Tag: Blues
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John Lee Hooker ‘House of the Blues’ (1959)
John Lee Hooker was a seminal figure in the development of modern blues, known for his raw hypnotic guitar style and deeply emotive vocal delivery that bridged the gap between Delta blues and electric urban blues that were starting to become en vogue by the end of the century. His distinctive approach to guitar– marked…
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The Record Company ‘Give It Back To You’ (2016)
I love a good album story as much as the next guy and The Record Company’s Give It Back To You has a pretty darn good one. The band wrote, recorded, and mixed their debut in the same living room where the band was formed, which is a pretty poetic way to go about things.…
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Alabama Shakes ‘Boys & Girls’ (2012)
Boys & Girls is steeped in the fuzz and feel of Southern soul, garage rock, and classic R&B. But what really sets the band apart is Brittany Howard’s spectacularly raw and emotive vocal performance.
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Free ‘Fire and Water’ (1970)
Free’s Fire and Water is a perfect example of British blues rock at its rawest and most soulful. The album is built on gritty, stripped-down guitar riffs, steady grooves, and an undeniable sense of space that lets every note breathe. At the heart of it all is Paul Rodgers, whose smoky, powerful voice carries every…
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The War and Treaty ‘Plus One’ (2025)
The War and Treaty dropped their newest album yesterday (Plus One as you would expect) and my wife and I had the pleasure of seeing them host a special Valentine’s Day show at the Grand Ole Opry last evening. The bill included The Band Perry, Neon Union, Jon Randall, LoCash and more, but it was…
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Etta James ‘At Last!’ (1960)
At just 22, Etta James had already lived a life rich with struggle and resilience when she stepped into Chicago’s Chess Records studio to record At Last. And with a delicate orchestral arrangement and a velvety, yearning vocal delivery, the title track “At Last” captured the essence of love’s deepest longing. There’s so many things…
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Bo Diddley ‘Bo Diddley’ (1958)
Known for his signature “Bo Diddley beat”—a syncopated, chugging rhythm that drew from African and Latin grooves— Bo Diddley introduced a powerful new pulse to blues music that paired along with his dynamic guitar playing. This beat, with its hypnotic “bomp ba-bomp bomp, bomp bomp” rhythm, became the backbone of his songs and inspired countless…
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Carl Perkins ‘Dance Album’ (1957)
Carl Perkins is sort of a forgotten pioneer of American rockabilly, a musician whose influential sound helped shape the early days of rock and roll and gave birth to some of its biggest stars. Take for example his massive hit “Blue Suede Shoes”– most people associate that song with Elvis Presley (for obvious reasons), but…
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Bob Dylan ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ (1963)
It’s taken me forever to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard in this case) on Bob Dylan for a variety of reasons— this is America’s historical orator, one of the greatest musical poets of all-time, a man of substance and supreme conviction. One of the reasons my wife and I named our son…
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Slash ‘Orgy of the Damned’ (2024)
Slash just dropped his newest album entitled Orgy of the Damned this past Friday and I simply had to check it out. As dutiful readers will remember I had the opportunity to see Slash in-person at Power Trip Live last year and it was an incredible experience: I was lucky enough to catch them live…
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Tom Waits ‘Mule Variations’ (1999)
Tom Waits’ Mule Variations is a backwoods country Delta Blues album masquerading as an art piece, encapsulating much of what has made Waits such an iconic American songwriter for over 50 years. It’s utterly otherworldly in one moment, sounding as if it was recorded after a week-long bender in a humid water-logged shed on the…
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The Rolling Stones ‘Let It Bleed’ (1969)
Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band once famously said that The Rolling Stones output from 1968-1972 comprised the “greatest run of studio albums in music history”. Let It Bleed was the Stones’ second album in that quartet of releases, and featured a distinct return to the dirty blues rock that has defined the…
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The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ (1969)
When you think of iconic album covers, Abbey Road is the one that certainly tops the list. The only others I can think of that even come close are The Clash’s London Calling and The Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground & Nico. In London thousands of fans re-create this album every single day outside of…
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Albert King ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ (1967)
We love a good album opening song as much as anybody, and goddamn does Born Under A Bad Sign ever have one with its title track “Born Under A Bad Sign”. If you’re looking for a perfect example of the sheer power of the blues, a song that rips and grooves and swings with a…
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Nina Simone ‘Wild Is The Wind’ (1966)
When I first heard Wild Is The Wind it caught me completely off-guard. It was a beautiful summer morning in sunny Northern California, I was driving the kids to daycare, and they were in an exceptionally good mood giggling in the backseat. I was feeling inspired after a night out where I met about 30…
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Elvin Bishop ‘Struttin’ My Stuff’ (1975)
Elvin Bishop has a long and storied history in the blues genre, sharing the stage with such icons such as The Allman Brothers Band and The Grateful Dead. An original member of Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Bishop was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the 2015 class as a member of…
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Howlin’ Wolf ‘Moanin’ In The Moonlight’ (1959)
Known for his raucous live shows and larger than life figure (it’s been said that he weighed 300 pounds during “his salad days”, which is frankly a helluva quote) 6 foot 3 Chester “Howlin’ Wolf” Burnett was an imposing presence in the early days of acoustic Delta Blues and played a pivotal role in transforming…
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Waylon Jennings ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ (1973)
Waylon Jennings is an almost mythical force in the history of outlaw country, a sub-genre that bucked the norms of the Nashville establishment in the early 70’s. Disillusioned with both the artistic and sonic constraints of producers like Chet Atkins who favored slick production over a more organic and natural sound, artists like Jennings and…
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G. Love & Special Sauce ‘Yeah, It’s That Easy” (1997)
G. Love & Special Sauce are a throwback to the days when bands would cut their albums live in the studio in a single room together, embracing all the tiny imperfections and letting them shine through in a quest to capture that distinctly human sound of a collection of musicians creating together in real time.…
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Buddy Guy ‘A Man And The Blues’ (1968)
Buddy Guy has influenced some of the most legendary guitar players of all-time– classic icons like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to contemporary players like Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer have all taken inspiration from Buddy Guy over the years, borrowing from his vast catalog of frenetic and iconic runs over the fretboard. If…
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The Blues Brothers ‘Original Soundtrack Recording’ (1980)
If you haven’t seen the original 1980 Blues Brothers film with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, put it to the top of your list this week. It’s an excellent film filled with excellent music, a real cult classic that has aged like a fine wine. Belushi and Aykroyd created the characters as a bit for…
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Marcus King ‘El Dorado’ (2020)
Marcus King is only 27 years old but has already established himself as one of the finest guitar players of this generation. King reminds me a lot of some of my favorite guitarists from the 60’s and 70’s, like Duane Allman and Merle Haggard, guys who can rip with the best of them but also…
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John Mayer ‘Continuum’ (2006)
At one point in his career John Mayer was a great dichotomy. He soared to incredible mainstream popularity with a rogue smile, a holier-than-thou intellectual superiority, and catchy pop tunes. His virtuouso guitar playing was alluded to, but never really focused on, the press focus instead covering his lurid dating history. In other words, one…
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