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So what's it all about...

What to do if a close relative of you, let's say a nephew and let's call this, eh, imaginary nephew "Alex", would ask you the following question: "He uncle Harry, this professor of mine would like to start a basic blues genre CD collection with just 75 CD's. Could you put together a list for her?". Right... You probably swallow and collect yourself again before finally answering the question with something stupid like this: "Sure Alex, no problem!".

The mission...

"To compile a list of blues genre wide recordings for starting a blues music collection, primarily, but not only, intended for people new to the blues genre."
Further down this page you'll find the 4th edition of "The List". You are invited to mail me any motivated suggestions you have for "The List". Many thanks in advance!.

New! The Short List...

Is 75 CD's too much for ya for starters?. As an alternative to this list or putting together your own list, you could choose a collection put together by a record company. Have a look at the 15 CD's blues collection short list!

The terms and conditions...

I know, I know... 75 CD's is waaay to few to do the rich legacy of the blues justice and it will do a lot of artists who won't appear on the listed albums injustice!. But that's the challenge that has been put to me. So here are the terms and conditions the "The List" has to comply to, it has to:

-	consist of no more then 75 CD's. In a multi-disc album or box set, each CD will count as 1 of 75 CD's;
-	span all blues decades starting with the 1920's up to and including the 1990's;
-	encompass all 9 basic styles of blues: Chicago, Country, Delta, East Coast, Harmonica, Louisiana, Modern Electric, Texas and West Coast Blues;
-	have male and female performers;
-	have acoustic and electric blues;
-	have, but not be limited to, guitar, harmonica and piano based blues;
-	being a starters collection it ofcourse will have many but may not just consist of "The Complete Recorded Works of..." and "Best of..." albums;
-	and finally but not the least important: all listed albums have to be in print and/or be available for purchase, online or offline!.

The List...

After posting the 1st edition (copy here, 2nd edition copy here, 3rd edition copy here) I received a lot of suggestions and "corrections"; thanks to all these contributors!. Just the cheer number of suggestions meant that not all of them could be added to the list, I had to make some tough choices. I hope you won't be too disappointed if your suggestions are not (all) added to the 4th edition of the list.
In it's 4th edition the list now consists of 52 albums with 75 CD's. This means that adding new artists and/or albums can only be done by removing existing entries in the list. The list will stay open for suggestions but, as the list will be refined with each edition, it will become increasingly more difficult to get your suggestion actually on the list. Still, feel free to mail me motivated suggestions for the list!. Your comments and suggestions on all selected albums are welcome as well!. Listed in alphabetical order by artist.

4th edition, posted July 12, 2000, * = new additions (1st edition posted Februay 12, 2000)

