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Permalink Reply by John R. Bockelman on September 11, 2011 at 4:17pm

it's a book...but here are 25 of my favorites:

 

1. Willie Dixon (in my opinion, the greatest American songwriter who ever lived)

 

2. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (gorgeous songs and transcendent playing)

 

3. Jimi Hendrix (he invented a connection between dimensions using his guitar)

 

4. Robert Johnson (to this day when I hear him I think I'm hearing a band)

 

5.. Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins (saw him live one night at Rice University. He changed the way I play. I still perform "Mojo Hand")

 

6. Bobby "Blue" Bland (a vocal stylist and legendary performer who delivers passion, power and grace with every note)

 

7. Theodore Roosevelt "Hound Dog" Taylor (simply electric blues at its raw best...low, mean and from the spleen)

 

8. Canned Heat (with Al "Blind Owl" Wilson, Henry "Sunflower" Vestine, Larry "The Mole" Taylor, Bob "The Bear" Hite and Adolfo "Fito" de la Parra, their music set an atmospheric tone of good vibes from the Blues, as well as giving John Lee Hooker a whole new audience)

 

9. Huddie Ledbetter "Leadbelly" (a walking network of contradictions, yet his vocals and playing are a backdrop for our imaginations to envision the hell on earth the man lived in)

 

10. The Animals (with Alan Price, Eric Burdon, John Steel, Hilton Valentine and Chas Chandler, these hell-raisers from Newcastle, England re-wrote the book on Modern Blues in the guise of a "British Invasion" band. Incredible songs, chops and performances)

 

11. Johnny Winter (I played his pre-Colulmbia album "The Progressive Blues Experiment" a thousand times. He's the genuine article)

 

12. Muddy Waters (his delivery of Dixon's songs, his supremely poised and richly cultivated persona and his in-your-gut vocal delivery make him a Mt. Rushmore candidate in my world)

 

13. The Fabulous Thunderbirds (they came along at the height of punk and new wave playing down and dirty blues. I love 'em)

 

14. Stevie Ray Vaughan (arguably the greatest blues guitarist ever...sorry he's gone)

 

15. Freddie King (I got to see him live at Liberty Hall one night. He tore the house down. A true Blues giant who could play above and beyond everybody else and he proved it)

 

16. B.B. King (he brought the Blues to the masses and he did it with class, a signature sound, and a style that is his alone)

 

17. Albert Collins ("The Iceman" had that killer tone in his Telecaster that could make grown men cry)

 

18. Eric Clapton (his work with the Bluesbreakers, Cream and his solo career is monumental. A pro musician who chose the Blues)

 

19, John Mayall (he assembled and arranged some of the finest bands ever to run down 12 bars of Blues)

 

20. Savoy Brown (brought Blues/Rock to us in orchestrated, lyrical lines that made believers out of us in the power of the Blues)

 

21. Rory Gallagher (played with great passion and intelligence, but sadly like Roy Buchanan and Mike Bloomfield, fell victim to his demons)

 

22. Billy Gibbons (I grew up here where he lives and I absorbed his style...a hybrid of several styles...he is one of my all-time greats)

 

23. Robert Cray (gripping songs that get you where you live, he is a multi-talented and individualistic Blues musician)

 

24. Ry Cooder (either fronting a band or playing solo, Ry has the smoothest style and tone I ever heard)

 

25. Professor Longhair (a madman of sound...musical genius...and a major influence on several popular bands)

 

There's more. Cheers, JB

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Permalink Reply by Buzzy Charpia on September 19, 2011 at 8:50am

Snooky Pryor

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