Top 50 Blues Albums of All Time

Blues: The Top 50 Albums

This list started as a post on the DMDB Facebook page (Top 10 Blues and Blues/Rock Albums) on 2/23/2010. The list has since been expanded by aggregating more than 50 lists focused on blues and blues/rock albums. This list focuses on those albums which scored higher on the blues lists. Albums which made three or more lists were then sorted by overall status in Dave’s Music Database. Check out other best-of-genre/category lists here. 1. Robert Johnson The Complete Recordings (compilation: 1936-37, released 1990) 2. Howlin’ Wolf Moanin’ in the Moonlight/Howlin’ Wolf (aka ‘The Rockin’ Chair Album’) (compilations: 1951-62, released in 1959 and 1962) * 3. Bessie Smith The Essential (compilation: 1923-1933, released 1997) 4. B.B. King Live at the Regal (live, 1964) 5. John Mayall & the Blues Breakers Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966) 6. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Texas Flood (1983) 7. Charlie Patton Founder of the Delta Blues (compilation: 1929-34, released 1969) 8. Muddy Waters At Newport (live, 1960) 9. Robert Cray Strong Persuader (1986) 10. Albert King Born Under a Bad Sign (1967) 11. Eric Clapton: From the Cradle (1994) 12. Bobby “Blue” Bland Two Steps from the Blues (1956-60) 13. Willie Dixon/various artists The Chess Box (compilation: 1951-69, released 1988) 14. Elmore James The Sky Is Crying – The History of (compilation: 1951-63, released 1993) 15. Junior Wells Hoodoo Man Blues (1965) 16. Paul Butterfield Blues Band Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965) 17. Muddy Waters The Chess Box (compilation: 1947-72 released 1989) 18. Skip James The Complete Early Recordings (compilation: 1930-31, released 1994) 19. Howlin’ Wolf His Best: The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection (compilation: 1951-64, released 1997) 20. Little Walter His Best: The Chess 50th Anniversary Collection (compilation: 1952-60, released 1997) 21. Howlin’ Wolf The Chess Box (compilation: 1951-73, released 1991) 22. Magic Sam West Side Soul (1967) 23. Albert Collins Ice Pickin’ (1978) 24. B.B. King Live in Cook County Jail (live: 1970, released 1971) 25. B.B. King His Definitive Greatest Hits (compilation: 1951-93, released 1999) 26. Etta James At Last (1961) 27. Muddy Waters Folk Singer (1964) 28. Muddy Waters Hard Again (1977) 29. Muddy Waters The Anthology (compilation: 1947-72, released 2001) 30. John Lee Hooker The Legendary Modern Recordings (compilation: 1948-54, released 1993) 31. Memphis Minnie Bumble Bee: The Essential Recordings (compilation: 1929-41, released 1997) 32. B.B. King Singin’ the Blues (1956) 33. Albert King Live Wire/Blues Power (1968) 34. T-Bone Walker T-Bone Blues (1959) 35. Blind Lemon Jefferson King of the Country Blues (compilation: 1926-29, released 1990) 36. Gary Moore Still Got the Blues (1990) 37. Robert Cray Bad Influence (1983) 38. Sonny Boy Williamson II Down and Out Blues (1959) 39. Blind Lemon Jefferson Best of (compilation, released 2000) 40. Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers Best of (compilation: 1928-30, released 2001) 41. Mississippi Fred McDowell I Do Not Play No Rock and Roll (1969) 42. Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter King of the 12-String Guitar (recorded 1935, released 1991) 43. Albert Collins with Robert Cray & Johnny Copeland Showdown! (1985) 44. Freddy King Let’s Hide Away and Dance (1961) 45. Otis Spann Is the Blues (1960) 46. Willie Dixon I Am the Blues (1970) 47. Magic Sam Black Magic (1968) 48. Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers (1971) 49. Sonny Boy Williamson II His Best (compilation: 1955-65, released 1986) 50. Freddy King Freddy King Sings (1961) * These were initially released as two separate albums, but are now typically packaged together. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: other best-of-genre lists Lists Focused on Blues Albums: All About Blues Music: “Twenty Best Blues Albums” Howard Basshead (8/10/2023). “Top 30 Best Blues Albums” Best Ever Albums (1/18/2017). “Greatest Blues Albums” Best of Jazz (3/3/2022). “What Are the Greatest Blues Albums Ever?” Chron (9/29/2007). “Texas-Style Blue: Here Are 75 Essential Albms” by Andrew Dansby Digital Dream Door (2/16/2007). “100 Greatest Blues Albums” edited by Rick Varner Downbeat (9/1/2003). “The Top 50 Blues Albums of the Past 50 Years” List created by surveying approximately 80 musicians, journalists, and record company personnel for their top 5 albums. Guitar Head “Top Nine Best Blues Albums in History” Guitar World (1997). “Greatest Blues Albums Ever, As Chosen by Haynes, Perry and Other Guitar Greats” by Alan Paul As a writer for Guitar World, Paul solicited best-of lists from Gregg Allman, Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Earl, David Grissom, Dave Myers, Joe Perry, Warren Haynes, Otis Rush, John Scofield, Izzy Stradlin, Steve Vai, Jimmie Vaughan, and Joe Louis Walker. JazzFuel.com (6/23/2023). “The Best Blues Albums of All Time (Ranked)” JustinGuitar.com: “Top 10 Blues Albums” LiveAbout.com (4/24/2018). “12 Best Blues Albums for Beginners” by Reverend Keith A. Gordon Medium.com (2/18/2019). “The Essential 50 Blues Albums for Your Vinyl Record Collection…for Now” by Frank Rodriguez Mojo (2001). “The Ultimate CD Buyers Guide: Blues” MusicAficionado.com: “Kenny Wayne Shepherd Picks His Top 10 Blues Albums of All Time” by Joe Bosso MusicRadar.com (6/12/2011). “Billy Gibbons’ 10 Favourite Blues Albums of All Time” by Joe Bosso Alan Paul (7/12/2022). “Essential Blues Albums” Picks by Gregg Allman, Joe Bonamassa, Lonnie Brooks, Luther Dickinson, Tinsley Ellis, Warren Haynes, Alan Paul, Joe Perry. and Rich Robinson. Some are repeats from Guitar World list. Q Magazine (May 2005). “75 Blues Greats: The Best Blues Albums” Compiled by the staff writers at Q and Mojo magazines. Q Magazine (April 2005). “The Ultimate Music Collection: blues” RateYourMusic.com: “Best Blues Albums of All Time – 10 Lists Combined” RYM user erikfish compiled 10 lists from books, magazines, and websites and combined them into one list, including each album appearing on two or more of the lists. RoadieMusic.com (3/14/2022). “Ten Most Influential Blues Albums” Rolling Stone (2/13/2014). “The Blues Albums on Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ List” The Speak the Blues blog keyed in on the 21 blues albums on Rolling Stone’s 500 albums list. Socurrent.com: “Top Ten Blues Albums of All Time” Stuff.co.nz (6/18/2014). “Ten Important Blues Albums” by Simon Sweetman udiscovermusic.com (2/12/2024). “The 120 Best Blues Albums. Classic Records You Need to Hear” Vinyl Me Please (8/22/2016). “The 10 Best Blues Albums for Beginners to Own on Vinyl” by Dan Reilly Yamaha.com (2/9/2023). “10 Best Blues Albums to Own on Vinyl” by Jeff Dorgay First posted 9/10/2018; last updated 3/19/2024.

