Son House

Son House
Lyon, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues

Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. (March 21, 1902 – October 19, 1988) was an American delta blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing.
After years of hostility to secular music, as a preacher and for a few years also as a church pastor, he turned to blues performance at the age of 25. He quickly developed a unique style by applying the rhythmic drive, vocal power and emotional intensity of his preaching to the newly learned idiom. In a short career interrupted by a spell in Parchman Farm penitentiary, he developed to the point that Charley Patton, the foremost blues artist of the Mississippi Delta region, invited him to share engagements and to accompany him to a 1930 recording session for Paramount Records.

John the Revelator (1970)
The Complete Library of Congress Sessions (1990) '41/'42
Father of the Delta Blues: The Complete 1965 Sessions (1992)
The Legendary 1969 Rochester Sessions (1992)
Revisited (2002) Live '65
Raw Delta Blues (2011) Comp.
Son House in Seattle 1968 (2011)

Mississippi John Hurt

Mississippi John Hurt
Teoc, Carroll County, Mississippi, United States
Piedmont blues, Country blues, Delta blues, Folk

John Smith Hurt (possibly March 3, 1892 or March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist.
Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself how to play the guitar around age nine. He worked as a sharecropper and began playing at dances and parties, singing to a melodious fingerpicked accompaniment. His first recordings, made for Okeh Records in 1928, were commercial failures, and he continued to work as a farmer.
Tom Hoskins, a blues enthusiast, located Hurt in 1963 and persuaded him to move to Washington, D.C. He was recorded by the Library of Congress in 1964. This helped further the American folk music revival, which had led to the rediscovery of many other bluesmen of Hurt's era. Hurt performed on the university and coffeehouse concert circuit with other Delta blues musicians who were brought out of retirement. He also recorded several albums for Vanguard Records.

Worried Blues (1964)
Today! (1966)
The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt (1967)
Last Sessions (1972)
Satisfying Blues (1995) Live
Avalon Blues: The Complete 1928 Okeh Recordings (1996)
Satisfied...... Live (1996)
Blues Legend (2003) Comp.
Essential Recordings: Candy Man Blues (2009) Rec.'64

tribute albums:
Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt (2001)

Bukka White

Bukka White
Between Aberdeen and Houston, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues, country blues

Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1909 – February 26, 1977) was an African-American Delta blues guitarist and singer. "Bukka" is a phonetic spelling of White's first name, placed on the labels of his early recordings. He preferred the proper spelling of his name, "Booker," as he was named after the well-known African-American educator and civil rights activist Booker T. Washington.

Mississippi Blues (1963)
Sky Songs (1963) 1990 Rem.
Sparkasse in Concert: Country Blues (1975)
1963 Isn't 1962 (1994) Live '63
The Vintage Recordings (2003) 1930-1940
Memphis Festival & Horizons Sessions (2006) rec.'68

appears on:
American Folk Blues Festival '67 (1967)
American Folk Blues Festival '72 (1972)

Robert Jr. Lockwood

Robert Jr. Lockwood
aka: Robert Lockwood *, Robert Lockwood Jr. **
Turkey Scratch, Arkansas, United States
Delta blues, Electric blues, Chicago blues, Country blues

Robert Lockwood Jr. (March 27, 1915 – November 21, 2006) was an American Delta blues guitarist, who recorded for Chess Records and other Chicago labels in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the only guitarist to have learned to play directly from Robert Johnson. Lockwood is known for his longtime collaboration with Sonny Boy Williamson II and for his work in the mid-1950s with Little Walter.

Steady Rollin' Man (1973) rec.'70
Contrasts (1974)
Blues Live! (1975) Robert Jr. Lockwood & The Aces
...Does 12 (1977)
I Got to Find Me a Woman ** (1997)
Just the Blues (1999)
Delta Crossroads ** (2000)
Ramblin' on My Mind ** (2000) rec.'82
Sweet Home Chicago: The JOB Sessions 1951-1955 (2001) with Johnny Shines
The Legend Live ** (2003)
The Blues of... ** (2004) with Boogie Bill Webb

Furry Lewis

Furry Lewis
aka: W.Furry Lewis *
Greenwood, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues, country blues

Walter E. "Furry" Lewis (March 6, 1893, or 1899 – September 14, 1981) was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis was one of the first of the blues musicians active in the 1920s to be brought out of retirement and given new opportunities to record during the folk blues revival of the 1960s.

