Your favorite blues album?


I would like to know what you think to be your favorite blues album. I have several compilations, some Big Joe Turner, and several Chicago local blues artists, but am looking for more. Please include why you like the album. I'm trying to expand my "Blues" horizons, and I know I have come to the right place. I look forward to your comments.

Bean
limabean683
Here's a few of my personal favorites:
1. "Showdown", with Albert Collins, Robert Cray, and Johnny Copeland (this recording was a Grammy winner, which often means nothing, but in this case was deserved).
2. Buddy Guy: "Damn Right I've Got The Blues".
3. Luther Allison: "Reckless", and "Luther's Blues".
4. Katie Webster: "Swamp Boogie Queen".
5. Joe Williams: "Nothing But The Blues" (Delos label).
6. Koko Taylor: almost anything is great, but "Force of Nature" is a great place to start.
7. Etta James: "Seven Year Itch".
I'll add a extra few to all of the above:
*J-L Hooker: "Never Get Out of These Blues Alive"
*ditto, "Hooker n Heat"
*E James: "Stickin to My Guns"
*K Webster: "Two-Fisted Mama"
*"The London Muddy Waters Sessions"
*Screamin' J Hawkins: "Black Music for White People"
*Big Mama Thornton: "Jail"
J Wells, J Cotton: "Harpattack!"

Pick any one, for my *best*; choice is too tough for me!
Albert King "Ill Play The Blues For You". He learned to play an upsidedown righthand guitar lefthanded and played with bare fingers. Hear his influence in countless players, especially Hendrix and SRV. I like to listen to Alligator collections, lots of great artists. "Mr. Lucky" is another good one. Have you heard "Dot Com Blues"? I think its by Jimmy Smith. Heard it the other day at a friends, really hot. Oh well, too many to list, gotta go' I feel the blues comin on.
"Strike a Deep Chord", sub-titled "Blues For The Homeless". This is a CD by various artists. It came out several years ago and proceeds from its sales were to go to the homeless. I don't know if it's still available, but is sure worth looking for-- there is incredible emotion and understanding of the homeless on this album.

I also really like Buddy Guy's "Damn Right I've Got the Blues", his other music, and anything by Koko Taylor. Cheers. Craig
a couple more to add to the list: taj mahal, "an evening of acoustic music"; lucinda williams, "car wheels on a gravel road." -kelly