Sept. 22-23, 1965: Junior Wells recorded his Hoodoo Man Blues album

First posted November 13, 2008. Last updated September 10, 2018.

Hoodoo Man Blues Junior Wells

Recorded: September 22-23, 1965 Released: November 1965 Sales (in millions): US: -- UK: -- IFPI: -- World (estimated): -- Peak: US: -- UK: -- Canada: -- Australia: --

Quotable: “One of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s” – Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

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Genre: blues

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Album Tracks:

1. Snatch It Back and Hold It
2. Ships on the Ocean
3. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
4. Hound Dog
5. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
6. Hey Lawdy Mama
7. Hoodoo Man Blues
8. Early in the Morning
9. We’re Ready
10. You Don’t Love Me Baby
11. Chitlin Con Carne
12. Yonders Wall

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Singles/Hit Songs:

Click here for the chart codes for singles/hit songs.

Review: Junior Wells debut album, Hoodoo Man Blues, is “one of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s, and one of the first to fully document the smoky ambience of a night at a West side nightspot in the superior acoustics of a recording studio.” BD Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records, “liked Wells’ music enough to give the musician considerable freedom on the album in spite of concerns of commercial response.” WK “Wells was given the liberty to select his own…track list, without the usual limitation of songs two or three minutes long.” WK The result was Delmark’s best-selling album. WK Wells was also allowed to select his own sidemen. WK The blues singer and harmonica player tapped “his usual cohorts,” BD including Jack Myers on bass and Billy Warren on drums. BD Guitarist Buddy Guy also appears, although he was originally billed only as “Friendly Chap” due to Koester’s incorrect assumption that Guy was contractually tied to Chess Records. WK In 1993, Wells told the Chicago Tribune that the title cut nearly didn’t make the album. He’d recorded it as a single, but when presented to radio “for possible rotation they had rejected it violently, throwing it on the floor and stomping on it.” WK The album established the blues singer and harmonica player’s career and is acclaimed “as being among the best albums Wells ever produced and even among the greatest blues albums ever made.” WK Review Source(s): BD Bill Dahl, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia

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Awards:

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Related DMDB Link(s):

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