Greatest Bluesman of All Time

deejaid

deejaid

Blues Junior
Now I know there isn’t one greatest of all-time that everyone will agree on, but who, in your mind is the greatest bluesman of all-time? Is it the haunting, country blues of the legendary Robert Johnson, the big, orchestral blues of BB King, or maybe even the hard rock infused British blues of Eric Clapton?

And what is it about your favorite all-time that makes him the greatest bluesman of them all? Please post a clip that showcases your favorite doing their thing.


I’ll start with my favorite, Elmore James. Starting with being credited with one of Blues most influential slide guitar licks, Elmore James had the voice that matched his playing. His songs ranged from rollicking dance songs to slow, soulful, and sexy.

The fact that he mostly released singles and only one LP was released during his lifetime, coupled with the fact that there is no known filmed footage of him playing only increases his legend over time. Listening to his records and looking at the few known photos of him playing live, one can almost imagine being in a juke joint in the south in the late 1950’s listening to Elmore and the Broomdusters.

My choice for the greatest bluesman of all-time, the legendary Elmore James.



 
glynnd

glynnd

Blues Newbie
Muddy Waters would get my vote too, closely followed by Howlin'Wolf and Elmore James with an honourable mention to Jimmy Reed. To me that's the Golden Era of blues music.
 
CaptainMoto

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Oh so hard to pick the greatest.
I think it would have to be BB.
Why?..........his longevity and wide repertoire.
 
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
For me it's Robert Johnson, by reason of the influence he's had on so many of those who influenced us all. If King of the Delta Blues Singers hadn't been released when it was, having a profound impact as it did on a few young men in England....
 
deejaid

deejaid

Blues Junior
Come on guys... Let me hear why picked the way you did.

There is talk in another thread about the lack of forum participation. This is Blues Guitar Unleashed, let’s talk about the guys that, whether directly or indirectly, brought us on our blues guitar playing journey.

Terry B., I’m a huge Robert Johnson fan as well and love his playing and singing. My favorite way to listen to him is by having the house to myself and putting “King of the Delta Singers” on the turntable. I much prefer to really immerse myself in his songs, can’t just have him on as background music.

Muddy is great, although I find myself listening to his late 70’s Johnny Winter produced albums most of the time.



I think the attraction to Elmore James playing, for me, is his songs are something I see women liking. My wife isn’t into my blues, but even she agreed Elmore James music has a good rhythm.
 
Terry B

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
I have that album on vinyl as well. Who else sings lyrics like, "me and the devil, was walking side by side"? Not to mention the legend of the crossroad of highways 61 and 49.

But this is a case where there really are no bad choices, like you say it's whoever inspired each of us on our blues journey.

I grew up listening to rock music. But I noticed a lot of rock in the late sixties and seventies was more pop oriented, and then there was the other kind that grabbed me. I'd heard of blues music but didn't know much about it, never mind the musicians, and it wasn't till later I started hearing the rock music I loved most referred to as "blues rock".

Then I started noticing the songwriting credits on the album covers being names like R. Johnson, C. Burnett, W. Dixon and the like, rather than the band members whose names were familiar. So now we look back and discover who inspired those who inspire us.
 
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tommytubetone

tommytubetone

Great Lakes
If you are asking who inspired me to play blues guitar, it would be SRV. As far as who was the greatest bluesman, I would give the nod to BB King. He was well known to people not necessarily into the blues and was probably it's greatest ambassador.
 
PapaRaptor

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
I'm not sure I can really pick one bluesman as the greatest, even as a personal opinion. Probably the first person I think of when someone mentions the blues is John Lee Hooker. Like a lot of Americans of my age, I became exposed to the blues as a result of the 60's British Invasion by groups like The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. Their covers of the blues masters might as well have been original recordings (like Led Zep first claimed), because very few kids from the suburbs of middle America had ever heard much of anything by black blues artists. It wasn't until much later in life that I really got into listening to the likes of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Junior Wells and a host of others. I'm just glad i did discover that the blues didn't start with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
 
Wildwood

Wildwood

Playin' Blues
I'm not sure that there is a "greatest" of anything. It is all so subjective and a matter of opinion. Plus there are probably many great bluesmen/women that we have never even heard of for whatever reason.

Greatest bluesman? Greatest guitar player? Greatest singer? Greatest NBA player? Greatest NFL quarterback?

Can't be done.

I do believe you can do a top 10 though. And Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker would be right up there.
 
DannyB

DannyB

2 miles from Jim Beam. Oh! Pleasent Hope!
Yes, it's subjective, which would appear to be the whole point of "who's the greatest." A top 10 is still subjective.

I listen to Muddy and JLH the most. Buddy Guy's "Sweet Tea" is likely my favorite album. Good grief, what an awesome bass!!
 
Dr. Ron

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
I spend the majority of my guitar time listening or playing to B.B. and Albert King, with a sprinkling of Freddie.
So, those 3 get my vote.
 
TerryH

TerryH

Blues Newbie
I wouldn’t even know how to answer that question. I’d probably come up with a different answer if you asked me tomorrow. Maybe it’s just one song, like BB’s version of “the Thrill is Gone” - or maybe just one version of that song. I love Clapton’s version of “Crossroads” when they briefly reunited for the Albert Hall concert in 2005, but you would have to include Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce in that particular performance.

I’ve got to agree with Deejaid about Elmore James’s singing - the most haunting voice in blues by a long way. Once you’ve heard it you never forget it.

But greatest of all time…There are so many.
 
david moon

david moon

Attempting the Blues
CaptainMoto said:
Oh so hard to pick the greatest.
I think it would have to be BB.
Why?..........his longevity and wide repertoire.
Click to expand...
Jeez capn, you beat me to it, his longevity and repertoire. I suppose some of the earlier artists were influential within the blues community, but BB and those influenced by him took it to a larger audience. Muddy Waters had a similar role. Someone mentioned Muddy and the Stones.
 
B

Bolar

Guest
So many greats to choose from, but the one that has meant the most to me is without a doubt Sonny Boy Williamson II.
While in school, we were introduced to the blues of Leadbelly, Missisippy John Hurt, Blind Willie McTell and others. I was hooked immidiately. The local library had a huge collection of blues records and I have probably listened to most of them, but when I heard Sonny Boy for the first time, I had to play that kind of music. I went out and bought a couple of Marine Band's straight away, and started practicing.
I played in a blues band for some time until I switched from blues harp to alto sax and started playing jazz. After nearly a 25 year break it's now guitar and back to the blues. But it was the blues harp of Sonny Boy Williamson, that gave me the urge to play.
Here's a few of my favorites :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aVK93GbaVp0
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u0lXInv5myA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WkuS2Cw7y04
 
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