Essential Blues Albums?
 

I'm a blues newbie hoping to venture into the genre. Similar to the essential hip hop thread.

I can suggest some white-mans blues.

John Mayall and the Blues Breakers w/Eric Clapton
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band S/T
Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On
Rory Gallagher Irish Tour '74

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This album is a good starting point. Robert Johnson was one of the most gifted and influential blues musicians.

I'm not all that schooled on the blues but I cannot recommend Muddy Waters' King Bee enough. Effing brilliant.

B.B. King ~ "Live At The Regal"
Muddy Waters ~ "Folk Blues/More Folk Blues"

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Still kickin' arse in his 80's.

Thank you for the recommendations thus far, I will be replying as I listen

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Ribbons, since you and several other people have recommended Muddy Waters, I'll try listening to some of his work. I've never actually intentionally listened to blues, so he seems like a good place to start!

I am intrigued by what I read about him at Wikipedia: "Muddy headed to England in 1958 and shocked audiences (whose only previous exposure to blues had come via the acoustic folk/blues sounds of acts such as Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Big Bill Broonzy) with his loud, amplified electric guitar and thunderous beat. "

I like shocking things, so he might be a good place to begin with as an intro to blues, especially since his work was supposed to have influenced so many different genres: rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, folk, jazz, and country.

Hey Erica,
http://www.wnba.com/media/playoffs20..._shock_50w.gif
Did you feel that? :)
Muddy Waters is in many ways an ideal artist to start with in exploring blues, because he was the linchpin of the earlier country/Mississippi Delta blues and the electrified Chicago sound he later pioneered. He was also a respected bandleader with many significant blues musicians (Otis Spann, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Dixon, Big Walter Horton, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy) passing through his band. Muddy was a complex, expressive vocalist as well - there is so much "feeling", depth and color in his singing. An area in which I think Muddy was a bit unheralded was as a slide guitarist. His slide playing had that same microtonal phrasing his voice had. He played a vital role in resurrecting the use of (amplified) slide guitar in the '60s.

The two above albums are the first blues records I ever purchased. I still believe they are good guides for anyone embarking on a discovery of blues.