A Rock-n-Roll Primer
Hard to believe that it took a bunch of long-haired Brits to turn this All American Boy on to American Blues, but that's the way it happened, for me and countless other Baby Boomers.
Without the works of John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds, Savoy Brown, Jeff Beck and their contemporaries, heaven only knows when I would have discovered indigenous American Music.
The guy who put the nail in the coffin and hooked me for life grew up in the Bronx. At 14 he would hang at Birdland, in the "Milk Gallery" section. He ended up fronting the original "Bad Boys from Boston", the incomporable J. Geils Band. Saw them at the Fillmore East when I was 15 and haven't looked quite the same since.
Yaboo, baby, it's a wild world.
Here's a "down & dirty" Blues & R&B primer of Artists and their works offered as suggested listening. Consider it a "mini College of Musical Knowledge" of sorts. Use it as necessary...especially for those times when you need a "bail out zone" on the highway of life.
Howlin Wolf - "The London Sessions"
John Lee Hooker - "The Gold Collection"
Various Artists - "Beg, Scream & Shout" (on Rhino the definitive R&B collection)
Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - "Alone & Acoustic"
The Allman Brothers Band - "Live At The Fillmore East"
Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughn - "In Session"
Buddy Guy - "Damn Right I Got The Blues"
Fats Domino - "Alive & Kickin"
Hot Tuna - "Burgers"
Jimmy Rogers All Stars - "Blues, Blues, Blues"
Eric Clapton - "From The Cradle"
Janis Joplin - "Pearl"
Eric Clapton & BB King - "Riding With The King"
The J Geils Band - "The J Geils Band"
Big Al Carson& The Bluesmasters - "Live @ The Funky Pirate Vol 1"
Peter Wolf - "Lights Out", Come as You Are", "Up To NO Good",
"Fools Parade", Long Line", "Sleepless"
Roomful of Blues - "The First Album"
Charlie Musselwhite - "One Night in America"
Ray Charles - "The Birth of Soul"
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - "Jukebox"
Jimi Hendrix - "South Saturn Delta"
Led Zeppelin - "Led Zeppelin 1 & 2"
Jeff Beck - "Beckology"
