More Blues ...

[Vladi]

I need suggestions on more artists like Stevie Ray Vaughnan, and I am especially interested in the kind of blues that he plays in his "Tin Pan Alley ...".

[synthfreek]

Check out the great stuff on ALLIGATOR RECORDS

[erikjohn]

Vladi,

So you like blues. Thats pretty much the mainstay of my listening. Here are a few I reccommend in no particular order.

*SRV - Live at Carnegie Hall

*Tommy Castro - No Foolin'(Live) & Can't Keep a Good Man Down

*Jimi Hendrix - Blues & South Saturn Delta(Must Haves)

*John Mayall & Blues Breakers featuring Eric Clapton(Dubbbed the BEANO album)

*BB King and Bobby Bland - Together Again

*Buddy Guy w/GE Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band - Live! The Real Deal

*Eric Clapton - From the Cradle

*Eric Clapton - The Blues (2 Disks)

*Muddy Waters - Box Set

*Paul Rodgers - A Tribute to Muddy Waters(Muddy Waters Blues)

This is just a few I remember off the top of my head.

EJ

[JasN00b]

hmmmm stay away from eric clapton... hes boring...

Stevie Ray is godly.

ya know he taught himself how to play completly by himself? he cant read a note! how briliant is that!

he used to have to graft his arm skin onto his fingers by way of superglue so he could keep playing!

just a tip... if you want to really appreciate stevie ray, buy a VHS such as "Live at the El Macambo"

it shows the pasion and energy he puts into his music, and his cool trick playing

i'm still trying to play behind my back, i can do behind my head like him but not back... back is tough cause your shirt tends to mute the strings

*stops rambling*

defintly attain that VHS

[Vladi]

Thanks, I appreciate your suggestions - I will certainly check them out. I also like Eva Cassidy (though she has more Rock & Jazz recordings) and the newcomer Norah Jones. Also Nina Simone is good.

[Flason]

So much blues, so little time. Let's see where to begin that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Gary Moore Lots of albums to pick from here. Watch out for the 80's rock though.

Sonny Mooreman Don't know exactly where he's from but he's on Blizzardrecords.com.

Lucky Peterson Sure old salty dogs like Clarance Gatemouth Brown see him as flash blues, but a virtuoso on guitar and a Hammond B3, come-on.

Tab Benoit Little bit of Stevie Ray down on the bayou.

Luther Alison Check out his live dvd. His son Benard ain't too bad either.

Anna Popovic A little European blues and quite a guitar player.

Sue Foley I think I started a little chick thing there with Anna.

Shameka Copeland NEW ALBUM ONLY She has refind her voice and the back-up band in incredible.

Now for one of the best blues cd's to come down the pike in a long time.

Ike Turner and the Rhythem Kings "Here and Now" The blues guy on the college radio put out on the airway, "Go out and buy this album. If you don't absolutely love this album, come down to the station and I will buy it back from you." He lost no money!

[erikjohn]

----------------

On 11/20/2002 5:50:28 PM JasN00b wrote:

hmmmm stay away from eric clapton... hes boring...

----------------

??? OK boss.

JasNob,

As far as your comment on Clapton goes, playing blues is not about how fast or intricate you are. Clapton is talented and has some pretty serious chops. He plays old school blues. It all about voicing. Not all great blues players are awesome guitar players(admittedly BB King for Example), but they know which note to play and when, also it's not the note, it's how it's played. His "radio play" top 40 type albums are boring. He is a fantastic blues player. My first impression is that you are not a true blues listener.

I agree with you that Stevie is awesome, but Jimi did it all before him. Jimi pretty much did everything but invent the blues. The progressions that Jimi invented and the way he used the notes to voice the music was masterful. Jimi had the ear and the skill, I can't think of anything that Stevie did that was especially innovative compared to Jimi, he was just a super fantastic player with alot of soul and alot to say(with his guitar). He was following Jimi's lead.

I love Stevie's music and I wish he was still around. I had tickets to his last show but my Dad gave them away to a friend since it was like a four hour drive from where we lived. My dad and I talked about going but we figured we would catch him the next time around. What a mistake that was. He is missed by all. We were blown away when we found out what happened. It was a very sad day.

Just my $0.02

EJ

[JasN00b]

hmmm when i take somebody like clapton... and put him next to hendrix i just think...

why would i want to listen to clapton over hendrix?

and i never said stevie was more innovative... or innovative at all.

i often say "stevie was the best gutiarest... not the best musican"

and i assure you i'm a true blues listener... and quite frankly i'm a blues player too

but clapton just doesnt strike me as half as a master of the guitar as someone like hendrix or stevie.

to quote stevie concerning hendrix "He didn't really play the gutiar. He played music."

that sort of captures the essence of Hendrix being able to play anything, and his guitar would just disapear from it.

clapton... bah

and i never said blues was about how intricate and fast you play it.

ya know what never mind... i dont feel like defending my opinion to someone such as yourself...

[boa12]

how 'bout another texas guitar slinger - Johnny Winter.

[Huhuru]

Valdi

Nina Simone is great. BTW you did not respond to my asking in the General Question Forum - Yamaha's RX-V1 v RX-V3300. I asked if you wanted me to mail you a hard copy of EJ's two page analysis? If so, send me a private message with your snail mail address.

