B.B. King - Blues Is King  (Bluesway 1967) B.B. King has been a huge influence on me from the first time I heard, Live at the Regal when I was fifteen years old. Many people think of that album as B.B.’s best work. I believe Blues is King is his definitive live recording. The album captures B.B.’s unique sound of his Gibson ES-355. You can hear his sustained notes and powerful attack with lots of reverb drenching into spots where he wants it. B.B.’s phrasing on I Know What  You’re Putting Down is intelligent and goes beyond the standard blues expression. Recorded at the huge Burning Spear Club with a small band, B.B. was playing to an all black audience who enjoyed every moment and hurled it back to the stage. On board for this performance were the great Sonny Freeman on drums and Duke Jethro on Hammond B3, who was also pumping the bass pedals. This band had no string bass electric or otherwise. A trumpet and tenor sax round out what constitutes a small combo by B.B.’s standards.   

B.B. King - Live in Japan  (MCA, 1971) This set shows what B.B. can achieve when he is in top physical form and mental shape. B.B.’s guitar here is very different than his usual recordings. He used different techniques and sounded so much more natural on this live outing. B.B. pushes the moment on every song. He incorporated some extended solos with a full bag of tricks on every cut. Hikari# 88 is a long instrumental that shows off B.B.’s mastery of his instrument with some jazzy, blues riffs. The band laid down some powerful backing that allowed B.B. to go places he never went before. His solo guitar in the breakdown is a testament to his powers. B.B.’s singing and playing will blow your head off. He had never played like he did on this live performance and never has again. There is so much tension, attack and exploration in every song he played on this set. This is absolutely triple “A” and seriously essential listening for blues lovers, guitarists, singers, drummers and just about anyone else on the planet.  

The Johnny Otis Show – Live at Monterey  (Epic, 1970) The true legends of West Coast R&B gathered for this once in a lifetime performance. This historical extravaganza hit the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1970. Johnny Otis is one of the most important musical figures in the blues. Here he resurrects the careers of many of the all-time greats whose careers had been pushed off the airwaves by the British invasion.  This truly magnificent line-up assembled by Otis included Pee Wee Crayton, Little Esther Phillips, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Big Joe Turner, Mighty Flea, Ivory Joe Hunter, Roy Milton, Roy Brown, Shuggie Otis, Clifford Solomon and Preston Love. They are all featured in this house rockin’ two record set.  This is a polished yet forceful live recording. There has been hardly anything since that can match this set. Nothing has come close. This is all about the full sound of glorious music with all the musicians playing their parts exquisitely to achieve a complete spectrogram of updated 40’s and 50’s Americana. For young Shuggie, this is his big breakout performance. His mature, tasteful blues guitar backing and fills are sublime. This album represents a brilliant and definitive history of American Rhythm and Blues which will live on forever.

Magic Sam – Live at Ann Arbor Blues Festival  (Delmark, 1969) This is some unbelievable guitar playing considering Sam showed up late for the gig without his guitar and without his band. He went around to the other artists on the bill and borrowed long haired hippie ‘Buffalo’ Bruce Barlow from Commander Cody’s band and Sam Lay to play the drums. Someone had a home tape recorder and the results captured Magic Sam’s raw energy. He was playing to a mainly white hippie crowd who went nuts. This is raw blues power and an everlasting document of Sam's major role in the history of electric blues. Sam's voice and guitar are right in your face and get you right in the heart.  Mole’s Blues and I Don’t Believe are incredible examples of Sam’s fire and energy. Crap sound, unrehearsed pick-up band and several crash landings are all here, but never mind any of that. This is how blues ought to be played live. It isn’t perfect, but it sure in the hell isn’t sterile either. Compare this to the current output on the market today and you will hear what I am talking about. I still listen to this and also his “Live at the Alex Club”. Also go seek out his other essential recording on Delmark “West Side Soul”.

T- Bone Walker - The Complete Imperial Recordings: 1950 -1954 Actually you can’t go wrong with any T-Bone Walker album. However this two disc, fifty two track, mid career statement may be his best. Without hesitation B.B. King sights Walker as his primary influence. T-Bone’s guitar playing and signature tone served as the template for virtually every player in the post war era. Great songs and wonderful arrangements, with the relaxed moods of slow blues at its very finest are the hallmark of any Walker recording. He also inter-splices these with swinging jump tunes that make for an essential blues listening experience.  Walker proves that guitar players don’t need to be fast, flashy or play a million notes to make a powerful statement.  T-Bone’s guitar licks never stray from the chord shapes, preferring to lay down variations within these confines. He manages to easily and melodically find all the variations that he needs to put his blues across with feel and space. His jump tunes are indispensable listening for both beginners and advanced players looking for inspiration and reference points. If you don’t have at least some T-Bone in your approach to your instrument then you are not an electric blues guitar player.

