60 Shades of the Deep Blues by 
Mercury 
So for this chart I wanted to give a nice overview of some great, essential deep blues. If you want more discussion and history feel free to check out the corresponding "Genre Extravaganza: DEEP BLUES/COUNTRY BLUES" forum topic. It's really old now so it may be a challenge to uncover it. ; )
Also read books on it. I'd say the best introduction to the story of this amazing music is the book "Deep Blues" by Robert Palmer. It's what I stole the name of this chart from and it's one of my favorite books of any kind.
If you have any recommendations or questions or if you like some particular artist and want to know who/what to check out next - all those things should be made in to comments. And I promise oh get back with you.
Love you beautiful people.
Peace,
Ryan
- Chart updated: 06/12/2022 17:15
- (Created: 05/30/2014 22:56).
- Chart size: 60 albums.
There are 28 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and 60 Shades of the Deep Blues has an average rating of 95 out of 100 (from 61 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Yazoo's Original Rolling Stone is a wonderful disc containing 14 of the 17 sides Robert Wilkins recorded before the war. Wilkins was one of the great country-blues artists, and these songs -- including "Rollin' Stone," "That's No Way to Get Along," "Jailhouse Blues" and "I'll Go with Her" -- became legendary, not only because the songs were terrific (which they are) but also because the performances are intense and haunting.
Yeah this should be in your listen list if you want to hear some exemplary Delta Blues nuggets. Really awesome stuff through and through. [First added to this chart: 03/29/2015]
Yeah this should be in your listen list if you want to hear some exemplary Delta Blues nuggets. Really awesome stuff through and through. [First added to this chart: 03/29/2015]
1
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After WWII country blues began to die out, and newer electric blues began to take over, a few throwbacks still emerged and forged their own careers while sticking to the old model. Melvin "Lil Son" Jackson was one of those great throwbacks. His music, much like Lightnin' Hopkins' (and if you love Lightnin' you'll probably love Lil Son) was earthy and natural and traditional while still feeling uniquely his own. His guitar playing was pretty straight country blues, but his singing was a cool and nonchalant thing. And as a songwriter he had an ability to veer away from classic blues cliché while using the same basic blues form. He made his words distinctly his own. Highly recommended Texas blues album and artist here.
[First added to this chart: 11/09/2014]
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Before he went full revolutionary on us with his loud amplified blues, Muddy Waters was just one of the crop of excellent and earthy delta blues singers who followed up the original slate of early blues singers in the delta region. Here on this set you hear the distinct deep holler of Waters accompanied by heavily Robert Johnson inspired delta blues guitar and music. While this isn't nearly so vital and earth shatteringly intense as RJ's stuff, it's nothing to shake a stick at.
Also the story of how these recordings were made is fascinating. Apparently Alan Lomax went looking for Robert Johnson just a few years after his death. Upon his investigations in to the whereabouts of the King, many of the locals referred him to this young man - muddy waters - who sounded a whole lot like him. And so Lomax recorded him and the rest is history. Amazing Muddy's discovery may be one of the most influential moments in the history of American music. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
Also the story of how these recordings were made is fascinating. Apparently Alan Lomax went looking for Robert Johnson just a few years after his death. Upon his investigations in to the whereabouts of the King, many of the locals referred him to this young man - muddy waters - who sounded a whole lot like him. And so Lomax recorded him and the rest is history. Amazing Muddy's discovery may be one of the most influential moments in the history of American music. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
34. (=)
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This album is a concise collection that captures the magic and engaging power of Delta Blues as good as any. Everything from the passion of the vocals to the sliding guitar, it's an organic experience. This should be required listening for anyone wanting to get deeper into Delta blues.
[First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
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St. Louis blues steeped in the rich delta style. Gotta love it. Rich, beautiful guitar and piano heavy blues. Henry Townsend was one of the more technically proficient guitarist playing the blues in his time and he was one of the leaders of the oft-overlooked St. Louis blues scene. He is something of a local hero amongst all is blues-loving St. Louisans.
RIP Mr. Townsend. You are not forgotten here. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
RIP Mr. Townsend. You are not forgotten here. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
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Brownie McGhee is another damn fine, and downright essential Piedmont blues guitarist. His recordings, and especially his recordings with his friend and Harpist Sonny Terry, are warm and rich and endearing as hell. He was an accomplished guitarist in the blues style and he was always able to breathe life and interest in to some of the greatest and most familiar folk songs.
[First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
37. (=)
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Furry was similar in some ways to John Hurt in his beautiful and soft finger picked guitar style and soft vocal style. He was also a fabulous story teller and interpreter of folk music. This is a musician that I think all you Mississppi John Hurt and Leadbelly lovers will find much pleasure in.
[First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
38. (=)
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Ramblin Thomas was a mysterious and talented country blues artist almost forgotten in time. he was known for living up to his name, traveling all over the country and never settling down. In this collection of recordings you'll hear that when he did stop rambling long enough to record, it was worth it. The songs here sound like they'd been very poorly preserved, hissing and warping and garbled all over. But through all the bullshit, the truth and the beauty of the real old time blues rings out. On this set are some fantastic lyrics and some really unique rhythmically substantial guitar picking. This man was really a great acoustic guitarist, all over the place, switching the rhythm of his picking at the drop of a dime and at his whim.
