Buddy Guy - Sweet Tea (2001)

My knowledge and enjoyment of the blues has always been largely limited to the rawest, most minimal form of the genre -- one man, one guitar, and 99 problems. But a while back I worked briefly with a blues aficionado, who put on Sweet Tea and said it was some of the greatest electric blues ever recorded. I didn't (and still don't) really know shit, but about two minutes into the hypnotic, menacing fuzz of "Baby Please Don't Leave Me", I was inclined to agree.

Track listing:
1. Done Got Old
2. Baby Please Don't Leave Me
3. Look What All You Got
4. Stay All Night
5. Tramp
6. She Got the Devil in Her
7. I Gotta Try You Girl
8. Who's Been Foolin' You
9. It's a Jungle Out There

I got something on my shoulder
Just waiting for you, babe

Also listen to:

Lightnin' Hopkins -
Lightnin' Strikes (1963)

Dr. John -
Babylon (1969)

Dr. John - Babylon (1969)

Mind-melting second album from this New Orleans legend. A dense stew of bluesy guitar, hammond organ, clattering percussion, saxophone, soulful backup singers, and the man's own gravel-throated vocals over raw, buoyant grooves. Bursting with life but heavy with sorrow and anger, and rough around the edges, Babylon is a serious head-trip of an album, but it's definitely one worth taking.

Track listing:
1. Babylon
2. Glowin'
3. Black Widow Spider
4. Barefoot Lady
5. The Patriotic Flag-Waver
6. The Lonesome Guitar Strangler

This is not the land of milk and honey
This is a place where people sell their souls out for money

You might also like:

Aum -
Resurrection (1969)

Larry Coryell -
Coryell (1969)

Mississippi Fred McDowell - Delta Blues (1964)

The simplest and most perfect form of the blues: an acoustic guitar, and a booming, wailing voice. How could music this beautiful and pure have (d)evolved into a bunch of rich dudes jamming on the most boring party music in existence for hours on end? HOW???

Track listing:
1. Write Me a Few Lines
2. Louise
3. I Heard Somebody Call
4. 61 Highway
5. Mama Don't Allow
6. Kokomo Blues
7. Fred's Worried Life Blues
8. You Gonna Be Sorry
9. Shake 'Em on Down
10. My Trouble Blues
11. Black Minnie
12. That's Alright
13. When I Lay My Burden Down

Please see somebody for me

You might also like:

Lightnin' Hopkins -
Lightnin' Strikes (1962)

Loren Mazzacane & Kath Bloom -
Sing the Children Over (1982)

Loren Mazzacane & Kath Bloom - Sing the Children Over (1982)

Stoned, bluesy folk rock with a homespun feel that, along with Kath Boom's sweet, quavering voice, manages to elevate even the most played-out of songs, "I've Been Working on the Railroad". The whole record's great, but Bloom's wistful, heartfelt originals are undeniable standouts. I found out about her through Bill Callahan's cover of "The Breeze / My Baby Cries", part of an excellent, indie star-studded Kath Bloom tribute record. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful song -- I actually just teared up listening to it -- and I'm genuinely grateful to Callahan for helping me and hopefully many others to get to know this great, forgotten talent.

Track listing:
1. Last Fair Deal
2. The Breeze / My Baby Cries
3. Can't Nobody Hide
4. Nobody's Fault But Mine
5. All My Trials Here
6. It's So Hard to come Home
7. I've Been Working on the Railroad
8. Moses
9. In the Garden
10. Light in the Lighthouse
11. There Was a Boy
12. Lullaby
13. I Was Wondering

I'd like to touch you
But I've forgotten how
Said I didn't need you
But look at me now
Sometime in the summer
When we're lying in the breeze
The breeze will kill me

You might also dig:

Andy Zwerling - Spiders in the Night (1971)

Muleskinner - Muleskinner (1972)

Dame Satan - Beaches and Bridges (2008)

My old band played a bunch of shows with these guys, at home and in the Bay, where they were from, and by the last time I saw them, I was convinced that they were the best band I'd ever shared a stage with. They were just so locked in and focused, and played this awesome, low-key fusion of psych rock, folk, and blues, and I was convinced that when their second record (this one) finally dropped, they'd get super-hyped and everyone would be down with Dame Satan. Instead, there was little to no fanfare, and they broke up shortly thereafter. So I guess it's on me to make sure people hear this beautiful (aside from "The Struggle", which I think is total butt) little record.

Track listing:
1. Downstream
2. Ghost Dance
3. Suffering Daughter
4. The Struggle
5. Country Thief
6. Dawn and Delta
7. Puget Sound
8. Gangster Hustler
9. Oregon Trail
10. The Golden Iranian

On the banks of a river too thick for drinking

If you like this, try:
Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin (2008)

Christine Perfect - Christine Perfect (1974)

Shortly before joining Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie, assuming the moniker Christine Perfect, recorded and released her first solo album. While its blues- and soul-tinged rock sound isn't terribly unique, the songs are all quite well written and performed, and regardless, McVie's melancholic, soulful vocals could elevate to greatness even the most tepid of songs. Highly recommended to any fans of Fleetwood Mac or 70s rock in general.

Track listing:
1. Crazy 'Bout You Baby
2. I'm on My Way
3. Let Me Go
4. Wait and See
5. Close to Me
6. I'd Rather Go Blind
7. When You Say
8. And That's Saying a Lot
9. No Road Is the Right Road
10. For You
11. I'm Too Far Gone [Bonus]
12. I Want You [Bonus]

I would rather go blind, boy
Than to see you walk away from me

Lightnin' Hopkins - Lightnin' Strikes (1962)

Hands-down, my favorite blues album. There are a couple of (awesome) full band tracks, but it's mostly just the man and his guitar, wailing his pain into the night sky. It's stripped down, the recording's blown out, and ample use of reverb gives the whole affair a haunted, nocturnal feel. So good it hurts.

Track listing:
1. Got Me a Louisiana Woman
2. Want to Come Home
3. Please Don't Quit Me
4. Devil Is Watching You
5. Rolling and Rolling
6. War Is Starting Again
7. Walkin' Round in Circles
8. Mary Lou
9. Heavy Snow
10. Coon Is Hard to Catch

There ain't nothin' that the Devil can't do

Terje Rypdal - Bleak House (1968)

Norwegian jazz guitarist Terje Rypdal's first solo album, Bleak House is generally considered an outlier in his discography. It's a diverse, scatterbrained set of songs, only two of which ("Winter Serenade", "Sonority") are in line with the free-form, ambient jazz that comprises the rest of his discography. Otherwise, there's some post-bop ("Wes"), a big-band workout ("Bleak House"), a spine-tingling, vocal-driven, psych-tinged blues number ("Dead Man's Tale"), and a low-key, acoustic outro that reminds me of Milton Nascimento. I would say that it's not the best intro to Rypdal, but it was the first Rypdal record that I heard, and I eventually collected his entire catalogue, so...

Track listing:
1. Dead Man's Tale
2. Wes
3. Winter Serenade
4. Bleak House
5. Sonority
6. A Feeling of Harmony

I tried to live a good life
But now I know that I was wrong