Your favourite blues tunes

rlw

After a long evening on youtube, I'm trying to decide which are my absolute favourite blues songs. The ones I couldn't live without on my desert island.

Much as I love BB and Freddie, T-Bone and Jimmy Reed and Lightning Hopkins, I think that the two I love the most are Death letter/Walking Blues and Crossroads with Rambling Blues and Key to the highway not far behind.

Death letter/Walkimg Blues is one of those songs you shouldn't really mess with - many do - and Rory Gallagher or Dave Kelly will always be my go to versions.

Crossroads for me is Robert Johnson or the EC version on Wheels of fire.  Again, straying to far away from these is a sin in my view.  But then I'm an old git so what do I know...

Your thoughts....

RandallFlagg

Clapton's Crossroads on Wheels of Fire is an all time favourite of mire.

Others that spring to mind are Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac, pretty much anything of the 1970 “Greatest Hits” album.

plus I really like Angel Of Mercy from Joe Bonamassa's Live At The Greek Theatre:

https://youtu.be/kUJsi4vuGjY

RocknRollDave

Led Zeppelin - Since I’ve Been Loving You

thecolourbox

Son House - Grinning In Your Face


Stop Breaking Down - Robert Johnson. Interestingly most of the recordings people hear of him are slightly sped up and thus a semitone higher than intended. This is one of the "speed adjusted" ones back to how he actually sounded rather than that higher register (and without the rushed guitar playing)


And then a less ancient one, albeit still two old songs to be fair. Parchman Farm Blues/Preachin Blues - Jeff Buckley. Goes from the former to the latter at 3:29 if you want to skip (not that you would of course)

thecolourbox

Ooh and while I think about it, Jeff Buckley again - Strange Fruit:

barnstorm

These two, if we're talking trad blues:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FS1X0-MOtQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyqXDM3mFhM  

BluesLover

Texas flood, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

distressed

Greeny

axisus

Damn! That's a tough question. I feel myself leaning towards something from Gary Moore or SRV, but it would take a lot of thunking.

tone1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aBdGTNPDLc0

stimpsonslostson

I've been really enjoying Matt Andersen recently

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

It changes often, but at the minute it's Freddie King - Same Old Blues

Nitefly

Ooh, tough one.

Maybe "Statesboro Blues", especially the Taj Mahal version.

Also Howlin' wolf's "Killing Floor" and "Smokestack Lightnin", although the first version I heard of that was by Manfred Mann.

Litterick

stratman3142

RandallFlagg said:

Clapton's Crossroads on Wheels of Fire is an all time favourite of mine...

A great solo. A classic example of mixing major and minor pentatonics, and note choices that outline the chord changes.

The first one that comes to mind for me is ZZ Top - Blue Jean Blues

scrumhalf

Freddie King - Sidetracked
Fleetwood Mac - Something Inside Of Me, My Heart Beat Like A Hammer
Johnny Winter - Mean Town

rlw

In my view, one of the most under rated pub bands ever.  I followed this lot all over London in the sixties and then again in the eighties and nineties.

Pete, the singer, is no longer with us but Graham still plays a bit.  In the sixties he was up there with the best of them.

And what is that guitar....

PhilW1

scrumhalf said:

Freddie King - Sidetracked
Fleetwood Mac - Something Inside Of Me, My Heart Beat Like A Hammer
Johnny Winter - Mean Town

Something inside of me-awesome

Kilgore

Top three for today.

rlw

Kilgore said:

Top three for today.

Quite.  For me, the top two stay pretty consistent but everything else is pretty fluid.  Yesterday I listened to some Albert King and thought it wasn't so bad after all, and then some Freddie King which simply confirmed that he's on the list with about a dozen contenders...........

Kilgore

rlw said:

Kilgore said:

Top three for today.

Quite.  For me, the top two stay pretty consistent but everything else is pretty fluid.  Yesterday I listened to some Albert King and thought it wasn't so bad after all, and then some Freddie King which simply confirmed that he's on the list with about a dozen contenders...........

My "top three" will always include a Hopkins tune.