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Hey group,
What was the first Blues you were drawn to, and was it Acoustic or Electric Blues that first pulled you in?
Like many, as a young person I was exposed to Electric blues through Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayall, Canned Heat etc...
Actually, I was first introduced to Electric Blues as a teenager, when I found a copy of "Jimi Hendrix: Smash Hits" in a trash-can. I took it home, as I'm a Hendrix fan, and the record had a couple of songs on it I'd never heard before. "Red House" did it for me with that slow funk, and screaming guitar, this tune was so "different" to me than any other Jimi tune. Man, it was great! That tune alone, opened my head up to Blues and set me off to discover people.
I bought my first heavy-duty Blues record "Muddy Waters Live" and it blew me away, I played that record to death.
From then on I discovered Howlin' Wolf, John Lee, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy, etc...
My first acoustic love was Robert johnson, he pointed the way to the Delta for me, I loved his music, still do. From him I discovered Son House, Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon etc...
What a world of discovery!!!!
What was your journey like, and where did it start?
-Eric
What was the first Blues you were drawn to, and was it Acoustic or Electric Blues that first pulled you in?
Like many, as a young person I was exposed to Electric blues through Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayall, Canned Heat etc...
Actually, I was first introduced to Electric Blues as a teenager, when I found a copy of "Jimi Hendrix: Smash Hits" in a trash-can. I took it home, as I'm a Hendrix fan, and the record had a couple of songs on it I'd never heard before. "Red House" did it for me with that slow funk, and screaming guitar, this tune was so "different" to me than any other Jimi tune. Man, it was great! That tune alone, opened my head up to Blues and set me off to discover people.
I bought my first heavy-duty Blues record "Muddy Waters Live" and it blew me away, I played that record to death.
From then on I discovered Howlin' Wolf, John Lee, Buddy Guy, Sonny Boy, etc...
My first acoustic love was Robert johnson, he pointed the way to the Delta for me, I loved his music, still do. From him I discovered Son House, Charlie Patton, Blind Lemon etc...
What a world of discovery!!!!
What was your journey like, and where did it start?
-Eric
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Atlanta
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Unsu...
Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Fri, July 14, 2006 - 2:42 PMSo I was given BB King's "Blues & Jazz" CD when I was like 11. I haven't stopped since. John Lee Hooker's "The healer" was my second. I did not come through the Stones/ LedZep/ Hendrix fashion (that is, blues-rooted rock n roll). I started right away with the real deal. Another thing that helped was a very low budget, UK-based CD series called Charly Blues Masterworks (the black ones). Those were the first CDs I owned, and those included stuff from Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, Blue-eyed blues as John Mayall and Clapton (of course), and some (then they were to me) rarities such as Fenton Robinson, Eddie Boyd or Johnny Shines. Previously (I was 9 or so) I had been fooling around with some of my mom's 45 s which included the sorts of Taj Mahal and Ray Charles, which is rather impressive given the fact this was in Madrid, Spain. I came to acoustic much later (when I was 18 or so, and my first exposure was Muddy Waters' plantation sessions, closely followed by the Robert Johnson Columbia box and Son House's 1965 sessions. Now I own more than 2000 blues CDs, and I'd never change it for anything (well maybe some ability to play some blues, but that's another story...).
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Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Fri, July 14, 2006 - 3:55 PMI got into the Blues listening to early 70's blues rock specifically Led Zeppelin and The Doors. That led me down the natural path to John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon.
Not sure but I think the first Blues record I bought was Hooker's Real Folk Blues. I then bought Chess (4) record compilation which really opened things up to the likes of Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Otis Rush, etc. -
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Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Sat, July 15, 2006 - 6:25 AMThe Alman Brothers, Live at the Filmore East. I was about 14. I had heard of BB king and some of the others, but had never really heard any real blues. I bought that album and fell head over heels in love with the blues. On the album, Duane gives credit to Elmore James and Bobby Bland. That got me started.
A few years later, a friend of mine had a live album and I don't remember the name, but it had Muddy, BB, Coco Taylor, Howling Wolf and a whole bunch more. I was hooked after that.
But the real reason I got started and why I bought my first gutar, was The Alman Brothers Band, Live at the Filmore East. -
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Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Sat, July 15, 2006 - 7:10 AM"Allman Brothers: Live at the Filmore East" Whew!! What a great record.
I was about 18 years old, and I was unloading a truck on the dock at my job. The radio was on and I heard "Statesboro Blues" for the first time. I'd never heard bottle-neck like that before and the tune drove me wild. I went out and boght the record the very next day.
-Eric
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Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Sun, July 16, 2006 - 11:51 AMI think the electric blues drew me in, but now acoustic blues seems to be my favorite. Sometimes electric blues is just too intense for me, too over-the-top dramatically. I like the subtelties of acoustic instruments. I still get chills when I here a great Muddy Waters classic though, or when SRV tears a whole in the space-time continuum with a solo that deifies music as you know it. Lately for me listening to some of the elders of Blues: Son House, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, et al seems more rewarding. -
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Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Mon, July 17, 2006 - 5:01 PMI hear you about the acoustic Blues. Mostly, that's what I've been listening to for years.
Son House, John Hurt, Sleepy John etc... this has been hitting me deeper.
-Eric -
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Unsu...
Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Mon, July 17, 2006 - 5:10 PMIf you're into acoustic, check out John Long. He's much more the real deal than you'd think given his appearance.
Other things, My favourite old-timer acoustic will be Robert Pete Williams. He recorded some stuff @ Angola Prison and it shows. As ragged as it comes. I also favours Fred McDowell, he's the godfather of Mississippi Hills country blues, you can feel his stuff in the likes of R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. What do you think of Rory Block's early LPs?
I also liked the coupla acoustic experiments by Buddy Guy, there's a CD of his with Jr Wells called "Live @ Legends" that blows you away.
As for John Hurt, I liked his fingerpicking, but the voice, tsk, tsk, I like more ragged types. Son House, I totally agree there. One of my all-time favourites.
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Re: Electric or Acoustic??
Mon, July 17, 2006 - 5:17 PMI love John Hurt's voice. He's the first "smooth" sounding singer that really hit me.
There's a stillness, a quietness, he's very Zen-like in his being of playing music.
I've always liked "ragged" singers too, still do, but John Hurt turned me onto something I hadn't yet discovered in Blues singers.
I love Fred McDowell too, but I'm not familiar with Rory Block.
-Eric
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