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Wood Goblin wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2024 4:45 pm I wouldn’t say I have a super-deep knowledge of any of them, so my opinion is poorly informed, but Howling Wolf. Waters next. John Lee Hooker never did much for me.

I’ll add that some of those sides recorded at the Chess studio on Michigan Avenue sound amazing. As in, among-the-best-ever-sounding-recordings amazing.

losthighway wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2024 5:28 pm

Wood Goblin wrote: Thu Jul 11, 2024 4:45 pm I wouldn’t say I have a super-deep knowledge of any of them, so my opinion is poorly informed, but Howling Wolf. Waters next. John Lee Hooker never did much for me.

I’ll add that some of those sides recorded at the Chess studio on Michigan Avenue sound amazing. As in, among-the-best-ever-sounding-recordings amazing.

Agree with all of this. I'll take Albert King over Hooker for sure.

I was just thinking about the blues. The podcast 'A History of Rock in 500 Songs' is great, and the dude paints an interesting picture of blues. His research (much of which is in the episode on Cream) suggests that the genre of blues is kind of a white projection on black singers that created the market that codified the genre. Some musicologist like Alan Lomax digs up a talented southern black singer (I think in this case it was Son House) who plays a wide repertoire. He then asks the guy to play all of his blues songs he knows. Dude obliges. Then he's a "blues artist" when those songs come out on record.

Obviously this isn't saying that blues music didn't exist, or that black artists weren't playing it, but that basically it became defined by white producers marketing"race records". Most original blues artists didn't see it as an all encompassing genre but just one of several song types they'd perform. It'd be like if someone produced a compilation of murder ballads and then people started saying they were really into murder ballad singers.

I discovered most of what I find frustratingly repetitive about the structure and form of blues music is not a product of the artist's creativity but the outside forces of producers and marketing.

Either way, Howlin Wolf rules.

gotdamn wrote: Fri Jul 12, 2024 2:21 am John Lee Hooker was the whole goddamn show, his backing bands were so frequently not operating at his level that his discography is insanely spotty. His collab album with Canned Heat is a wonderful exception. Lightnin' Hopkins had similar issues, but he could straighten out his playing when needed, Hooker just knew how to be Hooker. I don't believe anyone could best him as a song and dance man, and he still sounds absolutely alive coming out of the speaker. Whosoever played mind-numbing 12-bar from the 60's onwards should have spent more time with his music, god knows ZZ Top and The Groundhogs did.

Both Wolf and Muddy maintained active bands full of stellar musicians and I think they'll always be definitive when people discuss the blues. Wolf had that "3 packs a day, no filters" voice and a bolder emphasis on the backbeat, so he wins. Play "How Many More Years" at my funeral.