[First added to this chart: 11/09/2014]
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Though not known so much as a particularly great singer, Clifford "Grandpappy" Gibson was an excellent guitarist, among the finest pure players in country blues. Gibson moved from Kentucky to St. Lous in the '20s, where he lived the remainder of his life. He frequently played St. Louis clubs during the '20s. He was greatly influenced by Lonnie Johnson, another St. Louis regular. You can hear the influence in his similarly jazzy inflection, detailed and nuanced fingerpicking patterns and amazing feel for blues of various kinda and moods. If you want to hear more early blues guitar virtuosos along the lines of Scrapper and Blind Blake as Lonnie Johnson, you really should dip in to this man's work.
[First added to this chart: 03/28/2015]
Year of Release:
1972
Appears in:
Rank in 1972:
None
Rank in 1970s:
None
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Josh White's career is interesting. He was a major member of the crowd that pushed forward the folk revival. And he became his most polished and popular in the 50s and early 60s in such a way. But earlier he was actually a major figure in this here piedmont style blues thing in the 30s. This dude was an apprentice of sorts to legends such as Blind Blake and even the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson (aka the King of the Country Blues). He was absolutely a fine guitarist with a nice, emotive and sweet voice.
[First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
Total albums: 60. Page 4 of 6
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60 Shades of the Deep Blues composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 2 | 3% | |
| 1960s | 2 | 3% | |
| 1970s | 7 | 12% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 13% | |
| 1990s | 34 | 57% | |
| 2000s | 6 | 10% | |
| 2010s | 1 | 2% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Various Artists | 4 | 7% | |
| Texas Alexander | 1 | 2% | |
| Big Bill Broonzy | 1 | 2% | |
| Curley Weaver | 1 | 2% | |
| Sonny Boy Williamson | 1 | 2% | |
| Robert Wilkins | 1 | 2% | |
| Charley Patton | 1 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
60 Shades of the Deep Blues chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 4 from 12th to 8th Steppin' On The Blues by Lonnie Johnson |
| Up 3 from 8th to 5th Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker by Blind Blake (US) |
| Up 2 from 13th to 11th The Original 1928 Recordings by Mississippi John Hurt |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 4 from 2nd to 6th King Of The Country Blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson |
| Down 4 from 9th to 13th The Complete Library Of Congress Sessions 1941-1942 by Son House |
| Down 3 from 7th to 10th Founder Of The Delta Blues by Charley Patton |
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NickVolos (2014) - Top 11 Music Albums of 1960 by Mercury (2021)
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Mercury (2023)60 Shades of the Deep Blues ratings
95/100 (from 61 votes)
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Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 61 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 85/100  | 09/02/2021 17:55 |  rockbluesfolkjaz | | 87/100 |
| 85/100 | 06/11/2021 14:38 |  Timestarter | | 90/100 |
| 100/100 | 11/08/2020 05:02 | DJENNY | | 100/100 |
| 95/100 | 09/07/2020 16:38 |  arthurbittencour | | 90/100 |
| 100/100 | 03/18/2020 16:21 |  Jameth | | 96/100 |
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This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 94.9/100, a mean average of 95.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 96.4/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 7.2.
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60 Shades of the Deep Blues comments
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From Mercury 09/07/2020 16:46
Mercury 09/07/2020 16:46
@arthurbittencourt - lol I get it. I love the wild. I am not familiar with a deep delta blues album of his. Pre-war mostly acoustic blues is the center of this chart. I have another chart which I’ve not finished after years of procrastination which is about my fave post WWII mostly electric blues which howlin Wolf is high on cuz he is one of the greats.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
95/100
From arthurbittencourt 09/07/2020 16:38
arthurbittencourt 09/07/2020 16:38
95 / 100 just because no Howlin' Wolf.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From Jameth 03/18/2020 16:37
Jameth 03/18/2020 16:37
Document Records cut their albums straight, which is why they’re so noisy. You can find comps for Tommy Johnson and others which have lower noise levels. Another important example of this is the more recent Centennial Collection for Robert Johnson, which contains all of the tracks found on The Complete Recordings (plus two more), but is much more listenable. Anyways, I thought I’d mention this because it might be better to steer people new to the blues or pre-war recordings towards the lower noise recordings. Or even to post-war tape recordings for those artists that are fortunate enough to have recorded to tape, such as Son House and Blind Willie McTell.
Thanks for helping the cause of the blues with this awesome chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From crimson 12/18/2019 03:49
Man, one of the greatest charts in this site. A loooot to be discovered by the common man in here.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From 
Boltzmann 12/17/2019 22:05
Boltzmann 12/17/2019 22:05
Damn, my blues doesn't go that deep, but I'm glad someone is willing to take the effort to make such a chart. It wouldn't be bad for me to get educated on blues and see where it overlaps with and how it evolved into rock 'n' roll. My previous efforts have been tiresome and unfruitful (everything is hard to find), maybe your chart will be good guidance.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
90/100
From Steppenwolf666 12/17/2019 13:22
Very informative. A subject i don't know too much about.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
85/100
From 
StefanR10 07/05/2019 07:42
StefanR10 07/05/2019 07:42
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
95/100
From arthurbittencourt 03/08/2019 05:27
arthurbittencourt 03/08/2019 05:27
How old are you my good friend? and how long have you been listening to blues?
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
100/100
From boppare 01/21/2019 21:16
I thought I knew all there was to know about the Pre-war "deep blues", but this chart just made me add a few albums to my wishlist. Some excellent selections and comments.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
100/100
From 
Jasonconfused 11/15/2018 23:57
Jasonconfused 11/15/2018 23:57
What an undertaking! I'll have to get to work on this immediately.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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