Mamie Smith: “Crazy Blues” (OKeh, 1920)
"Crazy Blues" by Mamie Smith was the record that launched a new era for blues in the music business. Smith was not the first person to sing the blues on record, but up until "Crazy [...]
Jimmy Rogers: “That’s All Right” (Chess, 1950)
"That's All Right" by Jimmy Rogers was not a chart hit when first released as a Chess 78 rpm single in 1950 but has since become a standard in the blues repertoire, recorded by dozens [...]
Billy Boy Arnold: “I Wish You Would” (Vee-Jay, 1955)
"I Wish You Would," a 1955 single for Vee-Jay Records, exemplified the creative flair of the then 19-year-old blues phenom who recorded and composed the song, Billy Boy Arnold. Its catchy riffs and propulsive rhythmic [...]
Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers (Charles Brown, vocal and piano): “Merry Christmas Baby” (Exclusive, 1947)
"Merry Christmas Baby," the first Yuletide song in the Blues Hall of Fame, remains a perennial favorite years after its first release by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, featuring Charles Brown on piano and vocals, in [...]
Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell: “Blues Before Sunrise” (Vocalion, 1934)
"Blues at Sunrise" was one of several signature pieces contributed to the blues canon by pianist Leroy Carr, one of the most influential bluesmen of the pre-World War II era. Carr's litany of woes is [...]
“High Water Everywhere, Parts I & II” – Charley Patton (Paramount 1930)
Often regarded as Delta blues king Charley Patton's masterpiece, the two-part 'High Water Everywhere' is a dramatic account of the flooding that inundated parts of the Mississippi Delta and Arkansas in 1927 (and perhaps later). [...]
“It’s Tight Like That” by Tampa Red & Georgia Tom (Vocalion 1928)
Guitarist Tampa Red and pianist Georgia Tom joined together in a playful vocal duet to rework a hot street slang phrase of the 1920s into a genre-crossing national hit. 'It's Tight Like That,' a prime [...]
“Milk Cow Blues” – Kokomo Arnold (Decca 1934)
Milk Cow Blues' (Decca 7026), a solo performance by slide guitarist James 'Kokomo' Arnold, was one of the biggest blues hits to come out of Chicago in the 1930s. Decca kept it in print with [...]
“After Hours” – Erskine Hawkins and His Orchestra (Bluebird 1940)
As a counterpoint to the boogie woogie piano craze of the era, trumpeter-bandleader Erskine Hawkins turned pianist Avery Parrish loose to wax a slow, atmospheric instrumental blues on a June 10, 1940, session in New [...]
“Catfish Blues” – Robert Petway (Bluebird 1941)
Delta blues guitarist Robert Petway helped establish an enduring downhome blues theme with his March 28, 1941, recording of 'Catfish Blues' in Chicago (Bluebird B8838). Many other bluesmen have since sung their own renditions of [...]