Huhuru

[erikjohn]

Jasnob,

No reason to defend your opinion. I guess its just a matter of opinion here. I do like clapton for his blues playing ability, but your correct he is no master such as Stevie. I wasn't trying to beat up on your first post, sorry. I guess I just think Jimi was a god and Stevie was a deciple.

Anyway I also play guitar, blues guitar, Les Paul Custom Copy w/all coils split and I run thorugh a Wah straight to amp, no effects boxes just cranked. I like to tune a half step down and play in B-flat with an open E-flat.

EJ

[JasN00b]

I play a G&L Legacy, natrual finish, SSS pickup config(alcinos), with a floating bridge.

if you ever consider picking up a strat... make it a G&L.

G&L was founded by Leo Fender after he left Fender back in the day, and he pretty much made über-fenders with his new company.

I play with a blues driver, and i have a BOPSS AW-3 dynamic wah pedal for when i get funkay... but I do need a real wah pedal. I generally play in E for the sake of keeping my bassit happy.

what kind do you have and would you suggest it?

i have up to 200 dollars to spend on the wah pedal

by the way i was in a terrible mood when i posted that last one... I blame football/stress, sry i got a little snippy.

but music has kina become my life and it made me somewhat miffed to be called "not a true listener"

have a good time period after morning and before night.

[BBB]

Yea, blues players can be pretty passionate about their music. Im sure concerning a little misunderstanding between guitarists like EJ and JasN00b was just a case of Right Place, Wrong Time.

[Lone Palm]

Hey JasNOOB How can you like Vaughn and not like Clapton? Stevie Ray Vaughn Was only a great immitator. When I hear him I hear Clapton,Hendrix and Gibbons. Everything I've heard Vaughn do,these cats did 30 years ago.

[JasN00b]

vaughn did it better.

[BBB]

Vaughn, Clapton, Hendrix ,Gibbons. All fine blues guitar players. All studied and admired many great artists. What separates Stevie Ray from this pack, if you listen and watch carefully, is that he was a born natural. Many people can imitate and practice for a thousand years and never translate from their soul to their fingertips like a player of Vaughns caliber could do and the other guitarists mentioned ,including Jimi if he was alive, would probably agree.

[JasN00b]

^wise man^

[erikjohn]

Jasnob,

I play through a crybaby by Jim Dunlop. The best blues pedal is a VOX though. I also have a few Snarling Dogs effect boxes that I occasionaly use to throw a little more distortion into the mix.

Unfortunately I have not played much since I graduated from college (4 years ago). I am going to start playing again though. I used to play like 4-5 hours a day everyday when I had the time. I dedicated all of my time to blues jamming, I hardly know any songs. I have a Fostex 4 track, a Boss Dr-5 and a sequencer. I used to just lay down alot of jam tracks. I tried teaching my friend how to play bass so we could play and try to get something going but he just didn't have the dedication.

The extent of my actual band palying is one day my friend said that he had met some guys that had a band. They visited for a while and he had told them that he had a firend that played alot of guitar. Anyeay they had all of their gear set up in a rental garage and invited me to come over and jam with them one saturday. I am not sure exactly what kind of music they played but I think it was just pretty much cookie cutter crap. Thier guitar palyer didn't have clue what I was doing when we started jamming and eventually he dropped out of the jam. Anyway I got there and just told them to kick a funky beat and give me a bss line. We ended up jamming for like 3 hours nonstop. It was a blast and they were pretty blown away becuse I don't htink they had ever done ay realy jamming, like blues type jamming. I don't think the leaders of the band wanted anything to do with me but the drummer wanted to start a band with me. He ended up bringing his drums over to my house and we jammed for a couple weeks but with no real bass player things never really developed and I don't think our styles really clicked. I pretty much just play for me, the satisfaction I get out of my expression through the guitar.

I also agree with you GL's are the best strat around, much better than a fender. I am kind of a DIY guitar player. I did all of the mods on my LP. I also adjust my own neck and grind my own frets. I have almost wore out the frets on my LP and I got it like new. The frets are like real wore down where I do alot of bending. I may have to get it refretted in a while. I have also built a gutar from old guitar pieces. It sounds pretty damn good but I dont really like to play it as much as my LP.

FWIW, my hero is Jimmy Page, but I really don't try to play like him.

EJ

[whomhead]

Uhhh, Jimmy Rogers? The disc "The Jimmy Rogers All-Stars, Blues Blues Blues" is an excellent recording. Everyone's on this disc. Clapton, Jaggers/Richards, Page/Plant, Taj Mahal, etc. A must-have imho!

A lot consider it crossover type stuff, but I think Keb Mo is excellent as well.

Corey Stevens puts out good stuff as well. Blue Drops of Rain would be his most "pure" album, again imho.

Robben Ford is very good as well.

If Kenny Wayne could get past his own ego who knows what could happen??

I think Jonny Lang is pretty decent. Pick up "Lie to Me" and see for yourself.

Let's not forget Robert Cray.

Oh, and Jimmy Vaughn isn't too bad either. He's no Steve Ray of course, but it doesn't hurt my ears at all when i listen to his stuff.

How bout Buddy Guy? "Slippin In" is a pretty fun album.

Of course the list goes on and on, but these are some of my favorites, besides the obvious stuff of course. Have fun!

[BBB]

That's right Boa. If I could, I'd be dancing barefootin' anytime Johnny Winter plays boni maroni

Also for all you Strat lovers don't forget the Masta of the Telecasta! Albert Collins.I Ain't Drunk ,I'm just drinkin.ha haaaa ....But I was Cool