Deep Inside My Heart I Know I Can’t Escape

 

Here’s some heresy for you:

 

Who is the greatest blues songwriter?  Willie Dixon?  Robert Johnson?  Howlin’ Wolf?  Muddy Waters?  B.B. King?

 

I think a serious case could be made for one Robert Zimmerman.

Reconsider Baby

Another album missing from Gibson’s best covers album list is From the Cradle by Eric Clapton, a terrific collection of blues standards performed flawlessly – and sung passionately – by the greatest blues guitarist of all time.

No use standin’ around crying, but I’m tore down that this masterpiece was omitted.

BTW, his tribute to Robert Johnson is also amazing.  Red hot renditions of 14 of the most influential blues tunes ever written.

I’m On My Knees

I may not hold him up quite as high as I do some other blues guitar legends, but I’ll tell you this much:  Buddy Guy’s Baby Please Don’t Leave is the best blues recording so far this millennium.

It’s got a hypnotic groove, a trippy atmosphere, raw, emotional vocals, and near perfect guitar.  Buddy somehow pulls together a sound that blends the best of Hendrix, Clapton, Page and himself, and erects it on the rock of the Delta.

It’s a long, painful, wailing triumph.  Respect.

Slow Train Coming

Have a listen to Joe Bonamassa at the Vienna Opera House.

You can hear the train.  You can feel the sweat running down your neck as you bend to pick cotton under the noonday sun.  You start thinking about your papa breaking rocks on a chain gang.

When he’s plugged in, Joe Bonamassa can blow your ears off as well as blow your mind, but his performance in this concert proves you don’t need a Les Paul plugged into a Marshall.  Heavy Metal?  Nothing is heavier than these blues, brother.  Nothing.

Tell the truth and shame the devil

A while back I saw Harrison Kennedy live.

Check this guy out! He's fantastic. A genuine blues man of the old school. I mean old school.

He's real. He's raw. He's a complete throwback. Something straight out of the 30's, like he hung out with Son House and Robert Johnson and just stepped through a time portal.  He tells the truth.

Keep strummin' and pickin' bro'. You got the mojo for sure.