Freddy King – Let’s Hide Away And Dance Away With Freddy King (King/Federal Records, 1961) This is the most important all-instrumental album from the man who was a main influence on all the British blues guitarists and bands including Eric Clapton and Peter Green, but we won’t hold that against him. This album contains essential classics like, Hide Away, Sen-Sa-Shun, The Stumble, Side Tracked, In the Open and San-Ho-Zay. These instrumentals prove that Freddy King was listening to all kinds of music from pop, Motown and California surf bands. He incorporated everything into his unique, three minute gems. The label’s house producer and A&R man was Sonny Thompson. He was also an exceptional piano player and can be heard on these sides. If Freddy had not passed away in 1976 at forty two years of age, I believe he would have been a blues ambassador right alongside B.B. King. All of his recordings from this period are essential. When shopping for Freddy King material the only thing you want to avoid are the misguided late career sides on the Shelter label that were produced by Leon Russell.

Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra – Rockin’ n’ Rollin’   (1995 Mercury re-issue) This album is full of Big Band R&B rave-ups from the 50’s that range from the honking instrumental A-12 to the classic jump and swing, It’s Obdacious. This album also features Buddy’s sister Ella Johnson on great jump, swing and doo wop cuts. The great tenor player Purvis Henson is also featured on these sides. Buddy Johnson was a tremendously influential R&B figure and a major touring attraction, including the fact that he was a big hit on the College circuit. He even had a series of R&B and pop charting hits. He was a major influence on Roomful of Blues and their great tenor player Greg Piccolo. The band adapted many of his arrangements and Piccolo was and is influenced by the honking tenor sax style heard on these sides. I really enjoy this album and the many other Johnson CDs that have been re-issued in recent years. I particularly recommended his album “Walk 'Em” featuring Ella and the tenor sax of Red Prysock.

Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band - Hoodoo Man Blues (Delmark, 1965) This is one of the first few albums that got me deep into the blues. I was essentially a B.B. King type of man. Then this comes along and knocks everybody’s socks off. This 1965 LP was Junior’s first and it shows that he was already a master of both the amplified and acoustic blues harp. The choice of songs illustrates his pained vocals and wounded emotions. He delivers everything with subtlety, economy and phrasing that has set him apart from the other '60s Chicago blues artists. Every note from his harmonica conveys nothing but real blues.  Buddy Guy plays some incredible guitar on the whole album. Buddy’s playing from this period is important listening for all guitar players. For all drummers and bass players interested in joining a blues band, this album should be on your essential listening list. Every one of these twelve tracks is a study in Chicago blues elegance.

The Essential Bob Wills 1935-1947 (Columbia Country Classics) I have always been a true Bob Wills fan and listen to his recordings to this day. With the players and arrangements that made Wills and his Texas Playboys legends in country music, these are the Western swing master's best sides. Acknowledged classics like Steel Guitar Rag, Take Me Back to Tulsa, and Time Changes Everything are all here. Steel Guitar Rag remained in Ike Turner’s live set forever.  The instrumental, Twin Guitar Special which featured Eldon Shamblin and Leon McAullife was a ground breaking recording which established the unique sound of two guitars way before anyone else had used this approach. This clearly had an influence on the Allman Brother’s tandem guitar sounds of Duane Allman and Dickie Betts. Also featured here are the great swing and bebop guitar playing of Junior Barnard and the honky tonk, blues and jazz piano playing of Al Stricklin. Ike Turner was listening and so did Chuck Berry who re-worked Wills’ Ida Red as Maybelline which became his very first hit song and the biggest seller for the Chess label at that time. Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys show that you can blur the lines between country, jazz and blues.  You better believe Bob Wills is still the king.

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: The Original Peacock Recordings (1990 Reissue) To illustrate my point above, listen to Gatemouth Brown who enjoyed a career as a guitarist and fiddler, drawing his influences from across the radio waves which included down-home fiddle tunes, country music, Cajun waltzes, big band swing and of course blues. Brown  got his first big break by being a last minute substitute for his hero, T-Bone Walker who was taken ill moments before a performance at the Peacock ballroom in Houston, Texas. Gate incorporates many elements of T-Bones iconic style and combines those concepts with his own sensibilities and a variety of regional influences. Here, he darts and weaves through this amalgam of blues that leave you wanting more. His swinging double shuffle Okie Dokie Stomp was a dance hit for him and is now an essential part of all guitar-slingers’ repertoire. Jimmy McCracklin shares the piano role on many of these sides. Brown remains a hugely influential figure in the blues. Some of his idiosyncratic phrasing and razor sharp tone can be heard in the playing of Jimmie Vaughan for instance.

George Jones - The Best of George Jones (1955-62) I love his singing and kick ass choice of honky tonk tunes. This is the face of white blues and heartaches that follow. Incredible tight red-neck shuffles such as There is No Justice are in full effect here. These sides also feature the genius of pedal steel guitarist Buddy Emmons. Jones’ singing is a must listen for vocalists of all musical genres. If you are not familiar with his music, give it a listen and you will be surprised at the gut-wrenching vocal style of the late Ole’ Possum, George Jones.

For these and thousands of other blues titles, click here