The Memphis-based Stax label was synonymous with earthy southern R&B but in 1967 it racked-up several blues hit singles thanks to Mississippi-born singer/guitarist Albert King. Showdown! deservedly won a Grammy in 1986, and is clearly among the best blues albums ever.Ĭlick to load video Albert King: Born Under A Bad Sign (Stax, 1967) Though there’s a competitive aspect to the album, it’s notable for an absence of macho posturing, with each musician seemingly content to share the spotlight with his fellow blues brother. Key Track: “Avalanche” Albert Collins, Robert Cray, and Johnny Copeland: Showdown! (Alligator, 1985)Ī feel-good collaboration between two Texas veteran guitar slingers and newcomer, Cray, Showdown! begins with an electrifying version of T-Bone Walker’s “T-Bone Shuffle” setting the tone for what is a thoroughly enjoyable blues summit characterized by some exceptional guitar playing. With its searing fretboard licks, the album is a quintessential example of the guitarist’s flamboyant electric blues style. A compelling synthesis of seasoned blues standards (Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Too Tired”) and potent original material (“Avalanche”), Ice Pickin’ was Collins’ sixth long-player and, arguably, his best. Albert Collins: Ice Pickin’ (Alligator, 1978)īorn Albert Gene Drewery in Texas and nicknamed “The Ice Man,” Collins was a cousin of blues maven Lightnin’ Hopkins but was inspired to sing and take up the guitar after hearing a John Lee Hooker record. Listen to 100 Years Of The Blues on Apple Music and Spotify, and scroll down for our list of the best blues albums ever. How many do you have? And just as importantly, what have we missed? Let us know in the comments below. Suffice to say, every album here should be in any discerning blues fan’s collection. We have given you our list of the best blues albums alphabetically, having given up trying to number. Then there are some albums that you may not know, like Blind Mississippi Morris’s Back Porch Blues, Koerner, Ray & Glover’s Blues, Rags and Hollers, and Tampa Red’s Don’t Tampa With the Blues they are all equally worthy of inclusion. There are blues albums that everyone acknowledges as among the best – Robert Johnson’s King of The Delta Blues Singers, Junior Wells’s Hoodoo Man Blues, Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign, and Magic Sam’s West Side Soul. King, The Allman Brothers, Jimmy Reed along with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, which gives you an idea of the scope of this list. There’s Lightnin’ Hopkins, Cream, Muddy Waters, B.B. Most fans of the blues recognize that it is something that is, as often as not, best played live and there are some cracking performances included.
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