Here’s the essential tracks for the early Blues. Once you start getting into these you can progress to the next three thousand essential tracks.
I think this could generate endless debate as to why I put some in and left others out – It’s all down to personal taste. Listen to ’em and make your own choices. I can only point you to what I think is the best.
| Son House | Death letter blues
Pearline Delta blues Walking blues The pony blues |
| Robert Johnson | Dust my broom
Sweet home Chicago Come on in my kitchen Crossroad blues Love in vain Terraplane blues Walking blues Last fair deal going down Stop breaking down blues Milkcow’s calf blues |
| Bukka White | Shake ‘em on down
Fixin’ to die blues Parchman Farm blues |
| Sleepy John Estes | Ollie blues
Broke and hunger Black Mattie The girl I love she got long curly hair |
| Skip James | Devil got my woman
Hard time killing floor I’m so glad |
| Big Joe Williams | Baby please don’t go |
| Kokomo Arnold | Milk cow blues
Busy bootin’ The twelves Salty dog |
| Bo Carter | Pig meat is what I crave
Banana in your fruit basket What kind of scent is that Don’t mash my digger so deep |
| Hambone Willie Newbern | Rollin’ & Tumblin’ |
| Tommy Johnson | Canned heat blues
Cool drink of water |
| Charlie Patton | Spoonful blues
Shake it and break it High water everywhere |
| Furry Lewis | Shake em on down |
| Blind Lemon Jefferson | Match box blues
Broke and hungry |
| Blind Willie McTell | Statesboro blues
Broke down engine |
| Blind Willie Johnson | Dark was the night cold was the ground
You’ll need somebody on your bond Nobody’s fault but mine God moves on the water |
| Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee | Sitting on top of the world
Rock Island Line Step it and go |
| Memphis Minnie | Chauffer Blues
Hot stuff Selling my chops Dirty mother for you Bumble bee blues You dirty mistreater |
| Peg Leg Howell | Tishamingo blues |
| Lightnin Hopkins | Katie Mae
Let me play with your poodle Blues in the bottle Bottle up and go |
| Leroy Carr | How long how long blues
Mean mistreating Mama |
| Texas Alexander | Leevee camp moan |
| Gus Cannon | You can’t blame the coloured man |
| Bessie Smith | T’aint nobody’s business if I do
Careless love St Louis blues I’m wild about that thing Gimme pigfoot Do your duty |
| Victoria Spivey | Black snake blues
Dope head blues Organ grinder blues |
| Lucille Brogan | Shave ‘em dry |
Aha, a topic that I do know something about.
I’m a fairly keen on pre-war blues, although not so much the piano based stuff.
What I have learned is to keep careful notes on recording dates etc., as quite a number of artists had a good long run and re-recorded the same material several times over and were prone to change song titles, and their names, too, as they hopped from label to label disregarding previous contracts.
Pre-war is up to 1942, when the US government put a freeze on the manufacture of “race records”, with Bakelite materials required for the war effort, although a few were pressed, such as Lead Belly, Big Joe Turner and Big Joe Williams. The freeze was lifted in 1947.
Just a quick few more I would add as essential listening would be :-
Sylvester Weaver – Guitar Rag – the very first slide guitar blues recorded in November 1923
(& any of the 1927 instrumentals recorded with Walter Beasley)
Blind Blake (Arthur Phelps) – Come On Boys Let’s Do That Messin’ Around – recorded 1926
Barbecue Bob – Motherless Chile – recorded 1927
Ma Rainey – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – recorded December 1927
Victoria Spivey & Lonnie Johnson – New Black Snake Blues Pts 1 & 2 – rec 13 October 1928
(could be same as your choice – these dates do come in handy!)
Kansas Joe McCoy – When The Levee Breaks – recorded 1929 with Memphis Minnie on 2nd guitar
Ruth “Mary” Willis & Blind Willie McTell – Experience Blues – ultra-rare pressing of 600 copies only from 1931, with McTell on slide guitar
Tampa Red – You Can’t Get That Stuff No More – recorded 1932 with Tom Dorsey on lead guitar
Blind Boy Fuller (Fulton Allen) – Homesick And Lonesome Blues – recorded 1935 (don’t have info on the 2nd guitarist)
Joe Williams’ Washboard Blues Singers – Baby Please Don’t Go – recorded 31 October 1935
(about as Country Blues as it gets)
Oscar “Buddy” Woods – Don’t Sell It-Don’t Give It Away – recorded 21 March 1936
Vera Hall – Trouble So Hard – recorded 1937 (sampled many times in recent years)
Buddy Woods & The Wampus Cats – Muscat Hill Blues – recorded 30 October 1937
Memphis Minnie – Me And My Chauffeur Blues – recorded May 1941 (Robert Plant – you’re a fake!)
