Many of my friends  have always loved the blues but never knew it.  They loved it through rock & roll, which, of course, is the bastard child of the blues. 

They loved it through the Allman Brothers Band, which mined the songs of McKinley Morganfield (aka Muddy Waters) and Elmore James.   Duane and Greg didn't write "Done Somebody Wrong" or "One Way Out,"   but they were smart enough to play them note-for-note the way Elmore first performed them.

They loved it through the Rolling Stones, which was   perhaps the first of the great bands to champion the cause of the dirt-poor musicians who provided us with all this rich music.

They even loved it through Led Zeppelin.  Surely you didn't think that Plant and Page wrote "I Can't Quit You Baby" or "You Shook Me!"  Sorry, dudes, but that pen belonged to the fabulous Willie Dixon, who wrote prolifically and came up with songs like "Spoonful," "Hootchie Cootchie Man," "Little Red Rooster," "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "The Same Thing."

Willie Dixon plays the bass and directs a couple               Elmore James was the king of the slide guitar.
of  fellas named Muddy Waters & Buddy Guy.                    His songs fueled the Allmans, Dead, Stevie Ray.

Anyway, they loved the blues.  And then they wanted to know who to listen to, what to buy.  So I'm going to put some suggestions up here.   It's newer stuff, and the traditionalists would want some old-time stuff because "without the oldtimers, there wouldn't be this stuff."  I agree wholeheartedly.  But I also know that it's the great new stuff that leads people back to the oldtimers with a more fiery passion.

So if you want to buy some great blues, check out my selections and then head on over to amazon.com where they have the best in blues and prices.

PREACHER & THE PRESIDENT          STANDING ROOM ONLY                            SLOW DOWN                  YOU DON'T KNOW MY MIND
Joe Louis Walker                Larry Garner                           Keb Mo                       Guy Davis

LOVER'S PLEA                          AS GOOD AS IT GETS                    BLUES OF THE MONTH CLUB                    DARK NIGHT
W.C. Clark                             Buddy Guy                    Joe Louis Walker           James Armstrong

BLUE TEXAS SOUL               TAKE IT FROM THE TURNAROUND                   STRONG PERSUADER                RESTLESS FEELING
  Tutu Jones                The Paul deLay Band                    Robert Cray            Carl Weathersby