Great choices, Derek! SRV is top-notch. Both his tunes and his humanity elevated the genre. He got sober and was an even better musician for it, proving you don’t have to destroy yourself to play the blues. (I’m in part paraphrasing the words of his friend, Bonnie Raitt, whom Stevie inspired to start her own journey to sobriety.) Life By the Drop is classic SRV – beautiful playing, beautiful spirit. And the Musselwhite song is a haunting hallelujah.
His bio is as interesting as many of his songs. He’s been a soldier, a trucker, a competitive fencer, a Mensa member, a sometime-criminal, and more. He has lots of great tunes but Holler #4 is, to me, the essence of Slim. It lays out the existential grappling with the facts of life that’s at the heart of so much about the blues:
“I’m singin’ this ol’ song by myself. I don’t need no band / And if the blues, Lord, was whiskey, I’d have a half gallon jug in either hand.”
Life By The Drop is one of my favorite songs by any artist in any genre. What a great tune!
https://youtu.be/s7KzzospHVY?si=XkJ59UC0hExEyl0K
Here’s one contribution from me so far.
“Who Did You Think I Was” as performed by the John Mayer Trio.
I've been hunting for a song from this guy pretty much since the inception of Blue Wednesday, and I'm thrilled to have finally found it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcsiswg5GAs
And I gathered this one, which has long been one of my favorites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GCS3EtZNv8
Not strictly a blues but in spirit. John Mayall’s undercover agent. https://open.spotify.com/track/5CPe3ToeIg2bOywqiV0awe?si=WWAb0Bo2S2O4a1pp1BVYYQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A0RgGjoUHoHqZJ2FSqXe3k8
Great choices, Derek! SRV is top-notch. Both his tunes and his humanity elevated the genre. He got sober and was an even better musician for it, proving you don’t have to destroy yourself to play the blues. (I’m in part paraphrasing the words of his friend, Bonnie Raitt, whom Stevie inspired to start her own journey to sobriety.) Life By the Drop is classic SRV – beautiful playing, beautiful spirit. And the Musselwhite song is a haunting hallelujah.
My offering is Holler #4, by Watermelon Slim. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X1dciF63EM
His bio is as interesting as many of his songs. He’s been a soldier, a trucker, a competitive fencer, a Mensa member, a sometime-criminal, and more. He has lots of great tunes but Holler #4 is, to me, the essence of Slim. It lays out the existential grappling with the facts of life that’s at the heart of so much about the blues:
“I’m singin’ this ol’ song by myself. I don’t need no band / And if the blues, Lord, was whiskey, I’d have a half gallon jug in either hand.”
Enjoy!