FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Essential Blues Guitar

Question:
I've been playing guitar for about 2 years now and recently found that i had an interest in blues guitar. I've been looking for some music to learn but have a very shallow knowledge of this genre. If anyone could point out a good artist to listen to and play or some songs that would be good to learn

Answer:
Albert King: King Of The Blues Guitar [Atlantic] (Albert's probably my favorite blues guitarist, and this, without a doubt, is his most essential recording. All of his classic album Born Under A Bad Sign plus every other essential Stax single) Paul Butterfield Blues Band: (self-titled) [Elektra] (Butterfield's guitarist, Mike Bloomfield, is absolutely spectacular on this album) Junior Wells: Hoodoo Man Blues [Delmark] (I'd consider this album the #1 most essential blues album of all time -- you might also make a case for this being the first true blues ALBUM in that it was not, as nearly every blues LP before it, a collection of singles. Anyways, Wells is killer on harp, and Buddy Guy is at his absolute best -- far removed from the over-playing and over-production that marks his later work (from the late 70's to the present)) Howlin' Wolf: His Best [Chess/MCA] (Hubert Sumlin, Wolf's guitarist, is one of the most unique and unpredictable blues guitarists of late 50's/early 60's Chicago blues and without a doubt my favorite on the Chess label (historic blues label of Muddy Waters, Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, etc)) Albert Collins: Truckin' With Albert Collins [MCA] (Like Buddy Guy, Albert Collins' early work is a world apart from his later recordings -- the moody, swirling B3 that swings under Collins' treble heavy telecaster tone gives this album one of the most unique, otherworldly blues sounds I can think of -- very neat stuff... and Frosty and Snow Cone pt II are essential tracks) With these guys, you pretty much have a sampling of the various styles of blues from the classic 50's/60's period. If you prefer early acoustic pre-war blues, go after some Delta stuff (Robert Johnson, Skip James, Son House), early Texas (Blind Lemon Jefferson), or Piedmont (Blind Willie McTell) blues. If you like, say, Hoodoo Man Blues, go after the other West Side Chicago guitarists -- Otis Rush (1956-1958 is the CD to get, there), Magic Sam (West Side Soul), or maybe even my personal favorite, the greatest slide guitarist of all time, Earl Hooker (Blue Guitar, Two Bugs 'N A Roach, or the Junior Wells 1957-1963 CD on which he appears)... Lastly, take a trip on down to All-Music Guide (www.allmusic.com) and look up any of the artists that sound interesting... AMG taught me pretty much everything I know on the subject...