No	Artist(s)	Album	Label/Cat.No.	Blues Style3	CD
1	Big Bill Broonzy	The Young Big Bill Broonzy (1928-35)	Yazoo 1011	ac. Chicago	1
2	Blind Boy Fuller	Truckin' My Blues Away	Yazoo 1060	East coast	1
*3	Blind Lemon Jefferson	King of the Country Blues	Yazoo 1069	acoustic Texas	1
4	Blind Willie Johnson	Complete Recordings of Blind Willie Johnson	Col./Legacy 52835	acoustic Texas	2
5	Blind Willie McTell	The Definitive Blind Willie McTell	Col./Legacy 475701	prewar country	2
6	Clapton, Eric	From the Cradle	Reprise 45735	electric Britisch	1
7	Collins, Albert	Ice Pickin'	Alligator 4713	electric Texas	1
8	Guitar Slim	Sufferin' Mind	Specialty 7007	el. New Orleans	1
9	Guy, Buddy	Buddy's Blues (Chess 50th Anniversary Coll.)	MCA 9374	electric Chicago	1
10	Hooker, John Lee	The Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-1954	Virgin 39658	Delta	1
11	Hooker, John Lee	The Ultimate Collection (1948-1990)	Rhino R2-70572	Delta	2
12	House, Son	Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete '65 Sessions	Columbia 48867	Delta	2
13	Howlin' Wolf	His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)	MCA 9375	Chicago	1
14	James, Elmore	The Sky Is Crying: The History of Elmore James	Rhino R2-71190	electric Chicago	1
15	Johnson, Robert	The Complete Recordings	Col./Legacy 46222	Delta	2
*16	Junior Wells	Hoodoo Man Blues	Delmark DD-612	electric Chicago	1
17	Keb' Mo'	Keb' Mo'	Sony 57863	modern blues	1
18	King, Albert	King of the Blues Guitar	Atlantic 8213-2	soul blues	1
19	King, B.B.	King of the Blues	MCA D4-10677	modern electric	4
20	King, B.B.	Live at the Regal	MCA 11646	modern electric	1
21	King, Freddie	Hide Away: The Best of Freddie King	Rhino R2-71510	modern electric	1
22	Lewis, Furry	In His Prime (1927-1928)	Yazoo 1050	ac. Memphis	1
23	Lightnin' Hopkins	Mojo Hand: The Anthology	R2-71226	Texas	2
24	Little Walter	His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)	MCA 9384	el. harmonica	1
25	Magic Sam	West Side Soul	Delmark DD-615	electric Chicago	1
26	Mayfield, Percy	Poet of the Blues	Specialty 7001	West coast	1
27	Memphis Minnie	Hoodoo Lady (1933-1937)	Columbia	ac. Chicago	1
28	Mississippi John Hurt	Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings	Sony 64986	prewar country	1
29	Patton, Charley	Founder of the Delta Blues	Yazoo 1020	Delta	1
30	Piazza, Rod	The Essential Collection	Hightone 8041	West coast	1
31	Rush, Otis	Ain't Enough Comin' In	Polygram 518769	electric Chicago	1
32	Shepherd, Kenny W.	Ledbetter Heights	WB 24621	contemporary	1
33	Slim Harpo	Scratch My Back: The Best of Slim Harpo	Rhino R2-70169	el. Louisiana	1
34	Smith, Bessie	The Essential Bessie Smith	Col./Legacy 64922	classic female	2
35	Sykes, Roosevelt	Roosevelt Sykes (1929-1941)	Story o/t Blues 3542	piano blues	1
36	Tampa Red	The Guitar Wizard	Col./Legacy 53235	ac. Chicago	1
37	Taylor, Koko	What It Takes: The Chess Years	MCA 9328	electric Chicago	1
38	T-Bone Walker	The Complete Imperial Recordings	EMI 96737	electric Texas	2
39	Various artists	Alligator Records-25th Anniversary Collection	Alligator 110/111	contemporary	2
40	Various artists	Blues Masters, Vol. 2: Post-War Chicago Blues	Rhino R2-71122	Chicago	1
41	Various artists	Blues Masters, Vol. 3: Texas Blues	Rhino R2-71123	Texas	1
42	Various artists	Blues Masters, Vol. 11: Classic Blues Women	Rhino R2-71134	classic female	1
43	Various artists	Chess Blues	MCA 9340	Chicago	4
441	Various artists	Mean Old World: The Blues from 1940 to 19941	Smithsonian Collection 110	various styles	4
451	Various artists	The Blues: Smithsonian Collection of Classic Blues Singers1	Smithsonian Collection 101	various styles	4
46	Various artists	Trouble in Mind: Original Blues Standards	Indigo 2079	various styles	1
47	Vaughan, Stevie Ray	Greatest Hits	Sony 66217	mod. el. Texas	1
48	Waters, Muddy	The Complete Plantation Recordings	MCA 9344	electric Chicago	1
49	Waters, Muddy	The Chess Box	MCA CHD3-80002	electric Chicago	3
50	White, Josh	Blues Singer 1932-1936	Sony 67001	Piedmont	1
51	Williamson II, Sonny Boy	His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)	MCA 9377	harmonica	1
52	Witherspoon, Jimmy	Blowin' in from Kansas City	Capitol 86299	Jazz blues	1
.	.	Total no. of CD's			75

Price: on average the collection will cost you US Dollar 12 per CD. 1 US Dollar is approximately 1 Euro.

