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 60 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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Elizabeth Cotten was among the most influential guitarists to surface during the roots music revival era, her wonderfully expressive and dexterous fingerpicking style was a major inspiration to the generations of players who followed in her wake. And her stunningly familiar and sweet voice is to die for.
This album was recorded later in her life after the Seeger family, who she worked for, discovered she played music. They got her in to the studio to record some albums. It was perfect timing as the folk revival was just about to go in to full swing. This album is stunning in it's warmth, beauty, tradition and earthy-realness. It's hard to describe. But listening to this album is like being in another world and another time for a bit. I can't recommend this enough if you are in to or getting in to Folk, Blues, Country, or Americana. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
This album was recorded later in her life after the Seeger family, who she worked for, discovered she played music. They got her in to the studio to record some albums. It was perfect timing as the folk revival was just about to go in to full swing. This album is stunning in it's warmth, beauty, tradition and earthy-realness. It's hard to describe. But listening to this album is like being in another world and another time for a bit. I can't recommend this enough if you are in to or getting in to Folk, Blues, Country, or Americana. [First added to this chart: 05/31/2014]
Total albums: 1. Page 1 of 1
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60 Shades of the Deep Blues composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 1 | 2% | |
| 1960s | 3 | 5% | |
| 1970s | 7 | 12% | |
| 1980s | 8 | 13% | |
| 1990s | 34 | 57% | |
| 2000s | 6 | 10% | |
| 2010s | 1 | 2% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Various Artists | 4 | 7% | |
| Blind Lemon Jefferson | 1 | 2% | |
| Ramblin' Thomas & The Dallas Blues Singers | 1 | 2% | |
| Lightnin' Hopkins | 1 | 2% | |
| Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup | 1 | 2% | |
| The Mississippi Sheiks | 1 | 2% | |
| Tommy Johnson (US) | 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 |
60 Shades of the Deep Blues similar charts
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blues Compilations |  briggs54 | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Best of Best ofs |  Norman Bates | Custom chart | 2016 |  |
| State Lists: Mississippi | briggs54 | Custom chart | 2015 | |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | Shipyard | Overall chart | 2020 |  |
| Blues Albums of the 60's that U must own | Johnnyo | Custom chart | 2020 |  |
| Genre Favorites #3: Electric Blues |  NickVolos | Custom chart | 2014 |  |
| Top 11 Music Albums of 1960 | Mercury | 1960 year chart | 2021 | |
| Top 11 Greatest Music Albums | ln68 | Overall chart | 2010 |  |
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Other custom charts by Mercury
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan Chart | Mercury | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| My special, boyhood list | Mercury | Custom chart | 2021 | |
| 60 Shades of the Deep Blues | Mercury | Custom chart | 2022 | |
| 1960s Singer/Songwriter Albums | Mercury | Custom chart | 2017 | |
| Top 50 1970 Singer/Songwriter Albums | Mercury | Custom chart | 2017 | |
Mercury has created 6 other custom charts - click here to explore them all.
60 Shades of the Deep Blues ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 60 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/02/2021 17:55 |  rockbluesfolkjaz | 74 | 87/100 |
| ! | 06/11/2021 14:38 |  Timestarter | 114 | 90/100 |
| ! | 11/08/2020 05:02 | DJENNY | 4,365 | 100/100 |
| ! | 09/07/2020 16:38 |  arthurbittencour | 162 | 90/100 |
| ! | 03/18/2020 16:21 |  Jameth | 47 | 96/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 94.8/100, a mean average of 95.4/100, 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 | #257864
Mercury 09/07/2020 16:46 | #257864
@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)
From arthurbittencourt 09/07/2020 16:38 | #257863
arthurbittencourt 09/07/2020 16:38 | #257863
95 / 100 just because no Howlin' Wolf.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Jameth 03/18/2020 16:37 | #248848
Jameth 03/18/2020 16:37 | #248848
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)
From crimson 12/18/2019 03:49 | #245776
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)
From 
Boltzmann 12/17/2019 22:05 | #245768
Boltzmann 12/17/2019 22:05 | #245768
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)
From Steppenwolf666 12/17/2019 13:22 | #245753
Very informative. A subject i don't know too much about.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
StefanR10 07/05/2019 07:42 | #238967
StefanR10 07/05/2019 07:42 | #238967
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | -3 votes (0 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
From arthurbittencourt 03/08/2019 05:27 | #233211
arthurbittencourt 03/08/2019 05:27 | #233211
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)
From boppare 01/21/2019 21:16 | #230212
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)
From 
Jasonconfused 11/15/2018 23:57 | #224987
Jasonconfused 11/15/2018 23:57 | #224987
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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