Anyone hear like blues?

And to Farmer:

Yeah! Broonzy and Harpo are both great.

Ed, for some reason, I couldn't get more than a couple of notes out of the Harpo tune you posted--then it quit. I couldn't even tell what tune it was. But, while on the topic of Slim, here's one of my favorites by him. Good ole down-home swamp harp, but I also like the lyrics:

Well, if I cook my own breakfast....
then I wash my own clothes....
Give my Baby all my money...
And she turn up her nose...
Well, that aint yo bidnizz...
Leave my fairs alone.

Classic tune, Farmer. Since covered by virtually everybody and his brother. I really like Little Walter's rendition, too:

It must have been a temporary glitch, because Slim's music just played for me.

Yeah, you're right. I tried it 3 times before, but could only get a few notes. Now it plays just fine. Scratch my Back, another classic!

You didn't like Bobby Blue Bland?

Bobby's good, but I never really listen to him, I guess. Maybe a little too "smooth" for my taste, I dunno.

That said, I really like Sam Cooke, who I see as very similar to Bobby in that respect.

Some good boogie-woogie from Big Joe Turner (Pete Johnson on piano) in this here clip, from the movie "Lackawanna Blues" (not to even mention some HOT BABES!)

If you haven't heard this tune from the 20's called "Bulldoze Blues" by Henry Thomas, playing a home-made reed flute, you might nonetheless find it very familiar, somehow:

Good insert, Vitamins! Son House, mentor to Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, many others, and a tremendous influence on all the old delta bluesmen. Especially with his slide guitar, which isn't even on this immortal tune--just some hand-clapping is his only accompaniment. In many tunes his guitar also functioned as his "drum."

The original Sonny Boy--John Lee Williamson. That boy could sure blow himself some harp!

Ya know, I sent my Baby...
A brand-new twenty-dollar bill...
Well, if that don't fetch her...
I'm sure this trusty ole shotgun will....

Terrific thread.

Following and listening. Will try to remember to drop in some tunes along the way.

Coming up: Young Bob Dylan's idol, white "bluesman" from Oklahoma, the great Woody Guthrie.

A story Sonny Terry told about Woody is one I like to re-tell. Woody played a "concert" in Jackson, Mississippi, probably somewhere in the late 30's. He was a "celebrity" and very well received. So much so, that before the concert, the Mayor told him they would like him to attend a banquet in his honor, over at the Union Hall, after the concert. Woody said "sure."

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee were playing and travelling with Woody at the time, and after the concert the 3 went over to the party. When they got to the door, Woody was told those "black boys" couldn't come in, but everyone was looking forward to him attending.

So Woody turned to Brownie and Sonny, told them to wait, and went on in. Inside, men and women there were dressed to the teeth, in tuxedos and elaborate gowns and they all started applauding when Woody came in. Woody saw a banquet table over near the corner, about 15 feet long, and crammed with virtually every type of food imaginable. He went straight to it.

When he got there, he slowly scanned the whole crowd, still applauding, up and down, back and forth. Then, suddenly, he grabbed the tablecloth and viciously yanked it. All the food went flying in every direction, all over the floors, walls, and dressed-up men and women.

Then Woody gave them all a good, loud and long cussing--telling them that if his friends weren't good enough for them, then he sure as hell didn't want a damn thing to do with them. Then he stomped out.

Coming out he said to Brownie and Sonny: "C'mon fellas, let's go across town to Ida Mae's and get some real food." Brownie and Sonny were impressed.

Welcome, Beth.

Glad you like the thread. Most won't, but some will, I figure.

Raise your window....
I aint goin out that door...
If I get away this time...
I won't get caught no more....

The second Sonny Boy Williamson (who stole the name of the first), Rice Miller, was the star of the King Biscuit Flour Hour in Helena, Arkansas throughout the 1940's. He was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, and played on street corners down there with, among others, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and Howlin Wolf, his brother-in-law. Like many others, Miller later migrated to Chicago and recorded for Chess Records. He moved to England for a spell in the 60's (hence the derby hat), but came home and died in Helena in 1965.

Sonny Boy was a major influence on blues with his tunes being covered by Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, B. B. King, Junior Wells and later musicians such as Van Morrison, the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Rory Gallager, John Mayhall, Canned Heat, and many others.

The man his self, doin his classic tune, Statesboro Blues, later a hit for The Allman Brothers:

Nice little compilation, there, Usery. You could start a million arguments about the 10 best blues songs of all time, of course, but those are all good.