Topic: Building a Country Blues CD collection

[boots]

Slack may possibly be able to add to the dictionary, but this would be a mamoth task, 

[Slack]

Slack may possibly be able to add to the dictionary, but this would be a mamoth task, 

You guys are dreaming! - but I'll check anyway.  BTW, "mamoth" is mispelled. 

[mojohand]

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Yes, I am a "newbie" to country blues.  Like many of you, no doubt, my musical interests started with Rock (I was a big heavy metal fan in the 80's).  But as I traced the roots of this back, my love affair with the blues began.  Started with SRV, he lead to Buddy Guy, then Muddy  Waters, then Robert Johnson, etc. with many wonderful side trails along the way.

This is why I was specifically interested in multi-disc sets, to gain a better appreciation of the diversity before delving in to the individual artists works.  I also love to listen to and play slide guitar, and so these recomendations are also appreciated (not necessarly in the same discs)

Anyway, thanks again for all your help.  I look forward to more discussions.

MH

[boots]

Any chance of claiming this as a typo Slack.   

MH - glad the cure worked. 

Boots

[uncle bud]

I'd recommend that you obtain a copy of The New Blackwell Guide to Recorded Blues, edited by John Cowley and Paul Oliver.  I think it's no longer in print, but look for it used or you might be able to borrow a copy from your local library through interlibrary loan.  The book consists of chapters on different areas/periods of the blues written by experts in each area (Songsters and Proto-Blues by Paul Oliver, Early Deep South and Mississippi Blues by David Evans, Texas and the East Coast by Bruce Bastin, etc.).  In each chapter, the author picks ten essential CDs and writes an essay on each, then choses another 30 recommended recordings and writes a brief paragraph on each.  Read a chapter, then request tracks on the Juke to see what the artist sounds like.

I'm going to enthusiastically second this recommendation from dj. This book is worth seeking out no matter what your expertise (OK, if you have 1000 country blues discs you may not need the advice, but there's still great info from the authors). It is hardcore, recommending recordings that no one with only a passing interest in Country Blues would be caught dead with.   I acted on its advice today in fact, picking up Altamont:Black String Bands on Rounder (freakin' great banjo/fiddle stuff, absolutely wonderful, though be warned the sound is quite rough). This is a great book, and a better resource for spending wildly on CB CDs I can't imagine.

That said, it is, if not out of print, most definitely out of date. Numerous recommendations are themselves out of print (many of the Yazoos, for instance) or currently out of stock indefinitely. But there are workarounds to some of these (JSP) or newer editions (Yazoo's Frank Stokes).

There are a few inevitable quibbles - I'm a little stunned Bruce Bastin, THE authority on East Coast Blues, would recommend Blind Boy Fuller - East Coast Piedmont Style on Columbia, which is probably the worst Fuller compilation out there (buy the Yazoo, or the Indigo, or the weirdly incomplete JSP, or the Documents). There is also a fair amount of UK-centric recommendations for Flyright and Travelin' Man discs (ducking to avoid pelting with now outdated Charles-Camilla souvenirs by our UK friends) that are often very hard to get in North America and if available, hugely expensive. But overall, this is a great, essential book.

[boots]

UB, do you mean to say that something is dearer in the States than the UK. This is truly amazing.

Boots

[Richard]

ducking to avoid pelting with now outdated Charles-Camilla souvenirs by our UK friends

Yes, you should watch out as they do fly well since they were originally designed as a Frisbie to keep the Royal's suitably entertained..

[boots]

What are Chuck & Milly doing on the Forum

[uncle bud]

UB, do you mean to say that something is dearer in the States than the UK. This is truly amazing.

No, I was probably being North American-centric. ? You guys are gouged. Our CDs are cheaper no doubt, just that relative to those CDs on Travellin' Man etc. one generally has to pay a lot less for things on, say, Yazoo, even Document, so recommendations for other UK discs are to be taken with a grain of salt IMO, if you can find the material on another label. I think this has more to do with the rarity of Flyright and Travellin' Man discs over here than anything else. And Travellin' Man is probably the more disputable recommendation, since as far as I know, Flyright tends to focus more on stuff that isn't available elsewhere (lots of East Coast stuff post 1940 etc).

BTW, I'm in Canada, so Camilla will be my queen too. ? (And actually, I say good on 'em, Baby It Must Be Love and all of that.)

Edited to add: just checking amazon.ca and www.mymusic.ca,? I notice my opinion might be out of date as Flyright titles are not extortionate - on the very high end but not as bad as I recall.

[Elliott]

'Backwoods Blues' on Document records. Plenty of tasty slide.