There’s at least another 300 artists who should not be forgotten…
Wow!! You are an aficionado I see! I think my list could end up three times as long. I saw Joe Williams live! There’s some great ones in this list Andrew! Thanks for that. What a joy!
I’m just in the process of publishing my Rock Routes book. I think you’d like that. It would drive you crazy sorting out the lists! I wonder if we’d agree? But that’s the fun of it.
A big thanks for your great additions – any more you could add? All gratefully received. Cheers Opher
Isn’t it a joyful discovery – it tickles me pink!
However, the more I learn of this stuff the more I harbour disdain for what must be a plethora of white-boy very rich rock stars. It’s high time they were stripped of accolades – the ones that don’t give credit where credit is due. They all say that they were “influenced” by these originators (as far as we know, as recordings only exist from a certain date) but in so many cases entire lyrics were lifted, so be it jumbled up a bit, but really was a dead cert copy. Rant over!
I bought my first computer – when we had the screen, keyboard, mouse and tower box and a jumble of wires – it all seems so archaic, back in 1994. That was the opportunity to start making lists. I’m quite old fashioned in my approach to learning anything, regardless of subject and what I have to do is write it all down myself – then it begins to make more sense. Certainly with the confusion of info concerning pre-war blues, I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. So today my lists are chronological and I think that’s the best way to get a firm grasp on it’s development, at least it works for me. Also the beauty is that I can readily identify exactly which record, tape or CD any given track is on, otherwise – forget it! Over the years I’ve been steadily adding to it with more info garnered from further reading, a snippet of info here and there etc.,
I’ve never been the least concerned that the source is often rough and scratchy, as that in itself only adds to the mystical aura for me, especially for some of the people that were hardly heard of.
I’ll have a good rummage through and choose some more choice cuts, but just up to 1942, as per your topic title.
Are you going to do the 1950’s? Boy, that’s an encyclopaedia all on it’s own!
Btw, did you catch the doc on BBC4 the other night – When Albums Ruled The World. I think it was 1st broadcast in Feb 2013. Anyway, if you look up the BBC website page for the programme, you’ll see a photo of the inside of what is obviously a 2nd hand record shop. That’s “Lost Chord” in Glasgow, owned by a good friend and I do the selecting, cleaning and pricing of LP’s, those that go in the racks and hand over the one’s suitable for on-line sale. Steve, my friend, likes to just press buttons on the computer and I’m the in-shop know-all geek, sans anorak. I do it for free, but the deal is I get to keep what I’d like for myself (providing it’s in superb nick), within reason of course. No shirt ‘n tie required…
Hi Andrew
Yes it is unbelievable the way all those Rock stars turned themselves into multimillionaires regurgitating the work of all those black blues singers. It started with Elvis. I wonder how much Arthur Crudup made out of it?
It wasn’t just the Rock Stars though. They were being ripped off by everyone. It’s no wonder Chuck got a chip on his shoulder and demanded money up front! I was talking to Bo back in 1980 and my mate took a pile of Chess albums in for him to sign. He claimed he did not know half of them had been released and got my mate Nick to photocopy the albums so that he could go into Chess and claim royalties! Unbelievable.
The Rock Routes album I’m just releasing is a good oversight of the genres. I put the lists of essential tracks in as a whetter of appetites, so to speak. I don’t think you can be definitive on those things. But it’s fun to play around and set people thinking and arguing. It also provides a good basis to start from for those that are unfamiliar. The book came out of my years of running a History of Rock Music course in Adult Education and at school. I had great fun but it cost me a fortune.
I did catch that programme and enjoyed it. I’m about to watch the one on Rock from last week!
It sounds like you’ve got quite a plum job at the record shop! I’d love it! You must have quite a collection.
I made the mistake of selling off five thousand albums of mine long ago in order to get my hands on the rare stuff that was coming out on CD. There were so many brilliant albums I unloaded for some unfathomable reason. I kept three thousand though and have around a thousand that I’m looking to sell (duplicates and stuff that I no longer need or have accumulated). Such is life!
Hi Opher,
Crikey – I guess Bo was somewhat miffed! Shockin’ innit.
I actually don’t have the collection that I perhaps could have, about 5,000 albums, 40/60 vinyl to CD. But if I like the artist, I’ll have the lot and counting.
The more I’ve heard, the easier it becomes determining originality.
I like CD’s – a lot, and there’s much nonsense made of them being a lesser entity to their vinyl counterpart and also have loads of bootlegs that otherwise I’d never have had. I think the CD’s made today of archive recordings of 60’s-70’s in most cases are very good. The latest Stones’ Sticky Fingers is outstanding.
