead) and Robert Cray (still alive) are both good modern blues musicians that haven't been mentioned yet.
 

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Posted by Rabid Newz (Member # 7704) on :
 
Miles Davis is kind of Blues/Jazz. He plays the trumpet though. So, he doesn't sing.
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
JT, do you really think of Fats Domino as a blues musician?
 

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Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
 
Can anyone give me names of other great women blues singers? I'm interested in the men too, but I'm working on learning to sing some blues (I'm a low alto) so I'm particularly interested in female singers.
 

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Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
Sarah Vaughan
Billie Holiday
Lee Wiley
Peggy Lee
Anita O'Day
Ernestine Anderson
Dinah Washington
Annie Ross
Carmen McRae
Betty Carter
Helen Humes
Maxine Sullivan
Helen Ward
Ivie Anderson
Ella Fitzgerald
Lena Horne

All excellent female vocalists, from very early through more modern blues.
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Well, Ma Rainey's the grandmother of blueswomen. Bessie Smith is another early one, as is Victoria Spivey.
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Curse you and your speedy fingers (and much more voluminous list), ElJay!
 

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Posted by SC Carver (Member # 8173) on :
 
Sorry I don't know any women Blues artist, but John Lee Hooker is one of my favorite. Not many people can pull off lyrics like "she's long, she's tall and she weeps just like a willow"
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
Another classic male blues musician is Blind Lemon Jefferson
 

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Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
*grin* But I didn't bother to link 'em.

I just put in the artist list off my favorite all-female-vocalist compilation CD. Some of them are more jazz than blues, but there's a lot of cross-over. And I missed a couple! Mildred Bailey is early blues, and Bessie Smith sings the very first song, Gimme a Pig's Foot, which is great!

(Gimme a pig's foot, and a bottle of beer. . .)
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I haven't heard that song in ages! Now I'm getting in the mood to listen to my blues records, which are a good 600 miles away.
 

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Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
Bessie Smith and Mildred Bailey!!! Someone else is a fan! That makes me happy.
 

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Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
 
Noemon,
Not exclusively, but he considered himself a blues musician, and some of his stuff reflects that.

I don't consider Clapton strictly blues either, because sometimes (well, a lot of the time) he's playing blues influenced rock. But there aren't a lot of musicians who are always in one genre.

Leadbelly is another really good one, btw. I can't believe I forgot him.
 

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Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
 
The Rabbit,
A modern blues dude who is really good is, believe it or not, John Mayer.
My favorite blues is the old Delta Blues, Robert Johnson style.
 

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