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Top Five Blues Performances


MS1

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1. Howlin' Wolf- Smokestack Lightning

2. Magic Sam- Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)

3. Little Walter- My Babe

4. Muddy Waters- I'm Ready

5. Elmore James- Shake Your Money Maker

At least that's how I'm ranking them today. B)

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I can't do a top five list, I would need to put down a top 20.. But ok, the following songs had a deep impact on me early on when I discovered the blues (even though I leave many out, such as Muddy, J Reed and H Wolf).

I will never get tired of these songs.

Half ain't been told - Otis Spann

Dust my broom - Elmore James

The sky is crying - Elmore James

It hurts me too - Elmore James

Ten years ago - Buddy Guy

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Oh man, this is a tough one...

I'll start off with Led Zep, since they more or less exposed me to the Blues to begin with (and I started exploring from there).

Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You

Both Page and Plant are ON on that song. It's quite amazing how well both of them perform.

Moving on to the more traditional route...

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy

From Hard Again. are you kidding me? So much intensity coming from somebody so old. And Johnny Winter on the guitar, to boot. Some of the later bootleg versions of this are great, too (check out Tokyo 1980 if you can, STELLAR sound quality for a bootleg).

Moving onto my favorite guitar player of all time, Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix - Red House

One of the harder blues songs around, and one of the coolest intros to any blues songs that I've heard. I saw Robby Kreiger, Eric Gales, Kenny Olson, Billy Cox, Mitch Mitchell, and Chris Layton do this live in Providence, RI last month. Robby was phenomenal. As a bonus, I'll throw out Voodoo Chile (the 15 minute version from Electric Ladyland) in the mix.

And who can forget Buddy Guy?

Buddy Guy - Five Long Years

One of the best recorded blues songs in the last two decades, if you ask me. And oh man, if you EVER get the chance to catch Buddy live, DO IT. He is THE blues act to see right now. If you see him do this live, you'll really see the emotion behind his playing. Too bad he's not really on tour right now.

This one absolutely BLEW MY MIND the first time I heard it. Still does to this day.

Boz Scaggs (feat. Duane Allman) - Loan me a Dime

Simply amazing. Not necessarily for Boz's singing (although it's not that bad), but for Duane's incredible guitar and the arrangement of the whole thing. One of the best guitar players of all time at his very best.

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Freddie King - Have You Ever Loved A Woman

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton - Have You Heard (For Eric's solo alone!)

Muddy Waters - Feels Like Going Home

Buddy Guy - Mary Had A Little Lamb

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood

Well, those are my top five as of 11am this morning... No doubt it's a constantly changing list..

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It's quite many who mention Buddy Guy. Not only is he an excellent guitar player, he's got a great voice too. Very soulful.
Absolutely. And when he sings, he puts his whole body into it. It's quite fun to watch. Voice gets better with age, sometimes. :) B.B. King's voice is still absolutely amazing, and he's 82 (and if you see him in concert, he won't go 10 minutes without letting you know that :) )
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Absolutely. And when he sings, he puts his whole body into it. It's quite fun to watch. Voice gets better with age, sometimes. :) B.B. King's voice is still absolutely amazing, and he's 82 (and if you see him in concert, he won't go 10 minutes without letting you know that :) )

I saw BB King on his 80th birthday tour! Apparently it was his last tour outside of the US, so i'm so glad I went! B)

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I saw BB King on his 80th birthday tour! Apparently it was his last tour outside of the US, so i'm so glad I went! B)
Heh, I think he toured Canada last year. Was he able to stand up when you saw him? He was sitting down two weeks ago when I saw him, but he still played as well as ever. Plus it was fun to see him dance in his chair.
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Heh, I think he toured Canada last year. Was he able to stand up when you saw him? He was sitting down two weeks ago when I saw him, but he still played as well as ever. Plus it was fun to see him dance in his chair.

He mostly sat down from what I remember.. but he was great! He talks so much to the audience! :D

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He mostly sat down from what I remember.. but he was great! He talks so much to the audience! :D
Yeah, his banter is hilarious, too. When I saw him there were two overzealous guys in the audience that were yelling when he was trying to be serious, and he ends up saying "The best part about being old is that you can have selective amnesia. You can choose who to pay attention to and who to ignore." That, and him talking about "doctor viagra". I'm not sure how much of that story I can repeat here :D

Oh, and on the subject of B.B. King, I'd say that my sixth on the list that I made before would be The Thrill is Gone.

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Buddy Guy is/was the man! B):thumbsup:

Check this video out as proof!

Love the video, I'd like to see that movie, Chicago Blues, where the clip is taken from.

This is another outstanding blues artist with a lovable voice and playing style:

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I watched a clip from Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey the other day, where all the guys were talking about how Son House was the real granddaddy of the blues... Big Bill Morganfield was telling stories of how his dad used to say that if it weren't for Son, he wouldn't have existed...

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I watched a clip from Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey the other day, where all the guys were talking about how Son House was the real granddaddy of the blues... Big Bill Morganfield was telling stories of how his dad used to say that if it weren't for Son, he wouldn't have existed...

Well, Muddy was right, he wouldn't have existed without Son House! But then again, he wouldn't have existed without Charlie Patton. But if you want to pick just one grandaddy, Son's as a good a pick as anybody. Another choice might be Skip James- no Robert Johnson without Patton, House, and James. Robert Johnson even "stole" some songs from Skip James in the way that people say Led Zeppelin "stole" from blues artists.

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Another great guitarist worth mentioning is Otis Rush. I love his old recordings he did for the Cobra label.

Junior Wells & Otis Rush performs an outstanding verison of What'd I Say (live 1966)

Otis Rush is great! Another one of those upside down lefties, like Albert King! Double Trouble is one of my favourite Otis Rush tunes... So much emotion in that voice!

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Love that Magic Sam vid in your sig, Magic Sam! :beer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoXI1zZbGIc

Well shit bro, I guess I'm now converted onto Magic Sam. B)

Awesome, J and C! That's why I took the name in the first place. I figured all the good Zep names were taken, and Zep doesn't need pimping anyway, and this guy really does. I'd been into the blues for years and years before I was exposed to him, though that same video in fact.

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Awesome, J and C! That's why I took the name in the first place. I figured all the good Zep names were taken, and Zep doesn't need pimping anyway, and this guy really does. I'd been into the blues for years and years before I was exposed to him, though that same video in fact.

Yeah, I only got into him a few years back... Great voice and guitar playing! B)

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