Note 1: more info about these selections at this link Smithsonian Institution Press, tel. U.S. (800) 863-9943.
Note 2: estimated price
Note 3: ac.=acoustic, el.=electric, mod.=modern.

New! The Short List...

This list is based on the widely available Rhino Blues Masters series that covers a wide variety of blues styles and artists. There are more of these multi-volume blues series out there but most of them are artist based and not style based like this series and as far as I know the Rhino Blues Masters series is the best of the latter category. Not unimportant for a starters collection: the volumes of this series come with good liner notes and overall sound quality is ok!. The series consists of 15 volumes plus 3 "More of..." volumes plus 1 sampler.

Depending on where you buy it you can pick up a volume for as less as USD 9 (Feb. 2000) at Tower Records (www.towerrecords.com) or for the list price of USD 11,50 (Feb. 2000) at www.cdnow.com. At these prices the 15 CD set will cost you USD 135, 172,50 resp. or if you go for all 18 volumes + sampler USD 171, USD 218,5 resp. European visitors might check out the belgian e-store www.proxis.be, they have an extensive blues collection and reasonable prices, you pay about 13 Euro per volume. These are just three places on the internet I checked, you might even get a better deal at your local record store.



1st edition, posted February 20, 2000

No.	Album	No. songs	Label/Cat.No.	Price, USD
1	Blues Masters, Vol. 1: Urban Blues	18	Rhino R2-71121	9 / 11,5
2	Blues Masters, Vol. 2: Post-War Chicago	18	Rhino R2-71122	9 / 11,5
3	Blues Masters, Vol. 3: Texas Blues	18	Rhino R2-71123	9 / 11,5
4	Blues Masters, Vol. 4: Harmonica Classics	18	Rhino R2-71124	9 / 11,5
5	Blues Masters, Vol. 5: Jump Blues Classics	18	Rhino R2-71125	9 / 11,5
6	Blues Masters, Vol. 6: Blues Originals	18	Rhino R2-71127	9 / 11,5
7	Blues Masters, Vol. 7: Blues Revival	17	Rhino R2-71128	9 / 11,5
8	Blues Masters, Vol. 8: Mississippi Delta Blues	18	Rhino R2-71130	9 / 11,5
9	Blues Masters, Vol. 9: Postmodern Blues	16	Rhino R2-71132	9 / 11,5
10	Blues Masters, Vol. 10: Blues Roots	16	Rhino R2-71135	9 / 11,5
11	Blues Masters, Vol. 11: Classic Blues Women	18	Rhino R2-71134	9 / 11,5
12	Blues Masters, Vol. 12: Memphis Blues	18	Rhino R2-71129	9 / 11,5
13	Blues Masters, Vol. 13: New York City Blues	18	Rhino R2-71131	9 / 11,5
14	Blues Masters, Vol. 14: More Jump Blues	18	Rhino R2-71133	9 / 11,5
15	Blues Masters, Vol. 15: Slide Guitar Classics	18	Rhino R2-71126	9 / 11,5
.	plus	265	.	135 / 172,50
16	Blues Masters, Vol. 16: More Harmonica Classics	16	Rhino R2-75346	9 / 11,5
17	Blues Masters, Vol. 17: More Postmodern Blues	16	Rhino R2-75347	9 / 11,5
18	Blues Masters, Vol. 18: More Slide Guitar Classics	18	Rhino R2-75348	9 / 11,5
19	Blues Masters Sampler	15	Rhino R2-71401	9 / 11,5
.	Total no. of songs and estimated price:	330	.	171 / 218,50

Price: indication of price in US Dollar (USD). 1 US Dollar is approximately 1 Euro.

Site created by:
Bluesman Harry
Page last updated on:
August 18 2000