Blues Legends - 60 Classic Performances

 

Disc One

1 I'm In The Mood - John Lee Hooker 

2 How Many More Years - Howlin' Wolf 

3 Jake Head Boogie - Lightnin' Hopkins 

4 Three O'Clock Blues - Lowell Fulson 

5 I Can't Be Satisfied - Muddy Waters 

6 I Feel Like Going Home - Muddy Waters 

7 Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy, Jazz Gillum 

8 Matchbox Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson 

9 My Black Mama - Son House 

10 Baby Take A Chance With Me - Tampa Red 

11 Gin Mill Sal - Champion Jack Dupree 

12 Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do - Jimmy Witherspoon 

13 Union Station Blues - John Lee Hooker 

14 Everyday I Have The Blues - Lowell Fulson 

15 Howlin' Wolf Boogie - Howlin' Wolf 

16 Do The Boogie - John Lee Hooker 

17 Kind Hearted Woman - Muddy Waters 

18 Walking Blues - Muddy Waters 

19 I Got The Blues - T-Bone Walker 

20 Chains Of Love - Big Joe Turner

Disc Two

1 Rollin' And Tumblin' - Muddy Waters 

2 House Rent Boogie - John Lee Hooker 

3 Moaning At Midnight - Howlin' Wolf 

4 Blues Is A Woman - T-Bone Walker 

5 Prison Bound Blues - John Lee Hooker 

6 Wanderin' Blues - John Lee Hooker 

7 Pacemaker Boogie - Memphis Slim 

8 Howling Wolf - Muddy Waters 

9 Honey Bee - Muddy Waters 

10 Blues After Hours - Pee Wee Crayton 

11 Machine Gun Blues - Sunnyland Slim 

12 Don't You Lie To Me - Tampa Red 

13 That's All Right Mama - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup 

14 Dirty Ground Hog Blues - John Lee Hooker 

15 Old Taylor - Memphis Slim 

16 Still In The Dark - Big Joe Turner 

17 Hard Luck Blues - Roy Brown 

18 Little Boy Blue - John Lee Hooker 

19 Blue Shadows Falling - Lowell Fulson 

20 Worried Life Blues - Tampa Red, Big Maceo  

Disc Three

1 Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams 

2 Stop Breakin' Down Blues - Robert Johnson 

3 I Know You're Gonna Miss Me - Big Joe Williams 

4 Got The Blues Can't Be Satisfied - Mississippi John Hurt 

5 Night Time Is The Right Time - Big Bill Broonzy 

6 I Ain't Gonna Be Worried No More - Sleepy John Estes 

7 Blue Bird Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson I 

8 You Got To Have Your Dollar - Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee 

9 Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind - Blind Boy Fuller 

10 Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson 

11 Midnight Special - Lead Belly 

12 How Do You Want It Done? - Big Bill Broonzy 

13 Whiskey Headed Woman Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson I 

14 Rope Stretching Blues - Blind Blake 

15 Panama Limited Blues - Bukka White 

16 Somebody's Been Talkin' - Sonny Terry 

17 Rambling On My Mind - Robert Johnson 

18 Shotgun Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson I 

19 Goodnight Irene - Lead Belly 

20 You Can't Get That Stuff No More - Tampa Red 

Blues Legends - 60 Classic Performances

The Blues 1923 To 1933 - various artists compilation

 

1 Ida Cox– Give Me A Break Blues

2 Cleo Gibson With Her Hot Three– Nothin' But Blues

3 Rosa Henderson– Barrel House Blues

4 Frances Hereford With The Levee Serenaders– Midnight Mama

5 Memphis Jug Band– Kansas City Blues

6 Ma Rainey And Her Tub Jug Washboard Band– Prove It On Me Blues

7 Issie Ringgold– Be On Your Merry Way

8 Jimmie Rodgers With Louis Armstrong, Lil Armstrong*– Blue Yodel No. 9

9 Bessie Smith– Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

10 Mamie Smith– Jenny's Ball

11 Victoria Spivey– Moaning The Blues

12 Eva Taylor With Williams' Jug Band*– Organ Grinder

13 Ethel Waters With Clarence Williams– Get Up Off Your Knees

14 Margaret Webster, Clarence Williams' Washboard Band*– I've Got What It Takes

15 Margaret Whitmire– That Thing's Done Been Put On Me

16 Lena Wilson With The Nubian Five– He Used To Be Your Man

The Blues 1923 To 1933

How did Billie Holiday become Lady Day?

The legendary jazz/blues vocalist Billie Holiday certainly needs no introduction here. Anyone interested in classic and vintage jazz and blues will know her music and inimitable style of singing. No music collection is complete with out at least one Billie Holiday album.

There has also been much written about Billie, some true, some not, some good, some not so good, but one story I recently came across was how she got the name "Lady Day". This is an excerpt from the book "Wishing On the Moon (The Life and Times of Billie Holiday)" written by Donald Clarke and published by Penguin Books, 1994.

"....she had occasionally been called Lady since the early days in Harlem clubs, when she was reluctant to take the tips off the table...Lester (Young) had nicknames for everybody: he called (Count) Basie "Holy"; he called his younger brother, drummer Lee Young, "Little Pea". It was Lester who called trumpeter Harry Edison "Sweets". Will Friedwald says that he dubbed Ella Fitzgerald "Lady Time". Jazz already had an Earl, a Duke and a so-called "King of Swing"....Anyway, this was America, and Franklin D.Roosevelt was the biggest man around, and as Lester was the President of the saxophone, Billie called him "Prez" for short. He though that she must be the First Lady, named her "Lady Day", and reasoned that Sadie (Billie's mother), must be called "Duchess". All the names stuck for the rest of their lives..."

So while you ponder and digest that, here are a couple of Billie Holiday releases that cover a good cross section of her musical output.

Legendary

Billie's Best