I also have a couple of thousand choice 45’s, loads of bootleg tapes, and maybe 400 choice compilations, many which I compiled myself by cherry picking from official compilations. That’s where a good CD-R copy machine comes in handy.
It’s 5 times more expensive for blank discs as you can only record using Audio type, not the data one’s for computers.
You won’t find any MP3’s in my house!
It’s all about system quality isn’t it?
I upgraded a few years ago and several thousand pounds went on a dedicated pre-amp for my turntable, a Graham Slee model, better cartridge and Bowers & Wilkins speakers. Good improvement.
Seems to me so many albums, particularly on vinyl were poorly pressed and not particularly well produced.
I was never a buyer of 2nd hand LP’s in my younger days, nor a lender of my prized bought new one’s – as my friends will confirm – if you wanted a copy, gimme a blank tape, pal. A good solid policy, me thinks.
So if I do come across something of interest it really needs to be as almost new, as I can’t be doing with any scratches, they are forbidden by my stylus at £350 to replace every 6 months.
As the years go by the choosier I’ve become and certainly pay zero attention to zeitgeist pretensions or critical plaudits etc. Besides, aren’t we getting to the stage where it’s all coming around again for the 3rd time running?
Like yourself I off-loaded a good number of LP’s and bought their CD versions, starting in the mid 80’s. There’s a few regrets there, too, however, I have managed to replace a few from the shop.
I think I’m pretty close to having replaced these 1st CD’s with newer editions, the expanded, warts n’ all, but only with artists that I enjoy the most and worthwhile.
Most recently I improved my Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson & Fairport collections and there’s some good bargains to be had via Amazon.
Certainly kept all my Roy vinyl, so I’m doubled up with the CD’s, too.
That goes for quite a number of other favourites, John Martyn, The Who, Stones, Floyd, Beefheart – you know, perennials.
There’s a few guilty pleasure favourites that I just have to have regardless, Neil Young being just one of them, despite knowing all too well that he’s a bit hit and miss. It’s almost a full time job keeping up with it all and I do keep notes on releases just to satisfy my curiosity even if I don’t actually buy them.
With some artists it’s got slightly out of hand, Dylan being just one, with many live tapes that I’ll probably never listen to again and must have 400 concerts at least.
The music DVD collection is gradually mounting up, too, at around the 1,000 mark.
But I justify it all by not wasting my money propping up a pub counter at 5pm every day.
Cheers,
Andrew
That’s my justification as well. I’m not sure the wife agrees. She looks at the space!
Unlike you I have gone for MP3s as well. I was amazed by the incredible amount of gigs available. Consequently I have thousands of live Dylan, Floyd, Beefheart, Beatles, Stones, Neil young, etc. etc. And I rarely play any of it.
I have quadrupled up many artists (Vinyl, CD, MP3 and reissues). It’s all a bit excessive and detrimental. I have too much. I don’t play as much as I used to!
I certainly wish I had adopted a similar policy as you. My albums were all passed around and abused. A lot went missing.
The only good thing is that my ears are so buggered up with all the live gigs that I am not as discerning as I once was.
I love good lyrics – hence Roy, Nick, Bob and Don.
Music gives me endless satisfaction!
I forgot to mention – interestingly, Arthur Crudup was also one of the few blues artists to have records out during the 1943-46 period.
That War and post-war period was an incredibly important one. That created the job market in the Northern cities coupled with mechanisation of farming in the Southern States that caused the mass migration to Chicago, Detroit and New York. That led to electrification in those Northern clubs. Exciting times.
Thanks Oph – and Andrew. I’ll get to work in my next break from editing. Still can’t find that darned upright thumb thing, Oph. This, by the way, is my first ever post of any sort on an internet site of any sort – will I be safe?
You’re never safe. Eternity is always a moment away! But we’ll do our best to keep you safe on this site!
Great to hear from you Tobes. Welcome to the insane world of Opher where nothing is off limits and all possibility exists as we construct a better universe.
I was given this impossible task of producing all the essential tracks in Rock Music by you.
Fortunately I’d already made a substantive attempt. My as of now unpublished book – Rock Routes – has extensive lists along with all the information about the genres, artists and music. I was waiting for Henry to produce the artwork for the detailed flow charts that illustrated the relationships visually. But I realised I would probably wait a very long time! So I decided to publish it without them.
I was going to go with a proper publisher for this and other efforts but I’ve decided that life is too short. As you wanted this now I have published this for you Tobes.
Don’t forget the 1200 likes you have to add. And the numerous comments (though I don’t want to stop you editing my book! – Hurry up and get Craig’s out the way and get on to the important stuff!! I’m counting on you!
The book – Rock Routes – is in production. It is already out on Kindle and will be available on my Amazon site either today or tomorrow. It has everything you could possibly need!