Best artists to start into the blues?

[Foxhound]

I agree. B.B. and Buddy are great picks!

[rollingstoned]

I have to pick Muddy Waters!

[Cosmic Harmony]

The single greatest blue guitarist in my mind is and forever will be the great Rory Gallagher

[CP/M User]

Well the first group I started off with which had a Blues Influence was The Animals and I reckon that while they aren't solely Blues, they do excellent covers of Blues. I think after that I got Manfred Mann which started as a Blues band and The Yardbirds were also another group which started off Blues. Perhaps my first trip into deeper Blues music was John Mayall's Blues Breakers album with Eric Clapton. It took quite a bit of listening just to get used to it. Another good one which have that connection is The Spencer Davis group. Personally I think to start out with Blues, it's great to get into those forms of Blues even if it's not solely Blues Music, they have that Influence which I think helps one influence in deciding if Blues Music is worth listening to or not. But what do I know.

[R. Evans]

Muddy Waters, BB King, Buddy Guy have all been mentioned but I'm surprised at the omission of two all-time greats and sadly both are long gone.

Sonny Boy Williamson-outstanding harmonica work


Howlin' Wolf-big man, bigger voice

[Flower]

^^^Beautiful, Happy Baby ....

[R. Evans]

Originally Posted by Flower ^^^Beautiful, Happy Baby ....

Thanks! I'm debating whether or not I like him......

[Flower]

Originally Posted by R. Evans Thanks! I'm debating whether or not I like him......

[R. Evans]

If anyone hasn't heard about the best blues label still in business, here's the link to Alligator Records. They've got a great catalog of artists.

http://www.alligator.com/

Including the late, great Hound Dog Taylor.







The man rocked and seemed to have fun doing it.

[R. Evans]

An easier intro into the Blues might be Big Joe Turner. You can easily hear Rock 'n' roll in his version of the blues. Jump blues is the style he plays and it goes down very smooth.



Here's a good place to start, 3 CDs of fantastic music:



This is a cleaned up version. The cut on the CD is much raunchier.

[Foxhound]

Originally Posted by R. Evans If anyone hasn't heard about the best blues label still in business, here's the link to Alligator Records. They've got a great catalog of artists. http://www.alligator.com/ Including the late, great Hound Dog Taylor. The man rocked and seemed to have fun doing it.

I'm a big fan of both Hound Dog Taylor and Alligator Records! I have this compilation which I strongly recommend:

[R. Evans]

Originally Posted by Foxhound I'm a big fan of both Alligator Records and Hound Dog Taylor!

Alligator does a great job of promoting and preserving blues acts.

And it's too bad that Hound Dog had most of his success posthumously. Bruce Iglauer actually started Alligator to produce and record Taylor when the company he was working for declined to sign Hound Dog. Their loss and our gain.

[Sox]

Son House, Robert Johnson, Howlin` Wolf, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, BB King, is where I would begin I think. Then try the British boom Rolling Stones, Blues Breakers, Savoy Brown, The Animals, The Yardbirds, Ten Years After and back to The Allman Brothers, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey.

[Hepcat]

Did somebody say alligator? Well this fellow's having a good laugh anyway.

[Foxhound]

Here are a couple more excellent compilations that would provide a great introduction to the blues: