Love the Ghost World reference and that it went unnoticed. I appreciate that. |
I saw Coco Montoya a couple weeks ago in Denver for maybe the 4th time and since then have been listening to a lot of his music. While he wasn’t on my original list of 5, he should have been. All of his music is exceptional and his album ‘Can’t Look Back’ is really good and deserves a mention. Truly one of the better blues guitarist of our time.
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S/T = Self Titled.
Also soundtrack when referring to movies. |
@slaw thnx for tip on TYA. Unfortunately not their greatest fan. They make a great playlist though. But what is "S/T". See it often in vinyl threads.
Isn't Lyle Lovett "Music from the movies" rather blue? |
I was gifted an OP(stereo/pink cover/1A pressing) of Fleetwood Mac "S/T" a while back in very well used shape. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to whip it back into shape. I own the MOV version as well. My conclusion is if you love this lp enough, try to find a great OP copy. Check out "Long Grey Mare" perfection! |
Junior Wells’ “Hoodoo Man Blues”is one of the first real Blues albums and has very good if not reference SQ, but absolutely triumphs on music, which to me is important.
I also agree with the votes for “Chicago/ The Blues Today” set. Very natural ambiance live sound. Especially the volume with James Cotton and Otis Rush.
The studio tracks on Muddy Waters’ “Fathers And Sons” are fantastic musically and have crisp dynamic recorded sound. Check out “Can’t Lose What You Never Had”.
A more recent disc I love is Branford Marsalis’ 1992 set featuring B. B. King on a track called “B. B.’s Blues”. Unbelievable guitar and vocal by the master, beautifully recorded in modern fidelity with a stellar jazz combo. B. B. definitely upped his game that day.
Love the Blues!
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Joe Bonamassa Blues Deluxe and Bloodline with Joe Bonamassa. |
Buddy Guy, Bring Em In and Blues Singer ( both on cd ). Smokin Joe Kubek Show ME the Money on CD. |
Only one mentioned Buddy Guy/ Jr Wells, and for a different album: My all time favorite - Drinkin' TNT, Smokin' Dynamite
Koko Taylor - I Got What It Takes, or From the Heart of a Woman
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - Sing if you can find it) or Midnight Special (I have the compilation)
James Cotton, Cotton Mouth Man (With Joe Bonamassa and Greg Allman)
Albert Collins - "Master of the Telecaster"; "The Iceman": Ice Pickin' or Cold Snap
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@gosta,
Based upon a few of your posts, I assume you're a fan of Ten Years After? If you don't already own it, check out Ten Years After "S/T" Sundazed/mono/2017. It's fantastic! |
Thanks for the rec on early Taj. Great albums. Really fine "true" sound. Also from streaming. |
@awboat, Blues Summit is a great pick and if you like it you will love Deuces Wild from 1997, available on 180 gram vinyl, very well recorded and some more great duets. I love me some BB. |
Robert Cray. Nuthin but love. I have vinyl but all his recordings are good.
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I like BB King's Blues Summit from 1993. |
Jimmy Witherspoon "Roots", featuring Ben Webster on Anolouge Productions 200 gram vinyl. Anyone that I have ever played this album for now owns it and the CD version sounds great as well.
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Walter Trout - Me, My Guitar and the Blues
Gary Moore - Still got the blues
Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) - The Bluest Blues
More guitars and feeling :-) |
Guy Davies. Unfortunately not very well represented on Tidal at the moment. Have to buy "Sweetheart like you".
Joanne Shaw Taylor. There you have some electric guitar on fire. |
Great, will look for them. Maybe not true blues but rediscovered Rod Stewart first three on vinyl (digitalised) yesterday. Sensational dynamic sound compared to streaming versions. Highly recommended. |
Ooh yeah @slaw, everybody I knew bought Taj’s first album in ’68, as well as his second (Natch’l Blues). My band included "She Caught The Katy And Left Me A Mule To Ride" in our repertoire. The great Jesse Ed Davis plays guitar on both albums (Ry Cooder on the first), and NB has Earl Palmer (!) on drums and Al Kooper on piano. Not too shabby! |
Yep @gosta, all the above are LP's. Mobile Fidelity also offers Bring The Family on SACD, but I haven't heard it. The Eclipse Recordings is on John's current label, the great New West Records. Also on that label are Buddy Miller, Richard Thompson, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, JD McPherson, and many more. New West masters their LP's purely analog, and puts this statement sticker on their covers: "Audio Mastered For Vinyl". |
Taj Mahal first lp
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My MFSL "Bring the Family" lp sounds great! |
Would that be vinyl pressings? The cd (streaming) transfer of Bring the Family is not very listenable IMO. However the last "blues" album by Hiatt "The Eclipse Recordings" is a gem. Both songs and SQ. He belongs to the (few) artists that still can make a full album. |
Oops, I can't let John Hiatt remain unmentioned! He enlisted Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner to help him record his breakout album Bring The Family. John's kind of a Blues singer, and BTF was recorded in excellent sound at Village Recording in L.A. The original A & M pressing sounds good, as does my UK Demon Records LP (which has a different, and great, cover), and the album was also done by Mobile Fidelity. |
Yup David, and the better the artist, the higher his standards in musicians. Think about it: The first three guitarists in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers band and albums were (in order) Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor! The Yardbirds had Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, then Jimmy Page (well, 2 outta 3 ain’t bad ;-) ! Other guys who have always surrounded themselves with great musicians are Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Marty Stuart, T Bone Burnett, Ry Cooder, Randy Newman, Bonnie Raitt, and.....well, I could go on for quite awhile, so that’s enough outta me! |
@bdp24 couldn’t agree more with your comment. Some of the session players, including Duane A, down at Muscle Shoals were really great musicians. And great artist have a knack for surrounding themselves with other great musicians.....John Mayall tops the list in my book.....from the early days with Peter Green to Eric Clapton to Mick Taylor all the way to Rocky Athas and Carolyn Wonderland of recent years....and in between with Walter Trout and Coco Montoya....wow! Incredible line-ups over the last 60 yrs and still going strong.
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John Lee Hooker - "The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker". Next to Muddy's Folk Singer, the best sounding blues album I've ever heard, sonically and otherwise.
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How is the Friday Music reissue of Boz' ST album? |
@pesky_wabbit, point taken about the missed music if just seeking the best of recordings and totally agree with your statement.
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tooblu, point taken, I guess what I was trying to convey was that if you were to purchase blues records on the basis of sound quality you would be denying yourself access to some of the finest music on the planet. The words Chess and Alligator come to mind.
I would also like to add Hollywood Fats to the list of all time greats. Not as well known as some of the other names mentioned on this thread, but right up with them in terms of sheer unadulterated talent. Unfortunately a tragically short career.
BTW I’ve gotta admire your taste in music, you sure know your stuff :) |
True @slaw. But let’s not forget about the fantastic rhythm section on Boz’s album, the one I have been trying like Hell to hip all y’all to. They are named The Swampers, and were the house band at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, where all the classic Jerry Wexler-produced Atlantic Records albums were made (Aretha, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Dusty Springfield, etc.). The Swampers were/are: Roger Hawkins: drums David Hood: electric bass Barry Beckett: keyboards Jimmy Johnson: guitar They are THE best rhythm section I’ve ever heard, rivaled only by The Band, The Funk Brothers (Motown’s house band), Booker T & The MG’s, and The Hot Band (Emmylou Harris’ 1970’s band, whose members included Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, James Burton, Ron Tutt, John Ware, Hank DeVido, Albert Lee, Glen Hardin, Emory Gordy Jr, and a bunch of other superb musicians). Boz could have hired any band he wanted, and he chose them. For a reason! |
The above might be true to a certain degree but the better the sound quality the higher the emotional communication conveyed. Just sayin
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Quite frankly I‘m not that bothered about the the SQ of most of the blues records in my collection. Some of the most blistering and emotional performances could only be be described as mediocre in terms of SQ, whereas the sheer joy they provide can be off the planet.
Blues ain‘t about SQ, it‘s about emotional communication. |
When others mention Boz Scaggs...most likely, it's due to Duane Allman' playing on "Loan Me a Dime". Not to take anything away from Boz, who is an underrated artist.
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Savoy Brown "Getting to the Point" OP/Parrot |
Christone Kingfish Ingram's new album and second the HoodooMan Blues album by JuniorWells
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Hoodoo Man Blues by Junior Wells ranks. Glad to see Boz Scaggs and Come on Home mentioned. Bobby King and Terry Evans as well. Hans Theesink for an over the seas interpreter (believe he has a duo with Terry Evans?). |
More specific:
Terry Evans - Blues for thought
Top music and SQ
Ry Cooder guitars
Point Blank records |
@david3838, I am from New Iberia went to USL in 71 & 72, moved to Gretna in 72 to race motorcycles out of Honda West on Gretna Blvd so there is a very strong chance our paths have crossed. |
@tooblue, I agree that Boz is truly a great artist. Whatever he does from R&B to romantic love songs he nails it. Since this is blues related I’ll just add that the first time I heard ‘Somebody Loan Me a Dime’ I was just floored. And I see you’ve spent time in St Martinville, La......I’m from New Orleans but went to USL in Lafayette so we may have crossed paths at some point......used to spend a lot of time at Willie Purples in Lafayette, especially when ZZ Top was in town. |
I'm not sure if released on vinyl, but both records by David Johansen and the Harry Smiths sound fantastic. These are two of my favorites. |
@slaw, no not really but couldn't help myself. Johnny Winter was a very special artist and got to see him often in my youth, he would sit in with Edgar Winters White Trash at Cignorellies Night Club (Slicks) in St Martinville La and sometimes by himself and his band. Edgar Winters White Trash played Slicks it seemed like every other weekend and the place was always jammin. Enjoy the music
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@tooblue
You've been saving up for that??? |
I just picked up a copy of Charlie Musselwhite's direct-to-disk LP on Crystal Clear Records, Times Gettin' Tougher Than Tough. I haven't listened to it yet, but all the Crystal Clear LP's I HAVE heard are fantastic. Why would this one be any different?! IMO, too many people automatically think of guitar-driven Blues music (and often that of English "Blues-Rock" players. Alvin Lee/Ten Years After is Blues?!), rather than harp-driven. I generally prefer the latter ( I worked with a great SF Bay Area player, Gary Smith. One oop album, real good Blues, average sq) . Too bad Little Walter wasn't recorded in better sound. His recordings are good enough to let the music through, but that's about it. |
@slaw, Johnny Winter was white? My world has been turned upside down.
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Anyone remember Johnny Winter? Ain't too bad for a white guy. |
In addition to Muddy Waters' "Folk Singer" mentioned by a number of folks, I'd recommend Buddy Guy and Junior Wells "Alone and Acoustic."
Happy Listening.
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@tooblue - you are most welcome. Two other blues rock lps that are recorded great - full, organic, live in the studio sound - are Robin Trower’s “where are you going to” and “closer to the day”. After all these years the man still gets a ton of soul outta’ the pentatonic scale. Really good stuff, on vinyl of course.
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@moofoo, thanks for bringing up Acoustic Sounds, what a great label, believe I have all their d2d recordings including a Pinetop Perkins recorded at 45 rpm but that Greenleaf recording is great.
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@david3838, was just going to suggest Come on Home by Boz, what a great album by a great artist.
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Here's one you need not even think about just search it out and buy. CHICAGO/THE BLUES/TODAY!, On the Vanguard Stereooab label, box set and sounds amazing.
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