Presenting the Country Blues (1969) 2007 Rem.
In Memphis (1970) rec.'68
Beale Street Blues * (1971) rec.'69, 2004 Rem.
Vocalion and Victor Recordings (1990) 1927-1929
Blues Magician * (1999) rec.'69
Good Morning Judge (2003) 1962/1967

Skip James

Skip James
Bentonia, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues

Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity. After a long absence from the public eye, James was "rediscovered" in 1964 by three blues enthusiasts, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country and recorded several albums for various record labels.

Today! (1966)
Devil Got My Woman (1968)
The Complete 1931 Session (1986)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (1992)
Live Boston 1964 & Philadelphia 1966 (1992)
She Lyin' (1993) rec.'64
Blues from the Delta (1998) '66/'68
Complete Bloomington Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968, Part 1 (1998)
Complete Bloomington Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968, Part 2 (1998)
Skip's Piano Blues (2000) rec.'64
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased (2003) rec.'67

Charley Patton

Charley Patton
Hinds County, Mississippi, U.S.
Delta blues, country blues, gospel blues

Charley Patton (April 1891 (probable) - April 28, 1934), also known as Charlie Patton, was an American Delta blues musician. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American music and inspired most Delta blues musicians. The musicologist Robert Palmer considered him one of the most important American musicians of the twentieth century.
Patton (who was well educated by the standards of his time) spelled his name "Charlie", but many sources, including record labels and his gravestone, use the spelling "Charley."

Complete Recordings 1929-1934 (2002)

Willie Love

Willie Love
Duncan, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues, boogie-woogie, R&B

Willie Love Jr. (November 4, 1906 – August 19, 1953) was an American Delta blues pianist. He is best known for his association with and accompaniment of Sonny Boy Williamson II.

Greenville Smokin' (2000) 1951/1953, Willie Love & His Three Aces

Frank Stokes

Frank Stokes
Shelby County, Tennessee, United States
Delta blues, country blues

Frank Stokes (January 1, 1877 or 1888 – September 12, 1955) was an American blues musician, songster, and blackface minstrel, who is considered by many musicologists to be the father of the Memphis blues guitar style.

Creator of the Memphis Blues (1991) 1927-1929
The Complete Victor Recordings (2000) 1928-1929

Blind Willie McTell

Blind Willie McTell
Thomson, Georgia, US
Country blues, Piedmont blues, ragtime, Delta blues, gospel

Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues. Unlike his contemporaries, he came to use twelve-string guitars exclusively. McTell was also an adept slide guitarist, unusual among ragtime bluesmen. His vocal style, a smooth and often laid-back tenor, differed greatly from many of the harsher voices of Delta bluesmen such as Charley Patton. McTell performed in various musical styles, including blues, ragtime, religious music and hokum.

Last Session (1961) 1992 Rem.
Atlanta Twelve String (1972)
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1991) 1927-1931
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1991) 1931-1933
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1991) 1933-1935
"Don't Forget It" The Post~War Years (1991) 1949, with Curley Weaver
Pig 'n Whistle Red (1993) rec.1950
Tryin' to Get Home: The Complete 1940 Library of Congress Recordings (2000)

Tommy Johnson

Tommy Johnson
Terry, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues

Tommy Johnson (January 1896 – November 1, 1956) was an American Delta blues musician who recorded in the late 1920s and was known for his eerie falsetto voice and intricate guitar playing. He was unrelated to the blues musician Robert Johnson.

Canned Heat (2000) 1928-1929

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
Forest, Mississippi, United States
Blues, Delta blues, rock and roll

Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and other artists.

Mean Ol' Frisco (1962) 1993 Rem.
Look on Yonder's Wall (1969) 1997 Rem.
Sunny Road (1969) with Jimmy Dawkins and Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith
Roebuck Man (1974) Arthur Crudup
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1993) 1941-1946
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1993) 1946-1949
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1993) 1949-1952
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1993) 1952-1954

Lucille Bogan

Lucille Bogan
aka: Bessie Jackson
Amory, Mississippi, United States
Delta blues, country blues

Lucille Bogan (April 1, 1897 – August 10, 1948) was an American blues singer, among the first to be recorded. She also recorded under the pseudonym Bessie Jackson. The music critic Ernest Borneman stated that Bogan was one of "the big three of the blues", along with Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Many of Bogan's songs have been covered by later blues and jazz musicians, including Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Many of her songs were sexually explicit, and she was generally considered to have been a dirty blues musician.

Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1994) 1923-1930
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1994) 1930-1933
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1994) 1934-1935

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson
Hazlehurst, Mississippi, U.S.
Delta blues

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy and poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend. One Faustian myth says that he sold his soul to the devil at a local crossroads of Mississippi highways to achieve success. As an itinerant performer who played mostly on street corners, in juke joints, and at Saturday night dances, Johnson had little commercial success or public recognition in his lifetime.

The Complete Recordings (1990)