Best Ever Albums

Re: What is the blues?

Johnnyo — Wed, 1 Jan 2014 04:13:08 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 01/01/2014 09:13

Applerill wrote:

Nick Cave bro.

Nice, left field choice. Thanks for your suggestion.

Re: What is the blues?

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 17:56:08 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/31/2013 22:56

I've always made a distinction between groups like Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, T-Bone Walker and Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. The former made the genre and the latter admittedly appropriated it.

Anyways, "the blues" to me is often a black man with a guitar playing (what has become) the "blues scales" with blue, or bent, notes.

EDIT: to clarify, I purposefully included race in my definition as I believe the music is dependent on racial conditions in the US, where it was created. There is no UK blues. There is no white blues.

Re: What is the blues?

MrBrown — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 14:05:12 GMT

Author: MrBrown

Posted: 12/31/2013 19:05

If you want some Rolling Stones albums in there then I think that you could include up to Now! After that I would say they really started being a rock n roll band. I probably wouldn't even put those albums in though to be honest, people always refer to them as R&B albums, or maybe those two are similar enough anyway. I don't know...

Re: What is the blues?

NickVolos — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 08:15:21 GMT

Author: NickVolos

Posted: 12/31/2013 13:15

Johnnyo wrote:

So, what do you think? What qualifies an album as "the blues". Any thoughts would be
appreciated. Also, what would you put in the chart?

Sounds like a good idea - go for it! 😄

As you probably know, blues have a certain form - following a certain progression of chords, such as the 12-bar blues, a certain lyrical content and can be categorized in various sub-genres, so you might want to mention it in the album description as a guide. Also some of the albums you mention (early Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin and so on) don't fall into a strictly blues category but rather into the blues-rock genre, so might want to consider whether to add them or not. Finally, it may make sense to sort the chart in chronological order so as to see the progression through time.

Re: What is the blues?

Applerill — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 06:20:00 GMT

Author: Applerill

Posted: 12/31/2013 11:20

Nick Cave bro.

What is the blues?

Johnnyo — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 04:54:44 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 12/31/2013 09:54

I'm thinking of creating a chart of the greatest blues albums of all time but which artists / albums do I include? Clearly, artists like JL Hooker, Memphis Slim, Howlin' Wolf are shoe ins. Also early Fleetwwod Mac, John Mayall, early Clapton are clearly blues albums but where does the blues end?

For me, the 1st 2 Led Zep albums are the blues but once you get to LZ 4, would this still qualify? Also, Keith Richards refers to the Stones as a blues band & early Stones albums certainly are but what about later albums.

So, what do you think? What qualifies an album as "the blues". Any thoughts would be appreciated. Also, what would you put in the chart?